Imagine you have a bunch people in a room talking about buying or using a certain product or service. Like in a focus group. And you happen to know that emotion drives behavior more than logic. So how do you get these folks to reveal not just their thoughts but their underlying feelings too?

Let's set aside the assumption (and it's a significant one!) that the people are aware of and able to talk about their feelings. 

One standard query, borrowed from psychotherapy, is asking "How do you feel about that?" In my opinion, this is bad in therapy and it's bad in marketing research. As soon as we ask "How..." we are inviting people to become analytical, which frequently moves them away from feelings, not towards them. That's why responses are usually not expressions of emotion, but rather thoughts like "I feel that it's a good product" or simply "OK." When we get more directive, and say "How does that make you feel?" we still hear back thoughts, but often coupled with defensiveness triggered by the implied causality.

What works better is to ask what questions like "When you use the product, what do you feel?" perhaps supplemented with a range of examples. However, I think it's most effective to probe about feelings in real time when we observe them. For example, if you see people become passionate in a discussion, acknowledge it and get more by saying, "You seem to have strong feelings about that. Tell me about it." And when doing so, be sure you echo back the intensity of the feelings they expressed.

Getting people to talk honestly about their feelings is an art. And it's not easy. A lot of moderators are more comfortable facilitating discussions about thoughts and ideas, rather than feelings and emotion. But bottom line, nothing makes for open hearts and deeper connections more than the respectful and honest sharing of emotion. Which makes the outcomes of marketing research far more effective.

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New and improved! 

How many times have you heard claims of products and services being somehow even better than they were before?

If Tide detergent can do it, why can't we?

What about you?

How are you renewing and improving yourself professionally? 

Springtime is here in full bloom. The dormancy of winter has given way to the vibrancy of spring. It is time to invest in growing. And it so easy to be "too busy" to allow yourself refreshment. Resist!

Commit to doing one thing to improve yourself this month. Could be attending a marketing seminar (check out our new series on doing great focus groups), or writing an article on the greatest business lesson you've ever learned, or listening to business podcasts on iTunes (try Oxford University's "Building a Business: Marketing" for an hour), or taking an afternoon to work on your business, vs. in your business. 

The key is to do something. Because one thing leads to another. As Nike says, "Just do it!"