Attachment III
Draft Phase 1 Focus Group Moderator Guide
Environmental Protection Agency
Fuel Economy Label – Phase 1 Focus Group Moderator Guide
Introduction (8 minutes)
Moderator introduces herself/himself.
[Explain:] A focus group is a group discussion where we can learn more in-depth about peoples’ ideas and opinions (compared to telephone or written surveys).
My job is to facilitate the discussion and make sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and to make sure that no one dominates the conversation.
Mention observers in separate room.
Housekeeping – Toilets and refreshments.
Mention ground rules:
There is no right or wrong answer; we’re interested in your honest and candid opinions and ideas.
Our discussion is totally confidential. We will not use your name or contact information in any report.
Our discussion today is being recorded. These recordings allow us to write a more complete report, and to make sure we accurately reflect your opinions. However, please only speak one at a time, so that the recorder can pick up all your comments.
It is important to tell YOUR thoughts, not what you think others will think, or what you think others want to hear.
Please turn off cell phones
Your stipend will be provided as you leave.
Relax and enjoy
Thank you all for participating in the survey we sent to you in advance. Today we will continue the discussion talking about new car purchases. Any questions before we begin?
Let’s start off by getting to know a little more about each other. I’d like us to go around the room with each person answering the following questions:
Your first name
When did you buy your last new vehicle?
What make and model did you buy?
Did you consider buying a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or 100% electric vehicle?
Current Label Use (10 minutes)
What were the top two things that influenced your vehicle choice?
Did you use the fuel economy label when deciding on your new vehicle purchase? Why or why not? How did you use it? Then show participants a large size example of the current label (as well as 8 x11 copy for each participant) and ask what information on the label most influenced their purchasing decision. Probe briefly on why.
Fuel Consumption Metric (25 minutes)
(Hand out the fuel consumption metric work sheets. Show them the 4 options on large boards one option at a time.)
Then instruct them to “indicate on your worksheet which option would make you most likely to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle and which would make you least likely to choose a fuel efficient vehicle? For each choice write brief bullet points explaining why.”
Which of the 4 options explains fuel consumption most effectively? Why is that?
Moderator then tallies rankings and opens up to discussion regarding reasons behind their choices. (Listen for ‘grabs my attention’, ‘easy to understand’.)
Can you suggest other ways to express this information visually?
If this information was available on the label, would you use it in your decision about which vehicle to purchase? Why or why not? If so, at what point?
Remind them of the example of the “mpg illusion” from the pre-group survey and ask:
If you had the choice of ‘gallons per hundred miles’ or mpg, which would you use? Why?
What type of reactions did you get when you explained this issue to family or friends?
How do you think we can most effectively get vehicle buyers to switch from their current reliance on MPG which measures distance to using fuel consumption which measures efficiency when comparing vehicles’ fuel economy?
Fuel Cost Metric (25 minutes)
Is the average annual fuel cost information on the current label useful information? Did you notice and use this information in your recent purchase decision? (Show current label.) Why or why not?
We would now like to explore talking about cost. Understanding that cost per year depends greatly on variables such as fuel price, driving patterns and mix of city and highway driving, any approach we use would rely on basic assumptions such as a person drives 15K miles a year and gas costs $2.50 a gallon.
The current label shows annual costs. Are there other ways to express cost that would make you more likely to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle? (Write their suggestions on flip chart and probe on the why behind their suggested time periods. If they don’t mention monthly, 5-year, cost per 100 miles, cost per mile, add these to the list and get their reactions to these.) Show them actual numbers (on a handout sheet) for each of the following metrics and ask which of these is most likely to influence them to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle.
Annual
Monthly
5-year
Cost per mile
Cost per 100 miles
Then ask what combination of these, if any, would be the most powerful? Why?
(Hand out the fuel cost metric work sheet. Show them the 4 options on large boards one at a time.)
