Seeking Conformity?

I'm on vacation this week. Went out golfing the other day playing on a new course. Now, I haven't really played since last year, so I'm pretty rusty (not that I never get really... "un-rusty, at least at golf). We got paired up with another twosome for our round. They seemed nice enough; members of the club where we were playing.

The first few holes went okay. The other twosome was playing much better than we were which was not surprising. By the time we got to the 6th hole, my game fell apart. I suddenly looked like I had never swung a club before. That is not all that surprising for my game. But what I noticed really surprised me. On the same hole, the other three players all crumbled as well. As a group we put 6 balls in the lake, topped numerous shots and almost hit each other twice. One guy from the other group quit about half-way to the hole saying he'd never played so badly...

It appeared that my collapse spread broadly and quickly. For that hole, we found a group "norm", that unfortunately was the lowest common denominator (my ability).

People tend to conform with the group that they are in. Play golf with people much better than yourself, and you're likely to play beyond your abilities. Play with people much worse and you're likely to fall apart.

I can't help but think that this same trend is true when studying consumers. Talk to them one at a time in their natural environment, and you're likely to see the real person. Bring them into a group and talk to them all at once, and you will inevitably see the subconscious conforming of people into the group's norm. Which is it that you want to learn, an individual's needs and opportunities, or the lowest common denominator of the group?