types of marketing research questions

68 market research questions to ask (and how to ask them)

Example market research questions, market research questions to ask customers, market research questions for product development, market research questions for brand tracking, pricing survey questions for market research, how to write your own market research questions.

No two market research projects are alike, but happily there are some tried-and-tested questions you can use for inspiration to get the consumer insights you’re looking for.

It’s all about asking questions that are most relevant to the goals of your research. Every so often the best questions are actually quite straightforward, like asking consumers where they do their grocery shopping.

If you’re creating a customer profile, you’ll ask different questions than when you’re running creative testing with your target audience, or getting insights on key consumer trends in your market.

The right market research questions are the ones that will lead you to actionable insights, and give you a competitive advantage in your target market.

Let’s kick this off and get straight into some questions, shall we?

Where do we even begin with this?! There are so many types of research and we’ll get into which questions work for each below, but here are some classic example market research questions to get you started.

These particular questions are good for surveys that you might run when you’re running some essential consumer profiling research.

• Which of these products have you purchased in the last 3 months?
• Which of the following types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< do you buy at least once a month?
• Approximately, how much would you say you spend on >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< per month?
• What is stopping you from buying more of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• When was the last time you tried a new >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Please rank the following on how important or unimportant they are when deciding which >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to buy?
• Which of these brands are you aware of?
• Which of these brands have you purchased from in the last 3 months?
• How do you prefer to shop for >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Why do you prefer to shop online?
• Why do you prefer to shop in-store?
• Thinking about the following, how often do you use/listen/watch each of these media?
• Where do you go to keep up to date with the news?
• Which social media platforms do you use daily?
• What mobile phone do you currently own?

Surely you want to talk to your current customers to understand why they buy from you and what they think about your products?

Correct! But your consumer research should definitely not end with current customers!

Here’s why you should think about broadening your research to include other groups and different market research methods :

• Current customers: This is a must! Running research to your current customers will help you understand how you can make your product or service better. These are the people who’ve spent their hard-earned cash on your products so they have a unique perspective on what kind of value you offer. In addition, understanding why your existing customer base chose your brand over others can help you create messaging that resonates with people who are still on the fence.
• Previous customers: People who used to buy your products but don’t anymore can give you valuable insight into areas you might need to improve. Perhaps your brand perception has shifted making some customers buy elsewhere, or maybe your competitors offer customers better value for money than you currently do. These are the kinds of areas you can learn about by running research to previous customers.
• Non-customers: You should also ask people who haven’t bought your products why they haven’t. That way you’ll learn what you need to improve to bring new customers in. You should ideally ask the same kinds of questions, so that you can learn about what product features you need to work on but also things like the messaging you should be putting out there to win people over.

Here are some questions that are perfect for competitive market analysis research. Some of these questions might sound similar to some from our previous section on consumer profiling—that’s because there’s often some crossover between these types of research. Consumer profiling often refers to a more general type of research that covers similar ground to market analysis. If you’re wondering how to calculate market size , questions like these would be a great starting point.

• How often do you usually purchase >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Why do you buy >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• What types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY< do you buy?
• How often do you buy the following types of >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Where do you buy your >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Where do you find out about >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• Which of these brands have your purchased in the last 12 months?
• How would you feel if you could no longer buy >INSERT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CATEGORY<?
• How important or unimportant do you find the following topics? (e.g. sustainability, diversity and inclusion, ethical supply chain)
• What could be improved about the products you currently use?

By involving consumers in the product development process, you can make sure that your products are designed to meet—and ideally exceed—their needs.

Product market research can be done at several points in the product development process, by asking potential customers in your target market questions about existing products (yours or competitors’), prototypes, or just your own early-stage product ideas.

You can dive into the customer experience, specific product features or simply find out if the product quality matches the value proposition you’re putting out there.

Sometimes you even get a surprising answer to the question: how does our product or service help people?

You might learn from the survey responses that customers are using your product in a different way than you intended, opening you up to new target markets and different product types in the future.

Asking these questions also allows you to get feedback on your designs, so that you can make necessary changes before the product is released. Here’s some inspiration for when you’re conducting product market research.

There are different types of new product development research. A key type is Jobs to be done research. This research digs into the practical reasons people buy products—the jobs they need to get done with a specific product. You use these insights to help you create products that will genuinely help consumers, and that they’ll ultimately want to buy.

• How many times have you carried out [INSERT ACTIVITY] in the last 12 months?
• How much time would you typically spend on this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How important or unimportant is carrying out this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How satisfied or unsatisfied do you feel when carrying out this [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• What is the best thing about carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY]?
• How does carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY] make you feel? Please select all that apply
• What particular problems or challenges do you run into while carrying out [INSERT ACTIVITY]?

When you’re cooking up your brand’s next product, you’ll want to go through a concept testing phase. This is where you ask consumers what they think about your idea and find out whether it’s likely to be a success. Here are some of the questions you could ask in your concept testing research.

• To what extent do you like or dislike this idea/product? [ATTACH IMAGE]
• What do you like about this idea/product?
• What do you dislike about this idea/product?
• Is easy to use
• Sounds tasty
• Is good quality
• Is Innovative
• Is different from others
• Purchase this product
• Replace the product I currently own with this
• What other products this idea/product reminds you of? Please provide as much detail as possible including the product name.
• What feature(s), if any, do you feel are missing from this product?
• How would you improve this idea/product? Be as descriptive as possible!
• What issues do you solve through the use of this product?
• When can you see yourself using this product? Please select all that apply.
• The price for this product is $25.00 per item. How likely or unlikely would you be to buy this product at this price?

Get inspired with NPD survey templates

Our in-house research experts have created New Product Development (NPD) survey templates to give you the perfect starting point for your product research!

Does the perspective of new customers change over time? How do you compare to other brands, and how do you become the preferred brand in your market and increase that market share?

Brand perception and brand awareness are super important metrics to track. These insights can be used to improve customer experience and satisfaction on a higher level than just product: the relationship you have with your customers.

This research can also help you understand how to reach the holy grail of branding: turning loyal customers into brand ambassadors.

You should also remember to ask marketing research questions about your brand to existing and potential customers.

Existing customers might have a different view after having interacted with your team and products, and you can use that to manage the expectations of your target customers down the line. And potential customers can help you understand what’s holding them back from joining your customer base.

Top tip: it’s completely fine (and super beneficial!) to run brand tracking into your competitors’ brands as well as your own. Replicating research for different brands will give you a tailored benchmark for your category and position.

Here are some key questions to ask in your brand tracking research.

• Which of the following, if any, have you purchased in the past 12 months?
• Thinking about >INSERT YOUR CATEGORY<, what brands, if any, are you aware of? Please type in all that you can think of.
• Which of these brands of facial wipes, if any, are you aware of?
• Which of these facial wipe brands, if any, have you ever purchased?
• Which of these facial wipe brands, if any, would you consider purchasing in the next 6 months?
• e.g. Innovative
• Easy to use
• Traditional
• We’d now like to ask you some specific questions about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<.
• When did you last use >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• What do you like most about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• What do you like least about >INSERT YOUR BRAND<?
• How likely would you be to recommend >INSERT YOUR BRAND< to a friend, family or colleague?
• Why did you give that score? Include as much detail as possible
• In newspapers/magazines
• On Instagram
• On Facebook
• On the radio
• Through friends/family/colleagues
• When did you last use >INSERT MAIN COMPETITOR BRAND<?
• How likely would you be to recommend >INSERT MAIN COMPETITOR BRAND< to a friend, family or colleague?

