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'Focus Group Guy' Reveals 20 Years Of Findings

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Apr 1, 2009 12:10 pm US/Mountain

'Focus Group Guy' Reveals 20 Years Of Findings

Written by Brooke Wagner

Reporting
Brooke Wagner
DENVER (CBS4) ― Focus groups have a huge hand in selecting, selling, and branding every American product from politics to potato chips.

Robert Burgess, who trademarked the name of "Focus Group Guy" decided to reveal his focus group findings after more than 20 years conducting research for some of the nation's largest companies.

"This is direct from the American people...thousands of them!' said Burgess of his book, America in Focus.

Burgess' Denver company, Marketing Advocates, has assembled and interviewed thousands of focus groups.

Often, Burgess was shocked by what he heard, such as one example from the book, in which a 25 year old quipped, "Work? No way. I'm going to win the lottery, baby." He wasn't alone. In fact, Burgess asserts this research proves the American Dream has changed significantly.

"The new dream is, get rich now," Burgess said.

It's an attitude Burgess believes contributed to this recession.

When asked about saving, one of the respondents quoted in Burgess' book answered, "I know I should save. But it's just so darn hard to find the money when there are so many other fun things I want to spend it on."

Focus groups also frequently mentioned corporate criminals to Burgess and his staff. In America in Focus, Burgess quotes one banker as saying, "It's worth it. You do the time for a bit, and these guys come out rich."

"No matter what happens to him (the corporate criminal) in jail, he's going to walk away a rich man. And that's the bad example," said Burgess.

After decades of listening to the opinions of Americans, Burgess is confident there's a silver lining to his research.

"This country is still the greatest country on Earth. I mean that, because of our freedom and the will and strenth of our people," said Burgess.

Sprinkled among the disheartening comments are those that give Burgess hope that things will get better.

"When we decide to do something, we do it better than anyone. We have a tremendous capacity to improve society," said Burgess.

That capacity is key to beating the recession, according to Burgess. He said, the tide will turn when Americans decide they want to commit to a better society...and stronger economy. He believes the compassion and determination of the people will prevail.

"The recurring them in the book is, when we get tired of certain things as a society, we will make fundamental changes," said Burgess. "There's not magic to it."

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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