The "wedding officiant" guide to asking survey questions

There’s a question I’ve been getting lately, “What do I get when I get a Roast?”

I’m going to try to answer it.

But instead of boring case studies or some speech about data quality, I thought I’d tell a story.

So here it goes.

Last weekend, I attended a wedding where the officiant posed a thought-provoking question: "Why get married? What’s the point?”

He paused, letting the question hang in the air, then said, “Because language makes things real.”

As the vows were exchanged, I noticed a connection between his role in the wedding and my work. Although I rely on surveys, both of us use language to give unspoken experience a new, tangible reality.

In the process of doing this, I’ve noticed that a survey question's primary value isn't found in the data it collects, but in how convincingly it frames a purchase.

To see what I mean, consider this promotion, printed on the back of my ticket for my flight home from the wedding: 

"Try our tasty, hand-selected boxed meal options onboard!” 
 

When I read it, I grabbed a pen and wrote a question above the promotion:
 

“Intended to get food but ran out of time? Try our tasty, hand-selected boxed meal options onboard!”
 

I continued on with a few more questions — about landing on an empty stomach, lackluster food options in the terminal, and so on.

Like the officiant, I tried to make a potential, but not guaranteed, decision feel inevitable. In my case, it was a passenger saying “yes” to a boxed meal.

Then I imagined the airline tasking its marketing department with boosting sales of the boxed meals, and the researchers subsequently measuring how interested passengers were in them, using a 1-5 scale.

I wondered: What if instead of using a scale as mundane as a city hall officiant's script, they posed a multiple choice question using the questions now covering my ticket?

Like this:

 Q: Did you experience any of these on your last flight?

◯ Intended to get food before boarding but didn’t have time.

◯ Meant to pack snacks for the plane but forgot.

◯ Landed on an empty stomach.

◯ Wanted to bring food on the plane but didn’t have a free hand.

◯ Wanted to get food before boarding but couldn’t find a good option.

◯ None of these scenarios.
 

During our descent into New York, I outlined two reasons for why I thought this version was better.

The first is that it’s actionable even if zero passengers answer it. With a few edits, each response option could be printed above the promotion; the data it collects would simply help the airline pick which one.

The second is that the question itself begins to reveal problems the meal boxes could be uniquely positioned to solve.

I know that it lacks the emotional punch of wedding remarks, and I’m not saying getting the marketing right is as simple as a copy and paste.

The point is that a survey question has value separate from the data it collects, and it is the same value I try to deliver in each Roast.

The rules and methodology stuff is essential but secondary, like a marriage certificate.

I hope that answers the question.

If you think a Roast could benefit you, just click on the link below to book one.

I’d love to help.  

https://www.sammcnerney.com/45-dollar-survey-roast

Sam