Kick off your brand tracking with templates

Track your brand to spot—and act on!—how your brand’s perception and awareness affects how people buy. Our survey templates give you the ideal starting point!

When it comes to pricing your product, there’s no need to wing it—a pricing survey can give you the insights you need to arrive at the perfect price point.

By asking customers questions about their willingness to pay for your product, you can get a realistic sense of what price point will be most attractive to them and, not unimportant, why.

Top tip: good pricing research can be tough to get right. Asking how much people would theoretically be willing to pay for a product is very different from them actually choosing it in a shop, on a shelf next to competitors’ products, and with a whole load of other economic context that you can’t possibly test for. Price testing is useful, but should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt.

Here are some questions you could use in your pricing research.

• Which of the following product categories have you bought in the last 12 months?
• How often do you currently purchase >INSERT YOUR CATEGORY<?
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it? (Too expensive)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be starting to get expensive, so that it is not out of the question, but you have to give some thought to buying it? (e.g. Expensive)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be a bargain—a great buy for the money? (e.g. cheap)
• At what price would you consider this >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY< to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn’t be very good? (Too cheap)
• How much do you currently pay for >INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY<? Please type in below
• Thinking about this product, please rank the following aspects based on how much value they add, where 1 = adds the most value 10 = adds the least value.
• Thinking about the product category as a whole, please rank the following brands in order of value, where 1 is the most expensive and 10 is the least.

Formulating market research questions can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be specific enough that you can get tangible, useful answers. But on the other hand, you don’t want to ask questions that are so difficult or unclear that respondents will get frustrated and give up halfway through.

Think about what answers you need and what actions you are hoping to take based on those answers.

We’ll help you get started with a list of steps to take when formulating your own market research questions, and putting them together in a survey that makes sense.

1. Define your research goals and link them to actions you can take

Before you can write great market research questions, you need to know what you want to learn from your research.

What are your goals? What do you want to find out? Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can start brainstorming questions that will help you achieve them.

2. Know your target market and the language they use

Who are you conducting market research for? It’s important to know your audience before you start writing questions, as this will help you determine the best way to phrase them.

For example, if you’re conducting market research for a new product aimed at teenagers, you’ll want to use different language than if you were conducting research for a new financial planning service aimed at retirees.

3. Keep it simple, and break things into smaller pieces

Don’t make your questions too complicated. Stick to simple, straightforward questions that can be easily understood by your target audience.

The more complex your questions are, the more likely it is that respondents will get confused and provide inaccurate answers.

If you feel a question is too difficult, see if you can break it up into smaller pieces and add follow-up questions on top.

And don’t ever load two questions into one! This falls into Consumer Research 101, but it’s amazing how often it happens. Instead of ‘What’s your favorite chocolate bar, and why?’ ask two questions: ‘What’s your favorite chocolate bar?’ and ‘Why is this your favorite chocolate bar?’

4. Be super specific

Make sure your questions are specific enough to get the information you need. Vague questions will only lead to vague answers.

For example, instead of asking ‘What do you think of this product?’, ask ‘What did you think of the taste of this product?’ or ‘What did you think of the packaging of this product?’.

5. Avoid leading questions

Leading questions are those that suggest a particular answer or course of action. For example, instead of asking ‘Do you like our new product?’, which suggests that the respondent should like the product, try asking ‘What are your thoughts on this product?

This question is neutral and allows the respondent to answer freely without feeling pressured in any particular direction. It’s also brand-neutral: people answering this question will have no idea who’s asking, and their opinion won’t be biased as a result.

6. Make sure your question is clear

It’s important that your question is clear and concise so that respondents understand exactly what they’re being asked. If there is any ambiguity in your question, respondents may interpret it in different ways and provide inaccurate answers.

Always test your questions on a few people before sending them to a larger group to make sure they understand what they’re being asked.

7. Avoid loaded words

Loaded words are those with positive or negative connotations that could influence the way respondents answer the question. For example, instead of asking ‘Do you love this product?’, which has a positive connotation, try asking ‘What are your thoughts on this product?’

This question is neutral and allows the respondent to answer freely without feeling pressured in any particular direction

8. Make sure the question is answerable

Before you include a question in your market research survey, make sure it’s actually answerable. There’s no point in asking a question if there’s no way for respondents to answer it properly. If a question isn’t answerable, either revise the question or remove it from your survey altogether.

9. Use an appropriate question type

When designing your market research survey, be sure to use an appropriate question type for each question you include. Using the wrong question type can lead to inaccurate or unusable results, so it’s important to choose wisely. Some common question types used in market research surveys include multiple choice, rating scale, and open-ended questions.

10. Pay attention to question order

The order of the questions in your survey can also impact the results you get from your research. In general, it’s best to start with more general questions and then move on to more specific ones later on in the survey. This will help ensure that respondents are properly warmed up and able to provide detailed answers by the time they reach the end of the survey.

Make smart decisions with the reliable insights

To make sure you make smart decisions that have real impact on your business, get consumer insights you can rely on. Here’s our rundown of the top market research tools.

Survey questions for market research are designed to collect information about a target market or audience. They can be used to gather data about consumer preferences, opinions, and behavior. Some common types of market research survey questions include demographic questions, behavioral questions and attitudinal questions.

There are many different types of market research questions that companies can use to gather information about consumer preferences and buying habits. They can be divided into different categories, like a competitive analysis, customer satisfaction or market trends, after which you can make them more specific and turn them into survey questions. These are some of the things your research questions can help you answer: – What is the target market for our product? – Who is our competition? – What do consumers think of our product? – How often do consumers purchase our product? – What is the typical customer profile for our product? – What motivates consumers to purchase our product?

When conducting market research, surveys are an invaluable tool for gathering insights about your target audience. But how do you write a market research questionnaire that will get you the information you need? First, determine the purpose of your survey and who your target respondents are. This will help you to write questions that are relevant and targeted. Next, craft clear and concise questions that can be easily understood. Be sure to avoid ambiguity, leading questions and loaded language. Finally, pilot your survey with a small group of people to make sure that it is effective. With these tips in mind, you can write a market research survey that will help you to gather the crucial insights you need.

Elliot Barnard

Customer Research Lead 

Elliot joined Attest in 2019 and has dedicated his career to working with brands carrying out market research. At Attest Elliot takes a leading role in the Customer Research Team, to support customers as they uncover insights and new areas for growth.

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100+ Market Research Questions to Ask Your Customers

Expert Writer

Dwayne Charrington shares insights on creating effective surveys, improving navigation, and using A/B testing for smarter decisions. Additionally, he focuses on optimizing mobile experiences and champions privacy-by-design, ensuring users feel satisfied, secure, and valued.

