Supporting Statement

Request for Approval Under the Focus Group Generic Clearance
(OMB Control Number: 3041-0136)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
CPSC Creative Testing Focus Groups
PURPOSE:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) plans to conduct focus groups designed
to gather feedback in order to understand people’s perceptions and preferences when it comes to
creative approaches for promoting safety information. Through these focus groups, we will gather
insights and information on consumers’ understanding and comprehension of existing information
and education campaigns and which creative approach (tone, creative style) resonates best among
audiences. We will be testing the different existing CPSC campaigns as well as new creative assets
for CPSC. Between all the different creative assets tested, we will be measuring unaided recall
with aided recall. CPSC will use an independent research firm, Finn Partners to conduct the focus
groups. The results from this research will be used to determine CPSC’s creative and
communication strategy moving forward.
BACKGROUND: Focus groups are an especially important methodology for two key reasons:
1. Gauging which creative style is most appealing, engaging and preferred for safety
communications.
2. Understanding qualitatively the “why” behind the respondent’s preference and perception
of what is expected out of CPSC communications program.
Focus groups present opportunities to discuss the effectiveness of potential messages: what works,
what falls flat, what is confusing, or what may not be memorable. Gathering feedback from real
consumers on different types of CPSC advertisements allows us to assess whether they not only
agree with what CPSC is saying, but that they truly remember the campaign’s messages and goals.
We may identify that for certain CPSC messages, a certain type of creative style is more effective
and therefore, CPSC should be mindful of tone/creative style for different types of safety messages.
Conversely, comparing the same message but different creative approaches could help affirm that
the creative style/approach doesn’t matter. Understanding the appropriate creative style for a
campaign is critical to discussing topics that can be emotionally difficult, such as child drownings,
and to ensure that the tone helps to effectively reach your key audiences. Consumers in focus
groups will be able tell us which style is most engaging, believable and acceptable for safety
message awareness and adoption.
HOW THE DATA WILL BE USED: Based on the focus group findings, our team will make
suggestions to enhance the overall CPSC strategy to implement creative approaches for promoting
safety information. Findings are not intended to be nationally representative. CPSC will use the
results of the Creative Testing Focus Groups to inform future campaign creation to improve
effectiveness, and impact. Some areas identified for creative improvement include, but are not
limited to:
● Help inform the creative strategy

● Customize messaging based on the goal and/or audience
● Build on existing knowledge and continue to explore different creative approaches – the
goal is for campaigns to be memorable and appropriate for a broad audience
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: For the CPSC Creative Testing Focus Groups, the
respondents include consumers from a variety of different backgrounds, demographics, and
experiences. Given the qualitative nature of these focus groups, soft quotas are not meant to be
nationally representative.
The selection of targeted respondents:
For the CPSC Creative Testing Focus Groups, the focus group facilities will screen and recruit
participants. To initially get leads, facilities will ask key qualification questions. The initial
outreach to generate leads would include sending an email with three questions which are
identified in the focus group screener (questions about gender identity, race/ethnicity, and lastly
about their age). Once the leads have been identified then we call over the phone and ask the
participant all of the questions from the full screener.
Market research facilities will have at least 1 month to recruit 13 participants to seat ten participants
per focus group. All participants who are recruited for these focus groups will be at least 18 years
old. Participants will be selected so as to form a distribution of various levels of educational
attainment, level of income, and they must meet soft quotas for other demographic variables of
interest (i.e., age, race/ethnicity, and gender) to ensure opinions are gathered from people of varied
backgrounds. (See Focus Group screener.)

● Two consumer groups. Group one aged 18 - 34 and group two aged 35 - 54. We are
separating the groups by age to identify if generational perspective is a potential factor in
creative style reception.
● Each group will include a mix of consumers from diverse backgrounds including a mix of
regions, race/ethnicity, gender, and income groups. We do this so that we have a broad
representation of thoughts and opinions.
● Group conversations will be conducted in English.
100% of respondents will be reporting remotely. Interview screening will be conducted remotely
and focus groups will be conducted virtually.
CERTIFICATION:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low burden for respondents and low-cost for the federal government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other
federal agencies.
4. Information gathered will not be used to substantially inform influential policy
decisions.

5. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents.
Personally Identifiable Information:
None of the participants will be specifically identified by their full name. To facilitate open
conversations, individual’s first names will be used during the session and therefore may be
recorded on audio and video. However, the audio and video recordings will not be released to the
public.
Only demographic information will be generalized in the final report and none of the responses
in the final report will be attributed to any specific individual.
The contractor for the focus groups, Finn Partners, will include specific guidance for the security
and privacy of the participants and their contact information. Upon completion of the contract
the Contractor will be required to return all previously provided databases and will provide
documentation demonstrating that no other copies and references to the personal data of the
potential and actual focus group participants are maintained. Upon approval of the final report,
the Contractor will provide all copies of audio/video data collected for this contract.
Gifts or Payments:
An incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) is provided to
participants. We are proposing an incentive of $150 incentive in the form of a prepaid debit card,
for completing all aspects of participation.
Previously, CPSC has offered $75 for approximately one hour of participation in a focus group.
Therefore, we believe $150 for two hours of participation is appropriate. The incentive will both
encourage participation and also offset the opportunity cost of respondent participation in the
focus group. We understand that people’s time is valuable and that participants have competing
demands for their time. Additionally, incentives help ensure that we can recruit respondents from
a variety of backgrounds and that recruited participants show up on the stipulated date and time.

BURDEN HOURS
Category

No. of Respondents

Participation Time

Burden

Focus Group Screening

200

5 minutes

Focus Group Participation

26 (13 respondents
per each of 2 groups)

150 minutes

16 hours
and 40
minutes
65 hours

Total

200 (since the 26 in
the first category are
also included in the
200)

155 minutes for 26
participants
5 minutes for 174
screened nonparticipants

81 hours
and 40
minutes

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employer costs for employee compensation for
civilian workers averaged $39.55 per hour worked in September 2021. Therefore, we estimate the
cost of the burden of collection to be $3,230 ($39.55 per hour × 81.666 hours = $3,229.89).

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the federal government is $53,000.00
Total estimated cost to the government for conducting six virtual groups is as follows:
Number of Participants
Total estimated cost of conducting focus group

26
$53,000.00

This estimate includes the budget for creating the discussion guide, recruitment, incentives for
participants, virtual focus group hosting, moderation, focus group transcripts, and a full final
report, divided by the specified number of completed participants. We do not anticipate any travel,
shipping, or printing costs since we will conduct the groups virtually.
COVID-19 Procedures:
FINN Partners has safety protocols in place which aim to protect the safety of their employees,
participants, and their families. FINN Partners protocol follows CDC guidance for COVID-19.
Safety strategies used to protect FINN Partners staff working in the office include use of hand
sanitizer, wearing masks, and socially distancing when appropriate. All focus groups will be
conducted virtually.