Tips that will help companies or brands when conducting consumer research

Last Updated on February 5, 2022 by Jonathan Lopez

Conducting proper consumer research is one of the most important steps before starting a business. Businesses that conduct thorough and accurate research into what their consumers want will be more successful than those not. No matter how big or small your company is, it’s important to understand consumer needs and wants and deliver on them. Here are some tips that will help companies or brands when conducting consumer research; what things should companies or brands avoid when collecting and interpreting consumer research.

Avoid leading questions

When asking consumers about their opinions, try not to use leading questions. For example, if you asked, “Do you like this product?” Consumers might not like the fact that the interviewer is already pushing their own opinion onto them and question why they should agree with it. This makes it difficult for interviewers to ask follow-up questions to uncover additional information. If you must ask leading questions, make sure to state upfront that the answer doesn’t necessarily reflect your company’s opinion.

Don’t assume or infer an attitude

It can be tempting to respond from consumers by assuming or inferring an attitude towards your brand or product. However, even if it seems obvious, don’t do this. By doing so, you may end up misleading your audience and lose credibility. It also gives the impression that your target market isn’t intelligent enough to know what they’re talking about.

Ask open-ended questions

Open-ended questions encourage consumers to provide as much detail as possible, making it easier to organize relevant data later. They allow room for the respondent to give their true feelings rather than forcing them to choose between answering in a favorable way vs. providing honest feedback. Open-ended questions can include: “What are some other ways we could improve our service/product?”

Think critically

Before conducting any survey or poll, think critically about what type of responses you want to see and whether or not it is reasonable to expect that level of cooperation from your respondents. People often have different motivations for participating in surveys and polls. If you don’t clearly define these motivations upfront, you risk getting inaccurate results.

Provide a clear call to action

Provide a clear CTA (call to action) at the end of your survey or poll. Be specific and brief. You should strive to keep it short and sweet and leave people enough space to express themselves. A good rule of thumb is never to go over two screens on mobile devices; as with any online marketing tactic, the shorter and less intrusive, the better. Long forms tend to intimidate people and prevent them from giving honest answers.

Keep track of what works

After each round of testing, analyze which techniques worked best and didn’t work at all. Then, look back at the overall goals of your experiment. Did anything seem strange, unusual, or unexpected? Were there any common themes within the comments made? Was any particular element more popular or unpopular? With this information, you can modify and refine your communication strategies next time around.

Never stop learning

No matter who conducts or sponsors it, research always has something new to teach us. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t with your customers. What’s working now? What’s not? Why? How can you improve upon it? These are just some examples of things we can learn from previous research efforts. It’s easy not to listen to others’ advice. Instead, seek opportunities to collaborate with others to find solutions to problems.

Know when to pivot

During your research project, you will need to change directions. This is inevitable. Don’t hesitate to make adjustments along the way. Sometimes, despite everything, one technique does outperform another. At times like these, it might be more effective to try a new approach instead of using what isn’t performing.
In conclusion, consumer research is an integral part of any business strategy. Using the right methods, tools, and resources allows you to get great value from the information collected. You may even gain insight into how to enhance your brand image further.