Asking the right market research questions can help you understand your target customers and map their behavior and preferences. 

But what does it actually mean?

Let’s look at a sample from a market research survey report for mapping brand awareness:

From this simple Q&A report, you can:

• Visualize the proportions of demographic segments among your audience.
• Measure how your brand is performing in comparison to others.
• Pick the top preferred brand among the customers, explore what makes it stand out, and apply the same techniques to your brand.
• See how your target market perceives brand advertisements and promotional efforts.

Now imagine if this type of data set is available for different aspects of your business – product development, marketing campaigns, optimization plans, and more.

That’s what market research does for you.

With the evolution of customer interaction points and constantly changing market trends, more and more businesses are fueling efforts to do in-depth market research, as evidenced by the steady increase in the revenue of the market research industry worldwide.

Market research can help you develop essential business strategies and maintain a competitive advantage over other brands to increase conversions and customer base.

And it all starts with asking the right questions to the right audience.

That’s why we have created this collection of 100+ market research questions to ask your target market. Each question aims to uncover a specific attribute about your customers. You can use a combination of these customer research survey questions, interviews, and othe marketing questionnaires for customers.

We have also added key tips to help you write your own effective market analysis questions if the needed.

100+ Great Market Research Questions to Ask Your Customers

The main challenge while designing and conducting research is – “What questions should I ask in my customer research survey?

That’s why we have a carefully curated list of market research questions to help you get started.

To Explore New Product Opportunities

• What was your first reaction to the product?
• Would you purchase this product if it were available today?
• What feature would you like to see on the website/product?
• Which feature do you think will help improve the product experience for you?
• Of these four options, what’s the next thing you think we should build?
• What’s the one feature we can add that would make our product indispensable for you?
• Would implementing [this feature] increase the usability of the [product name]?
• Please let us know how we can further  improve this feature.
• What problem would you like to solve with our product?

To Collect Feedback on Existing Products

• Have you heard of [product name or category] before?
• How would you feel if [product name] was no longer available?
• How disappointed would you be if you could no longer use [Product/feature name?]
• How often do you use [product name]?
• How long have you been using [product name] for?
• When was the last time you used [product name]?
• Please rate the following product features according to their importance to you.
• According to you, In which area is this product/service lacking the most? Specify below.
• How does the product run after the update?
• Rate our product based on the following aspects:
• Have you faced any problems with the product? Specify below.
• What feature did you expect but not find?
• How are you planning to use [product or service]?
• How satisfied are you with the product?

To Segment the Target Market

Please specify your age.

• Please specify your gender.
• Select your highest level of education.
• What is your current occupation?
• What is your monthly household income?
• What is your current marital status?

• What is the name of your company?
• Where is your company’s headquarters located?
• Please specify the number of employees that work in your company.
• What is your job title?
• In which location do you work?
• Which activity do you prefer in your free time?
• Which other physical activities do you take part in?
• Where is your dream holiday destination?
• Please rate the following as per their priority in your life – Family, work, and social life?
• Are you happy with your current work-life balance?
• Do you describe yourself as an optimist or a pessimist?
• How often do you give to charity?
• How do you travel to work?
• How do you do your Holiday shopping?

To Conduct a Competition Analysis

• Which product/service would you consider as an alternative to ours?
• Rate our competitor based on the following:
• Have you seen any website/product/app with a similar feature?
• How would you compare our products to our competitors? 
• Why did you choose to use our [product] over other options?
• Compared to our competitors, is our product quality better, worse, or about the same?
• Which other options did you consider before choosing [product name]?
• Please list the top three things that persuaded you to use us rather than a competitor.
• According to you, which brand best fits each of the following traits.

To Gauge Brand Awareness

• [Your brand name] Have you heard of the brand before?
• How do you feel about this brand?
• How did you hear about us?
• Describe [brand name] in one sentence.
• If yes, please tell us what you like the most about [your brand name]?
• If no, please specify the reason.
• How likely are you to purchase a product from this company again?
• If yes, where have you seen or heard about our brand recently? (Select all that apply)
• Do you currently use the product of this brand?
• Have you purchased from this brand before?
• Of all the brands offering similar products, which do you feel is the best brand?
• Please specify what makes it the best brand for you in the category.
• Which of the following products have you tried? (Select all that apply)
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you recommend this brand to a friend or colleague?

To Map Customers’ Preferences

• Have you ever boycotted a brand? If so, which brand and why?
• What influences your purchase decision more – price or quality of the item?
• How many hours do you spend on social media like Facebook, Instagram, etc.?
• How do you do your monthly grocery shopping – online or through outlets?
• How do you search for the products you want to buy?
• Rate the factors that affect your buying decision for [product].
• What persuaded you to purchase from us?
• How likely are you to purchase a product from us again?
• Please rate the following aspects of our product based on their importance to you.
• What is the most important value our product offers to you?
• Which of the following features do you use least?
• How well does the product meet your needs?

To Map Customers’ Reservations

• Is there anything preventing you from purchasing at this point?
• What’s preventing you from starting a trial?
• Do you have any questions before you complete your purchase?
• What is the main reason you’re canceling your account?
• What are your main reasons for leaving?
• What was your biggest fear or concern about purchasing from us?
• What is the problem that the product/service helped to solve for you?
• What problems did you encounter while using our [product]?
• How easy did we make it to solve your problem?
• What is your greatest concern about [product]?
• Have you started using other similar products? If yes, what made you choose that product?

To Perform Pricing Analysis

• Would you purchase the product at [price]
• According to you, what should be the ideal price of the [product name]?
• Is our product pricing clear?
• According to you, what is the ideal price range for the product?

To Collect Feedback on Website Copy

• Please rate the website based on the following aspects:
• How well does the website meet your needs?
• Was the information easy to find?
• Was the information clearly presented?
• What other information should we provide on our website?
• How can we make the site easier to use?
• What could we do to make this site more useful?
• Is there anything on this site that doesn’t work the way you expected it to?
• How easy was it to find the information you were looking for?
• Have feedback or an idea? Leave it here!
• Help us make the product better. Please leave your feedback.

To Assess Website/Product Usability

• Are you satisfied with the website layout?
• What features do you think are missing on our website?
• What features do you not like on our website?
• Was our website navigation simple and user-friendly?
• How much time did it take to find what you were looking for on our website?
• Was it easy to find the products you are looking for?
• Was the payment process convenient?

To Uncover Market Trends and Industry Insights

• Did you purchase our product out of peer influence or individual preference?
• How do you form your opinion about our product?
• Do you follow trends of the product, or do you prefer to go with what you know?
• Do discounts or incentives impact your decision-making process?

Market Research Survey Templates

One of the easiest ways to conduct market research is to use survey templates. They can help you save time and effort in creating your own market research surveys.

There are many types of market research survey templates available, depending on your objectives and target audience. Some of the most popular ones are:

• Demographic Templates: These templates help you segment your customers based on their location. It can help you tailor your marketing strategies and offers to different customer groups.

• Consumer Behavior Templates: These templates help you keep your pulse on your target market.

