PROs of Conducting a BBFG Study

Bulletin Board Focus Groups involve online bulletin boards or as they are commonly known, message boards.  Similar to online focus groups, online bulletin boards usually require 10 to 20 participants who participate in an online discussion by answering questions posted by the moderator in the forum or online bulletin board.  BBFG’s may take up to a week or more.
The process of starting a bulletin board focus group has a format similar to online focus groups-- recruiting respondents, screening, and developing a research guide.  First, the moderator begins by explaining the rules and procedure for the entire duration of the bulletin board focus group, after which, he or she will post a question for the participants to react to.   Since the participants are not required to log in and comment at the same time, the research procedure lasts longer, up to a week or more.  Within this time, respondents may post their comments and interact with other respondents by commenting on their messages.  
During this time, the moderator must also review the messages posted in the virtual bulletin board.  The setup of Bulletin Board Focus Groups makes it easier for moderators to pose additional questions, pictures or other visuals or materials on the message board for the participants to view and comment on. In a multimedia board like most commercial boards out there,  it is possible to upload multimedia files such as audio files, photos, images, videos, documents and text messages.  What’s more, multiple discussions may occur simultaneously between respondents and the moderator.  
A Bulletin Board Focus Group also means that the client may view the progress of these online discussions discreetly.  Furthermore, most proprietary online boards allow clients to send comments or observations to the moderator.   The moderator must constantly log on to the board and check the interaction of the respondents.  It is also the responsibility of the moderator to encourage the respondents to make comments or elaborate on their statements.    Whenever it appears as if participants are losing interest or focus on the project, it is time for the moderator to step in and steer the discussion to the desired direction.  
Because all the materials and responses are saved to the bulletin board, Bulletin Board Focus Groups are deemed convenient as a part of marketing research.  All the audio recordings used, including transcripts, text messages, videos and photos can be easily collated because of its online setup.  There surely a handful of benefits when you decide to use an online bulletin board for your marketing research study.