This document summarizes the research project findings from a focus group discussion on how local businesses have reacted to opportunities in the digital world. The focus group included participants from various generations who discussed their preferences for finding information about local services. Younger participants used social media more while older participants preferred print materials. All agreed businesses need an online presence but established stores may not need heavy promotion. The discussion provided qualitative data on consumer perspectives to supplement the research on business use of digital media. Next, the researcher plans to tie all artifacts together with a case study or survey on actual customer digital interactions with local businesses.
2. How are local businesses reacting to
the opportunities of the digital world?
3. Artefact 4
• Although I found my last artefact very interesting and
beneficial to me for future career choice, I felt I had gone
a little off track from my research question so decided to
gather some qualitative data to understand peoples
perceptions and attitude towards how local businesses
have reacted to the opportunities of digital media.
• Having varied age groups allowed me to get a good
insight on all beliefs of the matter from different
generations.
5. Artefact 4 – Focus Group Questions
• Questions for the focus group, I'm aware that being in a
group will allow the participants to talk freely about what I
ask which may lead to other questions, so mine may not
keep to the structure I plan but I will have a fantastic
insight to their views on the matter of how they feel - "local
business have reacted to the opportunities of digital
media"
• I need to relate the questions to everyone in the focus
group, for them to be able to open up and provide
opinions within the group.
6. Artefact 4 – Focus Group Questions
"I'm here for my university looking into the public
consumers/customers of local businesses and how you
think they have reacted to the opportunities of digital
media"
- Do you all use services and products provided by your local
businesses? e.g hairdressers, health and beauty, food, pets,
electrics
- Are you regular customers or do you like to try somewhere new
- How do find out about new businesses?
- How do you recommend a business to a family or friend?
- For businesses you use regularly do you follow them on twitter &
Facebook
- Do you prefer to look at a website for information or a leaflet/poster?
- Do you think technology growing rapidly means businesses have to
adapt to it?
7. Artefact 4 – Focus Group Participants
• Participants
female student aged 21
male student aged 19
mum of 2, part time job, aged 36
dad of 1, full time job, aged 43
female, retired, aged 86
male, part time job, aged 65
• I can get a good insight on all generations.
8. Artefact 4 - Findings
• From the focus group, the main information I gathered was; - all of the
participants use their local services, however the students didn't use
the village businesses as much as the others they tended to use
bigger brands.
• The older participants would recommend by word of mouth, and the
students and mum would often use twitter or facebook to share or
retweet the information to their friends. Mixed view on preferring
leaflets or website, the older generation prefer leaflets and they can
easily hold on to them to regain information. One of the students uses
websites for information for everything whilst the other enjoys looking
at leaflets if creative like the 02 academy flyers but also enjoys sites
such as urban outfitters for creativity. The older generation prefer
leaflets because it's easy to see what you're getting and the price,
however big brands such as Asda have easy navigation sites which
they use to shop on-line for occasionally.
9. Artefact 4 - Findings
• All participants had some form of smartphone or tablet they use on a
regular basis. Talking to the participants about businesses having to
keep up with modern technology they came to the conclusion that
businesses already well established didn't need to advertise
themselves on-line as much as they already had a good customer
base which is what I can relate back to in my research document with
David Ross Fabrications.
• This conversation then led to one of the young students explaining her
friend had started a tanning business and twitter had helped her
massively and she solely used this to promote the business, using
business cards with the link to the twitter and website but didnt use any
leaflets or flyers. The older participants argued that she should also
create leaflets for the less technical generation but the base of
business being tanning had a young market but other businesses
should take this into consideration for all ages of people in the market
of the product.
10. • There was then a conversation about how emails are used massively
to sell special offers and how discount codes can easily be sent out to
provide advertisement for the business. Groupon and Moonpig are
based on line but have no actual shop, Asos is massive for selling
clothes but again there is no shop. Will it be like this in the future? The
mother stated how she much prefers to go to the shop to try clothes on
and see the food she is buying rather than get it all online.
Artefact 4 - Findings
11. What Next For Artefact 5 –
• Moving onto artefact 5 I would like to try and tie it all
together as a whole, artefact 1 showed businesses views
on digital media, 2 was to the extent they used it. Artefact
3 was beneficial to me in which I looked into how a future
career used digital media within the work force. 4 has
given me a good insight on the consumers view of how
businesses react to digital media. For artefact 5 I was
thinking perhaps a mini case study or some sort of
questionnaire on how customers actually use businesses
resources.