Industry Insights Templates: These templates help you get detailed information about your target industry and business.

Case Study:

Check out how AWA Digital increased revenue per customer for Avis by understanding the market and promoting add-on products.

Read Full Story Here

Breakdown of Different Market Research Questions

The answer choices in a market research survey question can significantly impact the quality and reliability of the response data you collect from the audience.

Some answer types help categorize the audience, while others measure their satisfaction or agreement. 

So, before listing the customer research survey questions to ask your target audience, let’s understand their types:

Multiple Choice

A multiple-choice question type lets users select more than one answer from the given options. These questions are great for collecting multiple data sets using the same question and gauging people’s preferences, opinions, and suggestions .

Single Choice

In a single-choice question, the respondent can select only one answer from the given options. This question type is great for:

• Segregating the users.
• Prioritizing product updates based on user consensus.
• Disqualifying irrelevant respondents by placing the question at the start of your customer research survey.

Matrix Match

A matrix matching grid can combine multiple market research questions into one to make the survey shorter . There is only one condition – the individual questions should have the same response anchors as shown in the image below:

The questions are arranged in rows while the answer options occupy the grid columns.

Ranking Question

A ranking question can help map customers’ preferences and set priorities for product development . This question type asks the respondent to arrange the given options in their decreasing/increasing preference.

Dichotomous

A dichotomous question poses a simple yes or no scenario to the respondent. These question types can help disqualify irrelevant people from the survey and categorize the users into two groups .

Likert Scale

Likert scale market research questions can help you measure the extent of respondents’ agreement/disagreement with the given statement . The answer options are arranged from positive to negative sentiments or vice-versa, with the neutral option in the middle.

There are two types of Likert scales: 5-point and 7-point .

Open-ended market questions let you explore the respondents’ minds without adding any restrictions to the answer . This question type is followed by a blank space for the respondent to add a free-text response.

You can add an open-ended question as a follow-up after the first question to explore the reasons for the customer’s previous answer. It also lets you collect more in-depth information about their issues, pain points, and delights.

Tools like Qualaroo offer tons of different question types for your surveys. Just pick the question and match its answer option type from the drop-down. To make it more effective, you can add branching to the survey.

How to Write Your Marketing Research Questions

It’s imperative to have a dedicated repository of market research questions for your surveys. But nothing’s better than crafting your questions.

For this, you need to sit with your team and discuss what information you require from the customers. It lets you analyze and document how much data you already have in your system, which can help set the market research scope.

We have listed some questions you need to ask yourself before asking market research questions to your potential customers or target market:

Audience Segmentation Questions

Audience segmentation questions help to size up your target market and provide a granular view of the audience . Not all customers are equal, and audience segmentation makes it possible to focus on each group individually to address their issues, fears, and expectations.

Here’s what you need to know before you start writing customer research survey questions to understand your audience:

• Do we understand the demographics of the new market we are trying to target? (Age, location, ethnicity, education, company, annual income, etc.)
• What are the locations that drive the most customers to our business? How are these locations different from others?
• What are the interests, preferences, and fears of people from our new target market? Have we addressed these situations for our current customer base?
• What are the psychographics attributes of the current customers and potential market? Are we targeting these in our campaigns?
• What are the most popular engagement channels for our customers? Which channels drive the most traffic to our website?
• Do we have enough data to perform value segmentation to separate high-value customers from low-value customers? 
• How often do these high-value customers make a purchase?

Product-Based Market Research Questions

Product-based market research questions can produce precious insights to channel into your product development and optimization strategies . You can see how changing technology affects customers’ behavior, what new features they want to see in your product, and how they perceive your products and services over the competition.

Start by gathering information about the following:

• How does our product compare to the competition based on the features?
• What products do our competitors offer?
• What new features do customers want to see in our products? Do we have a product roadmap to deliver these updates?
• What unique solutions do our products offer? What is the value proposition that reflects this offering?
• Does our product incorporate the latest technological advancements?
• What channels do we use to collect product feedback from our users?
• What are customers’ preferences while choosing our products over competitors?

Pricing Market Research Questions

Pricing analysis can help you make your product more affordable to different customer segments while maintaining the desired gross margin. It also lets you restructure the pricing tiers to provide features depending on the customers’ requirements and company size .

Watch: (1/5) Supercharge Your Revenue With Data-Driven Pricing

Your sales and marketing team can help you hone in on the market research questions to ask your customers for running pricing analysis:

• Do the customers ever complain about the difficulty in finding the pricing information?
• What is the pricing structure of our competitors for the same products? What features do they include for a specific price?
• How do customers find our pricing when compared to the competitors?
• Do our products provide value for money to the customers? Does the sales pitch reflect this point?
• Can we restructure the pricing, and how will it affect the revenue?
• Are there any customer segments that have high-value potential but find the current pricing unaffordable? What are the plans for such customers?
• Are we in a situation to offer a basic free plan to encourage customers to try our product before upgrading?
• What promotions can we run to attract more customers?
• Should we target customers based on income, company size, or type of solution to set our product prices?

Brand Reputation Market Research Questions

A brand reputation questionnaire for marketing research gives you information on how well your target market knows about your brand. You can uncover previously unidentified channels to increase brand awareness and find potential customers to promote your brand .

Start by gauging what customers are saying about your brand:

• Which channels receive mentions of our brand? Are these posts positive or negative?
• Do we have a system in place to analyze and monitor these reviews and posts?
• What are the reviews of our brand on different sites? What is the overall impression of our brand in the market?
• How are we currently addressing the negative reviews and complaints? What do our customers think about the handling process?
• What is the impression of our brand in our target market?
• What brand awareness campaigns are our competitors running?
• Is our brand among the top choices of our target customers?

Advertisement & Campaign-Based Questions

These customer research survey questions let you assess the effectiveness of your current value propositions and campaigns . You can channel the customer insights into your advertising strategies to design targeted campaigns for different customer segments to reduce the overall acquisition cost and increase conversions.

Ask the following questions to collect information about the different marketing campaigns that are performing:

• What are the best modes to run the advertisement campaigns to reach our target audience?
• What is the estimated lifetime value of customers acquired from current campaigns? Is it higher or lower than the acquisition costs?
• Which campaigns bring the most ROI and why?
• How well do our advertisements present our value proposition to the customers? Do they address customers’ fears and expectations to attract them?
• Are we running A/B tests to improve our online campaigns? How are we gathering data to build the A/B test hypotheses – surveys, heatmaps, eye tracking, etc.?
• What advertisement campaigns do our competitors run?

7 Question Types to Use in Market Research Surveys

We mentioned earlier that market research questions provide important data for different operations like product development, marketing campaigns, sales pipeline and more.

But to what extent?

Let’s break it down to individual processes and understand how insights from customer research surveys can impact them:

To Know Your Target Market

Understanding your target audience is the fundamental aspect of market research, be it a new target market or existing customers. If you know what marketing research survey questions to ask your target market, you can identify different customer types’ unique traits and preferences.

The data can help you segment the users based on demographic, psychographic, geographic, and other attributes. These include their behavior, purchase preferences, age, location, habits, delights, frustrations, and more.

