When conducting market research, it’s tempting to simply ask participants direct questions:  Would you buy this product?  What do you like about that product?  What do you think of this brand?

The problem is, research participants lie.  Well, it’s usually not on purpose, so perhaps “lie” is too strong a word, but they don’t tell the truth.  When asked a direct question, people try to theorize how they would make a decision in a given situation, which can be different than actually being in that situation.

The good news is, we have ways to get around that.  When designing a research study, we can try to avoid direct questions, and instead, use approaches that provide participants with the context that enables us to get at how they really think.  For example:

• Instead of asking if people would buy a product, we might tell people to imagine they have a certain amount of money, describe the various product choices and prices, and ask them how they would spend their money.
• If we wanted to find out the perceived benefits of a product, rather than asking what they like about it, we might ask them to imagine a situation where the product wasn’t available and to describe their reactions.
• Rather than asking what people think of a certain brand, we might ask them to describe the typical customer of that brand and then compare that customer to themselves.

Those are just a few examples of a wide range of situations.  These aren’t new approaches; my point is, in many cases, we need to avoid the temptation to take the easy route and ask a direct question, and consider whether one of those indirect approaches might provide us with better answers.

Want more examples? I’m writing a presentation about how to get at what customers really think.  I’d be glad to give the presentation in-person or by phone.  Let me know.  Call me at (818) 752-7210.