The screener is the questionnaire recruiters use to decide who gets invited. It does two jobs: it keeps the wrong people out (anyone in the industry, anyone who sat in a group recently, anyone who does not buy the category) and it sorts the right people into distinct groups. Here the split is light buyers versus heavy buyers of frozen pizza, in two markets. Red actions end the call. Blue actions count toward a quota.
Groups
4
2 markets × 2 buyer types
Per group
10 / 8
Recruit 10 to seat 8
People screened
412
Phone and online, 9 days
Qualified
48
40 invited, 8 on standby
Group schedule
| Group | Market | Date | Time | Buyer type | Qualifies at S8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | Columbus, OH | Tue Sep 15 | 5:30 pm | Light | 1 to 3 purchases in 3 months |
| Group 2 | Columbus, OH | Tue Sep 15 | 7:45 pm | Heavy | 6 or more in 3 months |
| Group 3 | Sacramento, CA | Thu Sep 17 | 5:30 pm | Light | 1 to 3 purchases in 3 months |
| Group 4 | Sacramento, CA | Thu Sep 17 | 7:45 pm | Heavy | 6 or more in 3 months |
Why 4 to 5 purchases terminates: it leaves a gap between the two buyer types so the light and heavy rooms are clearly different people, not neighbors on either side of a line.
Where screened people dropped out Measured
412 screened, 364 out, 48 qualified. The biggest single drop is people who do not buy the category at all.
Quota check · seated participants Measured
| Quota | Target per group | G1 Light | G2 Heavy | G3 Light | G4 Heavy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seated | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| Women | At least 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
| Men | At least 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 15 |
| Age 25 to 34 / 35 to 44 / 45 to 54 / 55 to 64 | 1 to 3 in each band | 2/3/2/1 | 3/2/2/1 | 2/2/3/1 | 2/3/1/2 | 9/10/8/5 |
| Children under 18 at home | 3 to 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| Usually pays $8 or more | Light 2+, heavy 3+ | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 |
| Buys Bellcourt most often | No more than 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Last group 6 to 12 months ago | No more than 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Every quota met in every group. The Bellcourt cap keeps the room from turning into a panel of loyal customers who will praise anything with the logo on it.
The screener · 14 questions
S1Do you or does anyone in your household work in any of these fields?
Read list. Accept all that apply.
S2When did you last take part in a research group discussion or interview?
If they have ever taken part in one about frozen foods, terminate.
S3Which of these groups includes your age?
S4How do you describe your gender?
Record. Do not read options.
S5Who in your household does most of the grocery shopping?
S6How many children under 18 live in your household?
S7Which of these have you bought for your household in the past 3 months?
Read list. Accept all that apply. The other categories hide the topic.
S8About how many times in the past 3 months have you bought frozen pizza? Count each shopping trip once.
S9Which brands of frozen pizza have you bought in the past 3 months?
Read list in rotated order. Accept all that apply.
S10And which one do you buy most often?
Why: the team wants to hear from people Bellcourt has to win, not only from people it already has.
S11What do you usually pay for one frozen pizza?
$8 or more: at least 2 per light group, at least 3 per heavy group.
S12If a new thin-crust frozen pizza cost about $10 to $12, how likely would you be to try it?
S13Tell me about the last time frozen pizza was dinner at your house. What was that night like?
Open end. Recruiter rates the answer 1 to 5 for detail and ease of speaking.
S14The discussion lasts 90 minutes. It is audio and video recorded, and the research team watches from another room. Are you comfortable with that, and can you attend on the date and time offered?
At invite: confirm the thank-you payment, ask them to arrive 15 minutes early with photo ID and any reading glasses they use. Confirmation call the day before.
The discussion guide is the moderator's plan for the 90 minutes. Each section has a time budget and a purpose, the main questions are written out, and the probes under each one are follow-ups the moderator uses when an answer needs more. The guide keeps all four groups on the same ground. It is not a script to be read word for word.
Time budget · 90 minutes
Objectives
Stimulus rotation
| Group | Concept order | Package order |
|---|---|---|
| G1 Light, Columbus | A · B · C | X · Y · Z |
| G2 Heavy, Columbus | B · C · A | Y · Z · X |
| G3 Light, Sacramento | C · A · B | Z · X · Y |
| G4 Heavy, Sacramento | A · C · B | X · Z · Y |
Rotating the order keeps any one idea from always going first, when attention is highest, or last, when the room is tired.
Purpose: settle the room and disclose recording and observers.
Thanks for coming. I am an independent moderator. I do not work for the company whose products we will look at tonight, so you cannot hurt my feelings. There are no right answers. We are recording so I do not have to take notes, and a few people from the team are watching from the next room. Please talk to each other, not just to me.
