SAUP MARKETING STUDY
Focus Group Interview Questions
INSTRUCTIONS FOR FACILITATORS

If possible, assign two roles to our JMU staff facilitating the focus group: (1) a facilitator, and (2)
note taker. The facilitator will ask the questions and guide the conversation. The note taker will
record comments as completely and accurately as possible. It is usually best if the roles are not
switched interchangeably during the focus group (i.e. note taker guide some of the
conversation, etc.).

Assign each participant a number (#1 - ?) and collect the following information: Sex, Age, On vs.
Off-Campus Residence, and Major. Comments/quotes by participants will be recorded by their
assigned number and not their name. It might be helpful if we give them name tags or place
cards with their number for the ease of the note taker. Moreover, we will not use students’
names in the report and instead refer to them by descriptive characteristics. For example, we
might report a quote as being said by a 19 year old female Biology major who lives on campus.
So it is important to make sure we know “who” each numbered participant is. Please let
participants know this so that they are reassured that their comments will be confidential and
that they can answer as honestly as possible.

Allow 15-20-minutes or so for dinner and casual conversation. It is okay if we start asking
questions while participants are finishing dinner.

Start by explaining to the participants the purpose of this research study and how we plan to use
the results. As many of the questions below refer to data from our campus-wide survey, it may
be very helpful to talk a little about the survey itself.

Use the following questions for the remainder of the focus group. While all participants are
welcome to answer each question, it is not essential that we collect a response for each
question from each participant.

As the focus group question portion is intended to last about 100-minutes and 16 questions
follow, please allow about 6-7 minutes per question so that adequate time is allowed for each
question below to be covered. The facilitator may feel free to ask impromptu questions if
participants’ comments warrant asking these questions, but the facilitator should not stray too
far from the questions listed here. Facilitators may feel free to rephrase the questions below to
fit his/her style or for better understanding if the participants don’t get what we’re asking.

Keep it informal and have fun!
FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
1. Think of the last few campus events that you attended. Describe the “process” that lead you
attending one of those events. You may want to describe how you learned about the event,
what made you want to attend, who you shared info about this event with, etc.
2. 61% of survey respondents reported “always” or “often” attended campus events because of
info sent to them by JMU. Also, “JMU Email” was listed in an open-ended question as the way
that most survey respondents preferred to get info about campus events. However, among
JMU staff, there is a perception that many JMU Information Emails get instantly deleted or
simply ignored. Can you help clear up whether or not JMU emails are effective or desired by
students? Does the tag line “JMU INFORMATIONAL EMAIL” influence your decision to read the
email? What things would make an email tagline a good one?
3. “Word of Mouth” seems to be an important way that students learn about campus events.
What can JMU staff do to encourage or make it easier for students to spread the word about
events in this way?
4. In your opinion, how important or effective are Breeze ads in advertising campus events and
getting students to attend?
5. Regarding the importance of social media sites in influencing students to attend campus events,
our survey indicated that 40% of students said “extremely important” or “very important” and
44% said “neither important nor unimportant.” In your opinion, why is FB more influential with
some students and not others? Are “official” postings more influential? Or are friends’ postings
more influential?
6. What are the best ways to get people to “like” your Facebook event or page?
7. Our campus survey showed that Monday was the day that most students paid attention to ads,
followed by Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (in that order). In
your opinion, why is this?
8. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges in getting JMU students to attend campus
events?
9. In your opinion, where does JMU “miss the mark” in terms of marketing campus events?
10. In your opinion, what is JMU doing well in terms of marketing campus events?
11. According to our survey, cost was cited as one of the most important factors in influencing
students’ decision to attend campus events. However, we are unclear if this means that (1)
students are attending because they know most campus events are free, or (2) students are not
attending events because they think that there is a cost. Please talk about “cost” as a factor in
influencing students’ attendance at campus events.
12. Where are the best places to hang fliers/posters around campus in order to capture the most
attention?
13. THIS QUESTION MAY BE RESERVED FOR OFF-CAMPUS STUDENTS ONLY. How do we advertise to
off-campus students? Are on-campus exposures to advertisements during the school day
enough? Should JMU consider hanging fliers at apartment complexes? Are bus fliers effective?
14. JMU staff and student groups often put a lot of effort into tabling and Commons events? How
effective is this strategy?
15. Are there any new technologies/programs/aps/devices now (or coming) that we should be
aware of that are popular and might help advertise events?
16. Aside from things we discussed, what are some other strategies that JMU could use to increase
attendance and participation at campus events?