Services

Focus groups

Group discussions where views meet – carefully recruited, professionally moderated, remote or in a studio.

Focus groups bring several people from a target group together for a moderated discussion. Unlike a one-to-one interview, insight emerges from the exchange itself: participants pick up on others' statements, disagree and add to them, revealing patterns of reasoning, language and social norms.

WMM supports you with individual building blocks or the full project: recruitment from our own panel, discussion guide, moderation, remote platform or studio, recording, transcription, interpreting and reports.

When focus groups make sense

Exploratory questions where a range of views matters more than individual depth
Concept, claim and communication tests
Understanding a target group's language, imagery and arguments
Less suitable for very personal or sensitive topics – we usually recommend in-depth interviews there

Process

1
Briefing
Objectives, target group, number of groups, duration, location or remote and optional services are defined.
2
Recruitment
Participants are selected from the panel, screened and verified by phone – with a balanced group mix in mind.
3
Discussion guide (optional)
We create the guide or align your draft with you.
4
Fieldwork
Moderation remotely via the WMM platform or in a studio; your team can observe.
5
Follow-up
Recording, transcription, top-line or full report – only if booked.

Quality checks

Screener and telephone verification of every participant
Avoiding groups where participants know each other or take part in studies frequently
Experienced moderation that also involves more reserved participants
Consent to recording and observation obtained in advance

What we need

Target group(s), quotas and composition per group
Number of groups, participants per group and duration per group
Remote or in person (city) and required studio days
Fieldwork period
Optional services: guide, recording, transcription, translation, interpreting, reports

Timelines

Fieldwork / full service standard: 20 working days (4 weeks)
Express: under 15 working days, with a 33% surcharge on all calculated items
Recruitment only for groups: standard 10 working days

Cost components

For focus groups in Germany, costs typically consist of (net):

Recruitment and incentives per person – identical to in-depth interviews
Setup (EUR 100), project management (EUR 100) and incentive management (EUR 5 per person)
Moderation per group (not per participant), depending on duration and target group
Remote: WMM platform EUR 100 per project; in person: studio approx. EUR 1,000 per day (estimate) and on-site surcharge EUR 150 per day
Optional: guide, recording, AI or manual transcription, simultaneous interpreting per session hour, reports

All figures are non-binding estimates. Open items such as travel are explicitly shown as pending.

Get a non-binding estimate Discuss your project

Limits

Focus groups do not produce statistically representative results.
Studio availability and cost depend on city and date; studio costs are therefore an estimate.
Possible on-site travel costs are calculated individually and shown as pending in the calculator.
Online communities, WhatsApp communities, ethnography and international groups are quoted individually.

Illustrative example (not a client reference)

A typical setup: two 120-minute focus groups with six consumers each in a studio, moderated by WMM, with recording and AI transcription. The calculation covers recruitment and incentives for all participants, moderation per group, one studio day with on-site surcharge and the selected options.