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Lawyer’s guide to writing thought-provoking survey questions

­­Brand consideration and purchase intent are two of the most popular metrics brands measure and continuously track. They usually take the form of a “how likely are you to…?” survey question with options ranging from “extremely likely” to “extremely unlikely.”

I find them somewhat insightful.

Last week as I was drafting a survey for a client, I realized there was a better way to format these two questions. Instead of asking shoppers how likely they are to consider my client’s brand, I asked them how relevant the brand felt to their daily needs. Then, I used a standard purchase intent question to filter shoppers into a category I call “relevant but won’t buy.”

To the shoppers in this group (who said my client’s brand felt relevant but aren’t interested in making a purchase) I asked, “You said this brand felt relevant but you don’t plan on making a purchase. Why not?”

Formatted this way — as opposed to the standard, “Why are you unlikely to make a purchase?” — the question uncovered more insightful responses. I understood what was preventing on-the-fence shoppers from clicking “add to cart” and “proceed the checkout.”

This methodological tweak got me thinking.

For the last few years I’ve experimented with survey questions that use a respondent’s previous answer to call out an inconsistent opinion or attitude. The idea is not to play “gotcha” but push people to reexamine their own thinking. In one survey studying the psychology of recycling, I isolated people who said recycling is important but admitted that they don’t always put cans in the recycling bin…  just so I could ask, “If you think remembering to recycle is important, can you explain why sometimes you don’t do it?”

Surveys are typically designed to remove bias and personal opinion. But that doesn’t preclude anyone from questioning a shopper like a lawyer cross-examines a witness. If you want the whole truth, don’t give them options. Find a gap in someone’s story and ask them to fill it.