Purpose: get every voice in the room early. No pizza talk yet.
2.1First name, who is at home with you, and the last thing you cooked that you were proud of.
Moderator note: listen for cooking confidence. It shapes how people talk about convenience later.
Purpose: how frozen pizza actually gets chosen, and what it competes with.
3.1Walk me through the last time frozen pizza was dinner. Who decided, and why that night?
3.2What is in your freezer right now? Why that one?
3.3What separates a good frozen pizza from a disappointing one?
3.4Where in this aisle does "premium" start?
Purpose: what "thin" promises before anyone sees a concept.
4.1When a box says thin crust, what do you expect to get?
4.2Written exercise: on your sheet, write three words for the best thin crust you have had anywhere.
Purpose: reactions to three positions for the line. Show one board at a time in the rotated order. Each person rates the board on their sheet (appeal 1 to 5, plus one word) before any discussion, and marks a private first choice after the third board, so first reactions are captured before anyone hears anyone else.
Baked on a stone hearth for a crust that snaps when you cut it. Six toppings, farm-sourced. Ready in 11 minutes.
A lighter thin crust with vegetables that change four times a year. Sized for two people, so there are no leftovers. Made for a weeknight.
Pizzeria-style thin crust with a crisping tray in the box. Everything you like about ordering out, without the wait or the delivery fee.
5.1For each board: what is the first thing you noticed?
5.2If only one of these were in the store next week, which would you buy first? Hold up the card.
Purpose: pick a box direction. Three mockups on a mock freezer shelf next to the current competitive set. X: dark matte with a window. Y: kraft look with an illustration. Z: white with a full food photo.
6.1You have thirty seconds at the shelf. Which box do you pick up?
6.2Hand vote: which box would you be most likely to buy?
Purpose: collect observer questions. The moderator steps out briefly.
Purpose: a final word from everyone, then release.
8.0Exit ballot, on your own and in quiet: turn to the last page of your sheet, rate the three ideas again and mark your first choice. Two minutes, no talking.
8.1If you could tell Bellcourt one thing before it launches this line, what would it be? We will go around the table.
Thank you. That is everything. Please leave your sheets on the table. Your thank-you is at the front desk on the way out.
The topline report arrives a few days after the last group. It says what happened, what it means and what to do next, before the full report is written. Counts come from hand votes in the room. With 8 people per group they show direction, not size: they point to what is worth measuring next.
Participants
32
4 groups of 8 · 17 women, 15 men
Most first-choice votes
12 of 32
C. Night Off
Heavy buyers' pick
9 of 16
C. Night Off
Light buyers' pick
8 of 16
B. Seasonal Table
The headline
Heavy buyers want a night off.
Light buyers want permission.
The two buyer types wanted different things from the same line, and the split held in both markets. Heavy buyers judged a premium pizza against delivery, not against the freezer case. Light buyers wanted a reason to feel good about buying frozen at all. Crispness was the promise everyone doubted.
First choice, concept Measured · hand vote
First choice, package Measured · hand vote
Key findings
Night Off took 9 of 16 heavy-buyer votes. Heavy buyers did the math out loud: a $12 pizza looked expensive next to the freezer case and cheap next to an order for the table. The "no wait" line mattered as much as the money.
"Twelve dollars is nothing next to delivery. If it really comes out like a pizzeria, I'm in."Heavy buyer, Group 2
"Friday is the night nobody wants to cook. That's the night this is for."Heavy buyer, Group 4
Seasonal Table took 8 of 16 light-buyer votes and only 2 of 16 heavy. Light buyers liked "lighter" and "sized for two" more than the vegetables themselves. Several said frozen pizza felt like a fallback they were slightly embarrassed by.
"I don't buy frozen pizza much because I feel bad after. This one sounds like dinner."Light buyer, Group 3
"Two of us, one pizza, nothing left in the fridge. That's actually the selling point."Light buyer, Group 1
A soggy center came up without prompting in all four groups. The crisping tray in Night Off was the most discussed single feature of the night, and the first question about it was always whether it really works.
"Every box says crispy. Then you cut it and the middle folds like a napkin."Heavy buyer, Group 4
"Farm-sourced" on Hearthstone Snap read as filler in every group. When the moderator offered a specific example, a named dairy and a named tomato variety, interest rose in both light-buyer groups. Hearthstone Snap's "snap" language was well liked; its claims were not.
