I recently returned from attending the Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research in Prague.  There was a great presentation given by fellow researcher Wendy Gordon on the topic of behavioral economics, a field that looks into how people make choices.  Numerous experiments have shown that logic is not the only factor in making choices.  Rather, people’s choices are strongly influenced by:

• The context (i.e., the comparison set, the other choices available)
• Other people (what our friends and colleague choose)
• The person’s mood at that moment

An important implication of the above: when we conduct research and ask people why they made a choice, respondents look for logical reasons even though the choice may not be completely rational.  That’s why we should consider asking questions such as “how,” “where,” “when” and “who” before asking “why.”  In other words, learn as much as we can about the decision-making process without respondents’ logical analysis of the process.

For example, let’s say we wanted to learn more about how people go about deciding to purchase exercise equipment.  We could ask people who recently purchased why they made that choice.  But we might obtain even more valuable results by asking potential purchasers questions about what else they might consider buying when considering the possibility of purchasing exercise equipment.  Or how many of their friends use exercise equipment, or go to the gym, or do nothing at all.  Or conduct an exercise asking respondents to describe the typical exercise equipment purchaser, then the typical gym-goer, then themselves.  We look for ways to get people to tell us how they decide without going into “rational mode” and telling us how they think they should be making the decision.

To find out how your prospects and customers make decisions, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.

Sources: “Making inspiring big theories into real chunks that have value,” Wendy Gordon, Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research, May, 2010; Bureau West research