Online audio group discussions – A comparison with face-to-face methods

[[abstract]]Presents a study which aims to compare online audio group discussions with face to face (FTF) methods within the context of new product development (NPD). The quantity of information, quality of information and equality of participants were evaluated based on scales developed by previous studies. To measure the communication effectiveness in terms of quantity, quality and equality, the field data collected were decoded and analysed independently by three coders, who subsequently reviewed the interpretations together. The total number of words produced by each participant in the online audio groups was significantly greater than that of FTF groups. The results indicated hat participants in audio focus groups are able to create more information when compared to those in FTF groups. Not only can they produce more information but the information itself is of higher quality, with more unique ideas being generated than in FTF groups. Overall, the results based on both qualitative and quantitative information suggested that the performance of communication in audio focus groups seems to be much more effective and efficient when compared to FTF focus groups. Compared to FTF focus groups, the online audio method generated more information, greater quality of information and no lower equality of participation