You can then create various customer personas and fuel your sales strategies to maximize ROI.

Case study – How Avis increased its revenue per customer

Avis, a leading car rental company, was looking to enhance customer experience by offering useful car add-ons like navigation systems, child seats, insurance, etc., to customers with their booking. So, it reached out to AWA Digital to find a way to promote these products and increase their sales.

AWA digital implemented customer research campaigns using targeted surveys to determine which add-ons were popular among the customers and why. 

Using these insights, the team added an interstitial pop-up just before the booking page to show relevant add-ons to the customers.

This simple update dramatically increased the sales of add-on items and helped Avis generate more revenue per customer.

Read the entire case study here .

To Plan the Product Roadmap

A product roadmap is a visual representation of the current status of your product and planned updates over time. It shows a high-level summary of planned activities and priorities for different teams to take the product to the next level. Understanding different types of summary can help you create more effective and concise roadmaps that clearly communicate your vision and strategy.

Steve Jobs famously said – “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology. You can’t start with the technology then try to figure out where to sell it.”

And market research helps to align your product strategies with the customer demand. Using targeted marketing survey questions, you can gauge what new features or functionality customers want to see in your products.

It helps to plan product development strategies based on customers’ consensus to prioritize the ideas that can have the most impact on customers and replace intuition-based approaches with data-backed decisions.

Customers’ demands change with market trends and technological advancements. That’s why your product map also needs to evolve constantly with time to reflect these changes in your product development cycle.

By designing targeted market research questions to ask the customers, you can uncover their expectations to deliver optimal product solutions. 

That’s what our next case study demonstrates.

Case study – How customer research drives Twilio’s operations  

Twilio, a cloud communications platform places customer discovery and research at the core of their product development strategies. It helps its teams to anticipate customer needs in a constantly changing market.

Lack of time and budget are the two biggest challenges that the company faces in its product development cycle. So, the team uses targeted market research questionnaires for a product to understand the challenges the customers face today and the ones they will face tomorrow. 

With an abundance of ideas and no time to test them all, the feedback data from surveys is used to prioritize the hypotheses to run the tests. It makes the process more efficient and effective in producing positive results. 

This data-backed approach is used across 18 different teams at Twilio to release new functionality every week and deliver optimal solutions to the clients.

Read the complete case study here .

To Reduce Acquisition Costs

Your customer base consists of multiple customer segments with different preferences and purchase potential. That’s why you cannot sell to everyone and need to find the right audience for your products.

If an acquired customer doesn’t bring in more revenue than it costs to acquire them, it will increase your acquisition costs over time.

We don’t want that, do we?

For example, let’s say you are targeting the entire market population using the same campaign. If your acquisition cost per customer is $300 and you acquire 20 customers from one campaign, you need to make more than $6000 to register profits.

The difficulty is you don’t know about these customers’ purchase behavior and capacity, so you cannot be sure if you will reach your goals. It adds unnecessary risks to your marketing ventures.

But, if you were targeting a specific segment with high income, regular shopping habits, or proven history of brand loyalty, You can obtain better results.

Now, the question is – 

How will you separate these potential long-term customers from one-time buyers and high-value targets from other segments?

One way to do this is by building customer personas using the data from the market research survey questions. A buyer persona defines different attributes of a particular customer segment so you can hone in on the right audience to funnel your marketing efforts.

Here’s what a typical persona includes:

• Target regions
• Target demographic (age, marital status, gender)
• Ideal psychographics (hobbies, social channels, activities they indulge in, goals)
• Preferred interaction channels
• Favorite brands and products
• Total revenue till date
• Estimated lifetime value

Once you have a clearer picture of different customers, you can find high-value prospects with the potential to be long-term customers looking for product solutions that your business offers. 

You can then design the correct pitch using the market research data to bring in these customers and control the overall acquisition costs.

For example:

• Plugin the demographic and psychographic data into CRM software like BIGContacts or Salesforce to convert high-value targets.
• Use your CRM to create segmented lists of prospects based on estimated value, location, current status, and more. Then target these groups individually with personalized value propositions to increase conversion rates.
• Identify their preferred mode of communication and technographic inclinations to find the right opportunities to pitch your product offering at the precise moment.

Even if acquiring and retaining such customers costs more, their overall revenue can balance the acquisition costs to deliver higher profits.

To Design Targeted Marketing Campaigns

By knowing how your target audience behaves and interacts with your business, you can find the exact opportunities to target them with personalized campaigns.

• You can use mail campaigns to target website users with app-exclusive offers to encourage them to download your app and improve app adoption.
• Add in-app broadcast messages about upcoming offers, exclusive membership benefits, and other incentives for new users to push them towards the end of the funnel.
• Create multiple landing pages to target different customer types.
• Design location-based ad campaigns with personalized value propositions based on audience preferences and problems at each location. 

Case Study – How Canon’s campaigns generated 700% ROI

AWA digital was tasked by Canon, one of the biggest electronics companies worldwide, to assess and increase the demand for their products in different geographies. So, the AWA team conducted customer research using target market survey questions and discovered the following attributes about customers’ purchase behavior and reservations:

• In some regions, people were reluctant to spend money on a Canon camera as they weren’t sure if Canon was an authoritative brand.
• In other regions, authority was not as important to the users.

Using these insights, AWA optimized the ads campaigns’ messaging for different locations to include what consumers deemed important purchase factors.

The results?

With in-depth customer feedback, Canon generated an overall ROI of 700% in all regions using personalized campaigns to target the audience.

To Improve Brand Awareness

Whether you are into soft drinks or not, You probably would have heard of Coca-Cola’s 2011 Share-A-Coke ad. This single campaign put the Coke brand back on the map and reversed the 10-year steady decline in sales in the US.  

Coke understood what motivates their customers and delivered a product offering that appealed to the masses to increase its brand equity- the excitement to get a Coca-Cola bottle with their name on it.

How did they do it?

In 2011, Coca-Cola rolled out its share-a-coke campaign in Australia. The company debranded the traditional Coke logo from the bottle and replaced it with the phrase “Share a Coke with” followed by a name.

The campaign used the list of the country’s most popular names (nicknames). The purpose was to make people go out and find the Coke bottle with their name on it and share it with their friends. The campaign was subsequently rolled out in 80 countries.

How did it impact Coca-Cola as a brand:

• In Australia, it’s estimated that the campaign increased Coke’s share by 4% and increased consumption among young adults by 7%.
• #ShareACoke became the top trending hashtag on Twitter globally and received over 1 billion impressions.
• In the USA, the campaign increased Coke’s market share by over 2% and brought 11% more sales compared to the previous year.

It’s not limited to big brands only.  

Understanding the customers and placing your product’s value offering along with their habits, lifestyle, and behavior can help you extend your brand’s reach.

Today, there are multiple touchpoints to connect with your customers and map their journey to uncover their issues, motivations, and fears to address in your campaigns.

• Monitor brand mentions on social media and engage with the users to cultivate an online community and promote your brand.
• Reach out to satisfied customers and turn them into your brand ambassadors.
• Use targeted ad campaigns that connect people’s emotions and general behavior to imprint your brand’s image in their minds.

