Supporting Statement

Request for Approval Under the Focus Group Generic Clearance
(OMB Control Number: 3041-0136)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
CPSC DEI Focus Group: Hispanic Consumer Study
PURPOSE:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) plans to conduct one focus group
designed to gather feedback in order to understand how to improve its safety education
communication outreach amongst the Spanish dominant/bilingual Hispanic population (those who
consume and prefer Spanish language content). Through the focus group, we will gather insights
and information on consumers’ understanding and comprehension of existing CPSC campaign
communication assets to learn how to improve them to make them more relevant. Additionally, it
will be important to hear from Hispanic consumers about their preferred communication channels
(social platforms, print, broadcast) preferences. CPSC will use an independent research firm, FINN
Partners, to conduct the focus group. The results from this research will be used to determine how
to optimize CPSC’s social media channel plan, earned media outreach, and inform creative
campaign development 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 programs.
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 CPSC Hispanic Consumer Focus Group to inform future campaign creation to
improve effectiveness, and impact. Some areas identified for creative improvement include, but
are not limited to:

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●
●

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 Hispanic Consumer Focus Group, the
respondents include consumers from a variety of different backgrounds, demographics, and
experiences. Given the qualitative nature of the focus group, soft quotas are not meant to be
nationally representative.
The selection of targeted respondents:
For the CPSC Hispanic Consumer Focus Group, the focus group facilities will screen and recruit
participants. To initially get leads, facilities will ask key qualification questions in both English
and Spanish. The initial outreach to generate leads will be in both English and Spanish and would
include sending an email with three questions which are identified in the focus group screener
(questions about ethnicity, preferred language spoken at home, and lastly about their age). The
reason why we do not terminate any other language spoken at home is that for many Latino
families, they also speak their indigenous language from their country of origin. There is no need
to exclude those that may speak additional languages as this doesn't impact the research. We just
need to ensure that they consume and prefer Spanish language media over English for important
information. We need to be diverse, equitable, and inclusive/mindful that there are mixed multigeneration families that may have additional languages spoken at home. Once the leads have been
identified then we call over the phone and ask the prospective participant all of the questions from
the full screener in English and Spanish. Prospective participants will be asked all of the questions
from the full screener in English and Spanish to ensure we are being culturally sensitive and have
them select the preferred language to complete the screener.
Market research facilities will have at least 1 month to recruit 13 participants to seat ten participants
in the focus group. All participants who are recruited for the focus group 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, ethnicity, and gender) to ensure opinions are gathered from people of varied
backgrounds. (See Focus Group screener.)
One consumer group. Group aged 18 – 54.
The group will reflect the U.S. Hispanic population, as reported by the U.S. Census, which
would be approximately
o Four people of Mexican heritage
o Three of Caribbean heritage (primarily Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Dominican
Republic)
o The remaining will be of Central/South American heritage (El Salvador, Guatemala
and Colombia, excluding Brazil)
● This group will include a mix of consumers from a mix of regions, gender, and income
groups (maximum $120,000). We do this so that we have a broad representation of
thoughts and opinions.

●
●

FINN will ensure that respondents regularly consume at least five hours of Spanish
language media per week.
● Group conversations will be conducted in Spanish and held virtually. There will be the
potential for some English to be spoken as well; however, this will be determined by the
group’s comfort level.
●

100% of respondents will be reporting remotely. Interview screening will be conducted remotely
and the focus group 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 group, 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 $175 incentive in the form of a prepaid debit card
for completing all aspects of participation.
The incentive provided will not only encourage participation but will also offset the opportunity
cost of participation in the focus group by respondents. 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 the targeted group
of respondents and help ensure recruited participants show up on the stipulated date and time.

BURDEN HOURS
Category

No. of
Respondents
100

Participation Time

Burden

5 minutes

8 hours and 20
minutes

Focus Group
Participation

13

120 minutes

26 hours

Total

100

125 minutes for 13
participants
5 minutes for 87 screened
non-participants

34 hours and 20
minutes

Focus Group
Screening

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 $1,358 ($39.55 per hour × 34.333 hours = $1,357.88).
FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the federal government is $35,000.00
Total estimated cost to the government for conducting six virtual groups is as follows:
Number of Participants
Total estimated cost of conducting focus group

13
$35,000.00

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. The focus group will be
conducted virtually.