9.13
Why you should never ask shoppers a question they can lie about

I'm a market researcher.

Sometimes it feels like I’m playing a game of telephone with a brand and a group of shoppers. In this game, the brand shouts a message to shoppers but they never hear it, and even when they do they don’t pass it on to me, which makes my job – to get the message back to brand – difficult.

Whenever I ask shoppers if they remember hearing the message they respond with vague, half-formed thoughts, and if I'm not careful I'll start a vicious cycle of misinformation.

These feedback loops have contributed to some monumental mistakes in business.

Ford's infamous Edsel – discontinued in 1959 after losing an estimated $250 million – was “designed, named, advertised, and promoted with a slavish adherence to the results of public opinion polls." Yet its demise is attributed to confusing features nobody asked for, such as a ring of buttons for shifting gears embedded in the steering wheel.

New Coke also comes to mind. In the 80s, when Coke kept losing to Pepsi in blind taste tests, consumers were reported saying "Sweeter cola tastes better," which is true. But coupled with sluggish sales the feedback morphed into "Discontinue the original formula and launch New Coke."

How do you safeguard against bad information cascading into bad decisions?

Ask shoppers questions they can't lie about – not lie intentionally, like a mischievous kid distorting the message in telephone, but unintentionally, like a kid simply mishearing the message. (Check out The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.)

"What's the first thing you do when you get into your car to go to work in the morning?"

is better than

"What do you like about your car?"

Get people talking about what they do.

Anything else and you risk spreading misinformation. The result will not be as delightful as the moment in telephone when the final recipient announces the message to the group.