Quick Tips for Writing Awesome Market Research Survey Questions

With the inter-team research complete, you are ready to write your own market research questions to ask your target audience. Keep these general dos and don’ts in mind to ensure that the market survey fulfills the purpose without affecting the data quality or response rate.

Use Mutually Exclusive Response Options

If you are using response anchors with specific ranges like age group or income, check that the options do not overlap . Otherwise, it will produce an irregular data set.

Please specify your age:

In the above example, the respondent lying on either extremity of the given age ranges may get confused on which option to choose. For example, a 28-year-old respondent can choose from both second or third options.

Plus, two different respondents of the same age may select different options, which will skew your demographic data.

You can avoid this confusion by creating mutually exclusive groups as shown below:

Always Add A “Not Applicable” Or “Rather Not Say” Option

Since market research questions extract personal information, some respondents may not want to share such details with you. These include questions about age, income, gender, hobbies, social activities, and more.

Forcing such questions on the customers without allowing them to skip can irate them and lead to survey abandonment .

That’s why you can also use Qualaroo’s skip and branching logic to create smart surveys that only ask relevant questions to your respondents based on their previous answers.

Calculate the Required Sample Size

Sample size plays a vital role in your market research questions to determine the reliability of your response data.

If the response volume is low, the results may not be conclusive to point towards customers’ consensus. On the other hand, a larger sample size than required means a waste of the company’s valuable resources and time.

That’s why it’s important to calculate the required sample size to estimate the number of responses you need for your market research survey questions.

You can use any survey sample size calculator available online to get started. Just fill in the required details to get the required sample size.

For example, to reach a statistical significance of 99%, you need at least 3145 responses to your market research questionnaire.

Consider Adding Incentives

Studies show that incentivized customer research surveys or questionnaires fetch higher response rates than general surveys.

The incentives encourage customers to invest their time in a survey and get something in return.

It means creating a gated questionnaire for market research can help you reach the required sample size quickly . The incentive can be a simple discount code, free shipping coupon, free ebook, or other freebies.

However, there is a possibility that irrelevant respondents may fill out the survey randomly just to get to the offer, which may skew the results. You can use screening questions to filter out unsuitable respondents.

Avoid Double-Barreled Market Research Questions

A double-barreled question poses two questions into one. The problem with such questions is that the respondent may have opposing views about the two statements in the questions. It makes it harder for them to choose one answer from the options .

“Please rate the [product name] on a scale of 1-10 based on overall quality and price?”

Here, the respondent may find the product quality appreciable while thinking it to be overpriced at the same time. In such a case, they may skip the question or select any option randomly.

You can easily sidestep this hurdle by breaking your double-barreled market research question into two to make it less confusing for the respondents.

Importance of Market Research

We mentioned earlier that market research questions provide important data for different operations like product development, marketing campaigns, sales pipeline, and more.

Understanding your target audience is the fundamental aspect of market research, be it a new target market or existing customers. If you know what customer research survey questions to ask your target market, you can identify different customer types’ unique traits and preferences.

AWA Digital implemented research campaigns using targeted customer research surveys to determine which add-ons were popular among the customers and why.

Case study – How customer research drives Twilio’s operations

Twilio, a cloud communications platform, places customer discovery and research at the core of its product development strategies. It helps its teams to anticipate customer needs in a constantly changing market.

Lack of time and budget are the two biggest challenges that the company faces in its product development cycle. So, the team uses targeted market research questionnaires for a product to understand the challenges the customers face today and the ones they will face tomorrow.

With an abundance of ideas and no time to test them all, the feedback data from customer research surveys is used to prioritize the hypotheses to run the tests. It makes the process more efficient and effective in producing positive results.

AWA Digital was tasked by Canon, one of the biggest electronics companies worldwide, to assess and increase the demand for their products in different geographies. So, the AWA team conducted a customer research survey using target market questions and discovered the following attributes about customers’ purchase behavior and reservations:

• In other regions, authority was not so important to the users.

Whether you are into soft drinks or not, you probably would have heard of Coca-Cola’s 2011 Share-A-Coke ad. This single campaign put the Coke brand back on the map and reversed the 10-year steady decline in sales in the US.  

Coke understood what motivates its customers and delivered a product offering that appealed to the masses to increase its brand equity- the excitement to get a Coca-Cola bottle with its name on it.

• In Australia, it’s estimated that the campaign increased Coke’s share by 4% and consumption among young adults by 7%.

It’s not limited to big brands only. 

Market Research: A Key to Your Business’ Success

Market research is a vital process for any business wanting to understand its customers and market better. By asking the right questions and using the right tools like Qualaroo, you can gain valuable insights that can help you improve your products or services, enhance your customer experiences, and grow your business.

In this blog, we have shared some of the best market research questions to ask your customers, as well as some of the best customer research survey templates to find market trends and industry insights. We hope that this blog has helped you learn more about market research and how to conduct it effectively.

About the author

Dwayne Charrington

Dwayne Charrington is an expert writer in customer feedback management, UX design, and user research. He helps businesses understand user intent and enhance the customer experience. Dwayne covers feedback management, lead generation, survey accessibility, and the impact of AI and VR on user interaction. He shares insights on creating effective surveys, improving navigation, and using A/B testing for smarter decisions. Additionally, he focuses on optimizing mobile experiences and champions privacy-by-design, ensuring users feel satisfied, secure, and valued.

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Market Research Questions: What to Ask for Better Insights

This blog explores the different types and formatting options for market research questions, and how asking the right questions leads to better insights.

quantilope is the Consumer Intelligence Platform for all end-to-end research needs

You see the value in market research and have support from your stakeholders to get started on some projects, but when you sit down to draft your questionnaire, you don’t quite know where to start. Sound relatable? If so, read on to learn some key market research questions to ask for actionable customer feedback.

Table of Contents: 

• Why ask market research questions? 

Types of market research questions to ask

Market research questions for different research goals, how to use market research questions in a survey, why ask market research questions.

Market research questions help us get to the core of consumer behavior - such as why consumers act the way they do and how they go about their buyers’ journey. Market research surveys are a means of answering these questions, so brands can optimize their offerings (be it products or services) according to customer needs. Without asking your customer base what they want or need, you’re left making assumptions that may or may not hit the mark - which can lead to a waste of valuable time and budget.

Back to Table of Contents

Some of the most basic examples of market research questions are those related to demographics (who consumers are), yet these are some of the most foundational questions a survey can ask to make other insights more powerful. Beyond demographic traits, psychographics (what consumers are like - attitudes, aspirations, etc.) and behavioral questions (how consumers act) also paint a detailed picture of a target market. Below we'll cover some types and examples of market research questions that can help make better business decisions. 

Demographic questions

Where do you live?

How old are you?

What is your gender?

• What is your current marital status?

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

• What is your current employment status?
• What's your household's annual income? 

Psychographic questions

What interests you?

How do you like to spend your free time?

What are your goals for the year?

• What are your top three priorities in life?
• How comfortable are you with trying new things?
• What are your views on social issues like climate change, inequality, or political polarization?
• How important is it for you to be seen as successful by others?