"Which farms? If you're going to say it, tell me who."Light buyer, Group 1
Package X led with 15 of 32 votes, including 10 of 16 heavy buyers. People wanted the window to show the edge of the crust, not the toppings. The white full-photo box was a solid second at 11 of 32.
"Show me the edge. I can tell from the edge if it's going to be cardboard."Heavy buyer, Group 2
What surprised the team
Implications and next steps
What four groups cannot tell you: how many buyers feel this way, or what share Night Off would take. That is the next study's job.
A group has a bias of its own. Once a confident voice speaks, others drift toward it. So the guide builds in a short paper ballot: each person rates the concepts alone, in quiet, before any discussion, and again at the very end. It breaks the flow of the room for a few minutes. In return it shows what people thought before the group got to them, and how far the conversation moved them.
Private favorite, before talk
13 of 32
A. Hearthstone Snap
Private favorite, after talk
14 of 32
C. Night Off, up from 10
Changed first choice
9 of 32
Between the first and the exit ballot
Hand vote differed from sheet
5 of 32
Raised a different card minutes after marking a private pick
First choice, three ways Measured · paper ballot
The hand vote sits in the middle of the night, after discussion has started. It looks like a three-way tie. The private ballots on either side of it tell a clearer story.
Where the votes went Measured · paper ballot
| Before talk | Stayed | To A | To B | To C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Hearthstone Snap 13 | 7 | · | 2 | 4 |
| B. Seasonal Table 9 | 7 | 1 | · | 1 |
| C. Night Off 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | · |
Hearthstone Snap lost six of its thirteen. Four went to Night Off, all after the crisping tray discussion.
Average appeal, 1 to 5 Measured · paper ballot
| Concept | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Hearthstone Snap | 3.9 | 3.4 | −0.5 |
| B. Seasonal Table | 3.5 | 3.6 | +0.1 |
| C. Night Off | 3.6 | 4.0 | +0.4 |
Before talk, light buyers split 6 Hearthstone, 7 Seasonal, 3 Night Off; heavy buyers 7, 2, 7. After: light 4, 8, 4; heavy 4, 2, 10.
What the ballots add
Hearthstone Snap is stronger than the room made it look. It was the top private pick before anyone spoke. It fell once the groups picked apart "farm-sourced," and the "snap" crust language was never the problem. Fix the claims and it earns a place in the quantitative test.
Night Off's gain held up in private. The exit ballot is filled in alone, so the four people who moved to it after hearing about the crisping tray were persuaded, not just agreeing with the table.
A focus group project produces more than a report. The team gets transcripts to search, recordings and a highlight reel to show people who were not in the back room, a fast topline and a fuller report. The usual pace is about three weeks from kickoff to topline.
Transcripts
2 business days
after each group, verbatim, speaker-labeled
Highlight reel
13:20
8 clips cut by theme, plus full recordings
Topline
3 business days
after the last group, with a live debrief
Full report
2 weeks
after the topline, with a quote bank
Timeline · kickoff to full report Illustrative
Kickoff Tue Sep 1, groups Sep 15 and 17, topline Tue Sep 22. Recruiting is the longest step and the one most worth protecting. A tight screener with hard quotas can need the full ten days.
Report formats
| Format | What it is | When | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topline | 6 to 8 pages: headline, findings, votes, next steps | 3 business days after the last group | Decisions that cannot wait for the full report |
| Debrief | 60 minutes, live, with the topline | Same week as the topline | Agreeing on what it means as a team |
| Full report | 25 to 35 pages by guide section, with group-by-group differences and a quote bank | 2 weeks after the topline | The record of the study, and the brief for the next one |
| Transcripts | Verbatim, one per group, participants labeled by number and buyer type | 2 business days after each group | Finding the exact words people used |
| Video | Full recordings plus a highlight reel of 12 to 15 minutes | Recordings next day, reel about a week after the last group | Showing people who were not in the back room |
Transcript excerpt · Group 4, heavy buyers, 0:52 Illustrative
MOD52:10You've had the Night Off board for a minute. What's the first thing you noticed?
P352:16The tray. Is that a real tray or a piece of cardboard with a shiny side?
MOD52:22Say more about why that matters.
P352:25Every box says crispy. Then you cut it and the middle folds like a napkin.
P652:33Same. If the tray works I'd pay the twelve. If it doesn't, I'm not buying it twice.
MOD52:41What would tell you, before you buy it, that it works?
P152:46Honestly, a picture of the bottom. Nobody ever shows you the bottom.
Each participant keeps the same number for the whole group, so a line in the report can be traced back to the moment it was said.
Highlight reel · clip list Illustrative
Clips are tagged by theme and group, so the reel can be re-cut for a different audience.