Cynthia Gaskill is the owner of a clothing store that caters to college students. Through informal conversations with her customers, she has begun to suspect that a video game rental store specifically targeting college students would do quite well in the local market. While her conversations with students have revealed an overall sense of dissatisfaction with existing rental outlets, she hasn't been able to isolate specific areas of concern. Thinking back to a marketing research course she took in school, Gaskill has decided that focus group research would be an appropriate method to gather information that might be useful in deciding whether to pursue further development of her idea to open a video game rental store (e.g., a formal business plan, store policies).
a. What is the decision problem and resulting research problem apparent in this situation?
b. Whom should Gaskill select as participants for the focus group? Exactly what criteria would you establish for recruiting participants?
c. Where should the focus group session be conducted?
d. What would you need the moderator of the focus group to know before the session?
e. Develop the moderator's guidebook for the focus group.