Behavioral questions

How often do you grocery shop?

Do you prefer to shop in-store or online?

On which days of the week are you most likely to watch television (and subsequently see advertising)?

How much money do you usually spend on X products?

Which retail brands do you buy from and why?

• Think about a time you recommended a product or service to someone else. What made you so enthusiastic about it?
• Have you ever participated in a brand's loyalty program or rewards system? If yes, what did you like about it? 

The type of questions you’ll want to ask in your market research survey will depend on your research goals. Are you trying to get to know your existing customers? Are you looking to engage with potential customers? Are you hoping to conduct a competitive analysis for your brand? A survey could be crafted around any or all of these objectives to fully explore each topic.

Once you determine the goal of your research, you can begin drafting your questionnaire using some of the question types above. Beyond capturing basic demographic questions among every survey respondent, below are a few examples of psychographic and behavioral question types:

For existing customers: 

For brands who already have a solid customer base and want to get to know them better to improve customer retention, ask things like:

Why did you start using our [product or service]?

Would you buy from us again?

Would you recommend us to your family and friends?

Are there similar products that you use for different reasons?

What, if anything, would you improve about or product or service?

For potential customers: 

If you’re looking to gather information about new customers you don’t already reach, get to know them through in-depth market research survey questions:

What factors influence your purchasing decision when shopping for a new [product or service type]?

Which of the following products [or services] are most appealing to you?

Where do you typically shop for [product or service]?

When will you be in the market for a new [product or service]?

How much do you typically spend on a new [product or service]?

For products: 

Surveys are a great tool to test reactions and perceptions of your product before you finalize it for launch. Below are some examples of market research questions for a new product to develop a final offering  that fits what customers want:

What are the most/least important elements of a [product type]?

Which scents/flavors do you find most pleasant in our existing product line? Which ones do you hope to see in the future?

What pain points are you looking for a product/service to solve?

How does this product compare to others on the market?

For pricing: 

Once you have settled on a product, you’ll need to determine the pricing for it. You can’t just set any price you want and expect consumers to pay it. The best way to go about pricing decisions is to actually survey your target customers to see what they’d be willing to spend:

Do you think the product is priced fairly?

What do you think is the ideal price for our [product or service]?

Are there any conditions in which you’d pay a higher price for our [product or service]?

What price is so high that you’d not even consider buying our [product or service]? (i.e. price sensitivity ).

For branding: 

Lastly, a brand might have its target audience figured out, with a solid product that’s appropriately priced, but it needs to be marketed and branded . Ask questions like: 

Are you familiar with our brand? (i.e. brand awareness)

Describe your customer experience so far with our brand.

How would you rate your customer satisfaction with our brand?

How likely are you to recommend our brand to family and friends?

For more on branding, consider a brand health tracker that can capture category entry points and the mental availability of brands: 

When designing a market research survey, careful consideration should be given to both the formatting of the questions and their overall structure. Getting these aspects right can significantly improve the quality and depth of the actual insights you gather - empowering you to make better business decisions.  Below we'll explore various question formatting options, including open-ended and closed-ended questions, as well as tips to create a logical flow throughout your questionnaire. 

Question formatting options

Once you’ve determined the question content you’d like to ask in your survey, there are multiple ways you can go about actually programming each one. Below are some common question formats, and when to use each one: 

Multi-select: Use when you want a respondent to select as many items as apply to them from a list.

Rating scale/matrix: Use when you want respondents to provide a numeric rating on a single item (scale) or a list of items (matrix); (i.e. 1-5 likeness toward each, 1-5 level of satisfaction with each, etc.)

Open-ended questions : Use when you want respondents to provide written feedback to a question (i.e. ‘tell me about your latest shopping experience in-store’, or ‘what do you love about this product/service?;)

How to structure your questions for better insights

Good questions that are thoughtfully structured will guide respondents through your survey smoothly, minimize confusion, encourage complete responses, and ultimately, yield high-quality results to tailor marketing strategies, product development, and customer service initiatives.  Starting with broad inquiries and gradually narrowing the focus enhances respondents' survey experience and enables you to identify patterns and correlations within the data. Below are some tips to keep in mind when structuring your market research survey.  

1. Start with a goal

The first step is to set a clear goal for your market research questionnaire. That goal could be to understand your buyer persona, learn how to maintain loyal customers, improve your website’s user experience, increase market share, or launch a new product.

2. Review what you already know

Conducting market research should aim to only answer questions that you don’t already have the answers to from previously-collected customer insights. Start by reviewing your own market research findings from past studies to see if you can answer any current questions. You can also look into customer reviews (if available), social media comments, and other external sources to see what people are saying about your brand.

3. Don’t make assumptions

Don’t ever assume you know something about a consumer without data to support it. For example, you may think that all customers use your product/service year-round when really, they’re only using it in the winter. You need to collect data to support any business decisions you’re making. That’s the only way to ensure you’re making good use of your time and budget, and that customer needs are met appropriately.

quantilope’s Insights Automation Platform makes a brand, product, or customer survey as simple as a drag & drop of questions. The platform is equipped with a number of automated survey tools (piping, pre-programmed survey templates , etc.) along with a suite of thirteen automated, advanced methods (i.e. market segmentation, key driver analysis, a/b testing, and many more). With results available in real-time, quantilope users begin diving into customer feedback instantly, with final results ready in a matter of days.

Ready to collect data for your own market research study? Get in touch below:

Get in touch to start building better insights!

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20 Market Research Questions To Ask In Your Customer Survey

The primary reason you conduct any customer survey with market research questions is to make effective decisions that grow your business by selling more to both existing customers, as well as by acquiring new customers by increasing the effectiveness of your product/service to suit their needs better. But when you take even a closer look, we’re making these decisions because the main objective is to become the obvious choice for that ideal customer. For that to happen and to reach market research goals, you need to ask:

What are Market Research Questions?

Market research questions is a questionnaire that is answered by customers or potential consumers, to understand their perception and opinion on a given subject, typically pertaining to product or service feasibility, understanding consumer needs and interests, and pricing concepts.

LEARN ABOUT: Dealership Marketing Strategies & Tips

For example: A customer survey on market research of an existing product line that focuses on the usefulness of specific features in a product line. Based on the feedback received from this survey, a business can now decide which features to invest and enhance/improve, and which features to relatively defocus/discontinue. This market research , therefore, enables a business to efficiently allocate resources based on real, data-oriented insights from their own customers.

LEARN ABOUT:  Test Market Demand

A similar set of market research questions can also be sent to potential consumers of a product, to understand market absorption capability.

LEARN ABOUT: Consumer Surveys

What Market Research Questions should I ask in my Customer Survey?

