Using Cross-Cultural Focus Groups as a Tool for Communication Campaign Design:
An Example from Russia’s Forest Project

Eric A. Abbott, Kate Gouverniuk, Ludmila Liamets, Tatyana Ukhanova

Focus groups can be a useful tool when working on a cross-cultural communication project in which the communication specialist
may have a very different cultural background than that of the target audience. Ten focus groups were used as a part of a large crosscultural
project to design a forest fire public awareness campaign for Russia’s Far East and Siberia. Three of the focus groups were used
to gain an in-depth understanding of forest behaviors that might pose a risk for forest fires. These groups also probed what members
of the target audience believe would be reasonably safe behaviors. The remaining seven focus groups were used to test prototype campaign
materials. This article offers practical advice on effective use of focus groups for any communicator involved in cross-cultural
communication activities.

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Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of Component 1 of its five-year Forest Project in Russia’s Siberia and Far East. The project component is being implemented under contract with Chemonics International as a part of a multicomponent project implemented
by Winrock International. Views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not represent the official policies or observations of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Chemonics International, Winrock International, or the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia. A preliminary report on the first five focus
groups was presented to Research Special Interest Group, Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE), Savannah, Georgia, August 17-21, 2002.
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