Then instruct them to “indicate on your worksheet which option would make you most likely to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle and which would make you least likely to choose a fuel efficient vehicle? For each choice write brief bullet points explaining why.”
Which of the 4 options explains fuel cost most effectively? Why is that?
Moderator then tallies rankings and opens up to discussion regarding reasons behind their choices. (Listen for ‘grabs my attention’, ‘easy to understand’.)
Can you suggest other ways to express this information visually?
If this information was available on the label, would you use it in your decision about which vehicle to purchase? Why or why not? If so, at what point?
Ask client if they have any questions at this time.
Environmental Metric (20 minutes)
(Hand out the environmental metric work sheet. Show them the 4 options on large boards one at a time.)
Then instruct them to “indicate on your worksheet which option would make you most likely to purchase an environmentally friendly vehicle and which would make you least likely to choose an environmentally friendly vehicle? For each choice write brief bullet points explaining why.”
Which of the 4 options explains environmental impact most effectively? Why is that?
Moderator then tallies rankings and opens up to discussion regarding reasons behind their choices. (Listen for ‘grabs my attention’, ‘easy to understand’.)
Can you suggest other ways to express this information visually?
If this information was available on the label, would you use it in your decision about which vehicle to purchase? Why or why not? If so, at what point?
If it wasn’t on the label, but you were directed to a web site for it, would you go to the website and use this information? Why or why not?
All of the options we showed you used the term “Environmental Impact”. Perhaps there is a better word to use. (Hand out form with word choices listed and instruct them to identify their #1 and #2 choices and the one they like the least.)
Environmental
Greenhouse Gas
Carbon Pollution
Global Warming
Climate Change
Moderator then tallies rankings and opens up to discussion regarding reasons behind their choices.
Range Metric (10 minutes – IF TIME PERMITS)
Show them the 1 option on large board. Then ask if range affects their purchase decision. Decision. What if one vehicle had a range of 600 miles and another had a range of 300 miles, would that affect your choice of vehicle? Why or why not?
Can you suggest other ways to express this information visually?
If it wasn’t on the label, but you were directed to a web site for it, would you go to the website and use this information? Why or why not?
Overall Label Design Issues (20 minutes)
How should we present the information we just discussed that you indicated would most influence you to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle (consumption metric, cost metric, environmental metric, range metric) on the label? Moderator to probe on and have group reach consensus on:
relative importance of each metric
prominence
placement of information
use of graphical elements
use of color
There are also some elements from the current label that must be on the new label. (Show boards with these elements.) What is the most effective way to incorporate these required label elements?
Range of comparable vehicles. (Show 4 designs of how this might be shown visually. Get quick thumbs up or thumbs down on each. Probe on why. Then show comparison of ‘within class’ and ‘compared to all vehicles’ and ask which would be more useful in helping them to choose the most fuel efficient vehicle.)
MPG (This may have already been discussed in ‘fuel consumption’ section since all designs now also show mpg. If so do not discuss, but restate conclusion from earlier discussion.)
Estimated annual fuel cost (This has probably already been covered under the ‘cost’ section above. If so do not discuss, but restate conclusion from earlier discussion.)
Statement about Fuel Economy Guide availability
What is the threshold between too little and too much information on the label? Is there something or things that you think should be removed from the label (other than those that are required)? What are these and why?
If you could only have TWO items on the label what would they be? Why? (Probe on how those would influence their choice of the most fuel efficient vehicle.)
Now that our group has arrived at the ‘ideal’ label, how do you think consumers will like this new label? Which changes do you think they won’t like? Why is that?
Wrap-Up (5 minutes)
Summarize findings from focus group and ask for confirmation of summarized findings.
Is there information that we have not discussed today that would influence you to choose a fuel efficient vehicle?
Anything else you would like our clients to know about you thoughts about fuel economy labels?
Ask client if they have any last questions.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Attachment III |
| Author | Rob French |
| Last Modified By | ctsuser |
| File Modified | 2010-02-16 |
| File Created | 2010-02-16 |