• Who is our ideal customer? These are typically demographic market research questions such as gender survey questions , education level, income level or location.  You can expand these questions to find out your customer’s occupation or if your ideal customer is a parent, pet owner. Don’t skimp on demographics or psychographics .  If anything, get really creative with them. You might consider conducting a survey with nothing but profiling questions that include where your customers shop, or where they prefer to eat. It’s critical to know as much as possible about your ideal customer so that you can begin focusing your marketing decisions around their preferences.
• What do they struggle with? Another root set of data that market researchers are searching for within their ideal customer is “what they struggle with.”  What are the 5 to 7 frustrations that they are dealing with when it comes to interacting with our product or service? Suppose you are a golf accessories company and you ask your ideal customer what frustrates them about their golfing experience. In that case, you might get responses such as “expensive golf clubs getting wet during a rainstorm.”  If you get enough of those responses, you may consider developing a golf accessory that protects golf clubs in the rain.
• What does your ideal customer really WANT? No matter how you phrase the market research questions (and there are countless creative formats) all we really want to know is what our customer will actually purchase as a solution.  What is it that they WANT? Of course, they’re NOT going to say that they want something that doesn’t exist yet — in the 1960’s the average person would NOT have known that they wanted a microwave. They wanted hot food fast. One good way to get at these wants is to give your respondents some examples of product offerings and combinations and see how they rate them.
• What sets you apart from your competition? Competitive analysis and bench-marking are critical if you want to increase the profitability of your product and build your brand. An effective way to measure or identify differentiators or competitive advantage is to ask Customer Satisfaction questions . The key to asking these market research questions is getting the attributes right.  For example “How important is it that your tires have a run-flat safety feature?” instead of asking “How important is it that your car has tires.”For example, A survey can be conducted by either Apple or Samsung to find out how satisfied are the customers with their products and what are the other features that the consumer prefers from the competitive brand. Using such data a company can incorporate features based on the demand and can also benchmark their features that the customers prefer. A Apple vs Samsung Survey Questions template can help to achieve the data required to compare their products with the competition and strategize accordingly .
• What benefits do your customers perceive? Because we all choose and purchase based on emotion — it’s important to understand specifically what emotional benefits our customers receive from our products and services. The more we connect with our customers on an emotional level and provide that benefit — the more likely they are to choose us. This is an ideal place to use matrix questions that rate the degree to which customers agree or disagree with a variety of “benefit” statements.  Here is an example “I can count on Service X to pull me out of a bind.”
• Who is currently buying from us? A very important research metric to track is the “who” is currently buying a product or a service from you. Deriving a pattern from the current purchasing population, helps you target and market to a similar potential demographic. This also is an ideal place to use demographic questions extensively but it also helps if other factors like geographical metrics are tracked. You don’t want to be ignoring your existing customer base and also be smart and agile in attracting new business to your brand.
• Why are other people not buying from us? While it is imperative to know who is your potential customer or map your existing customer base, you need to find out who is not buying from you. This information is essential to understand if there are shortcomings in a product or service and at what milestone customers drop out of the purchasing process . This also helps to identify the way your business is conducted, if additional training is required to make a sale or if your product or service lacks in quality. Understanding why people are not buying from you also helps monitor if there is something fundamentally wrong with what you are offering to the masses.
• Who can buy from us in the future? It is a known fact that is about 10x more expensive to create a new customer rather than to maintain the one you currently have. That, however, is no reason not to aim for new business. It is therefore important to have a clear picture of your potential future business. Targeting potential customers, is a mix of customer demographics that have purchased from you in the past and a mix of demographics you advertise and market to. It is therefore important to have a well-rounded product or solution. For example, since your barbecue sauces and rubs are famous and widely used in the midwest does not mean they cannot be bought in the southern states.
• Why do people buy from you? What value or need does it fulfill? Customers only buy from you because of a perceived value . This value is either what you depict to potential customers or repeat customers have been privy to the value of your product or service. Customers also make a purchase because of the trust they have either in the product or service or the brand or sometimes even certain individuals. It is therefore important that you understand the value of your brand and stick to the morals and ethics of delivering high quality to ensure that the perceived and actual brand quotient is very high. The other reason why customers purchase from you is if their need is fulfilled by what you have on offer. This could either be a direct or an indirect need.
• What would make you a perfect brand? No brand can be perfect! But you can surely be close to perfect. What this means is everything about your product or service is easy to use, intuitive, is value for money, scalable and ancillary support is impeccable. All of this is obviously immaterial if the product does not solve a real problem or make life easier for the customer. Having a very high customer oriented focus gives your brand a positive ring and becomes increasingly the go-to brand. You can use a simple Net Promoter Score question to understand how referrable is your brand and who are the promoters and detractors of your brand.
• What single aspect about your brand makes it stand out and makes clients trust you? People buy from you or transact with you mostly when there is a high trust factor. Very rarely is the purchasing decision purely based on need or ease of access. To identify and build on that one factor that makes you a preferred buying choice over your competitors is very important. You can map preferred aspects of your brand to age, sex, geographical location , financial limitations etc. because each of those factors can appeal to your brand differently. It is important that you identify and fortify those aspects of your business. Your brand can also be preferred because of other factors like personnel, customer service , ethos and perception amongst peers, consumers and the society alike. Abercrombie & Fitch was a respected brand but lost a lot of market share and goodwill due to CEO’s words in one isolated incident. It takes lots of work and time to build trust but takes none to lose all of it!
• What is the best way to communicate with the kind of people you are trying to reach out to? What’s caused the downfall for a lot of brands is the inability to reach out to target customers despite their product or service being impeccable. Not knowing how to reach your target audience or potential customer makes all your hardwork go down the drain. For example, if a new life saving drug is making its way to the market, but medical professionals and doctors don’t know about it or how to administer it and its benefits, about 20 years of work goes down the drain. You need to identify the right channels and avenues to reach out to the people that will consume your product or service.
• What do customers make of your product and/or service line? There are a few brands that have one product or service and that rakes in the customers and money for them because of the nature of the product or service. But most brands aren’t this way! They would need to branch out into multiple products or services or very often, a mix of both. It is, therefore important to understand the value of your products and/or services. It is imperative to know if they solve a problem a customer has or make life easier for the customer or any other such reason. This helps in consolidating the customer base.
• What improvements could be made to your products or services to have a wider reach? A product or a service has never achieved the maximum number of customers it can get. There always is someone who could use your product or service; maybe not in the form that it currently is but there is scope to scale. This makes it so much more important to collect periodic feedback on what additions your current customer base would like to see in your brand and what can bring in new customers from your competitors. Chipping away at deadwood features and making increased usability tweaks increases the adoption and use of your product and service. For example, a retail store wants to promote the use of its self-service checkout systems. However, a lot of customers still are not opting for the system. There can be many reasons to why the customer is choosing not to use the system, like complex operation, no readability, or even slow speed of the system. To understand the reason, a Usability survey for self-service checkouts can be conducted. This will enable the store to gather first-hand information from the customers and make improvements in the system accordingly.

Learn More: User Interface Survey Template

• What is the right price to charge? Pricing a product or service is one of the most important aspects of your business. Pricing right can decide the revenue, brand perception, profitability and adoption of the product or service. Pricing too slow has a negative connotation and may increase in bringing in lower revenue. Pricing high gives the feeling of being elite and then the profitability and revenue hinge on the factors of per unit adoption rather than a very high adoption. Pricing just right is a myth – what someone finds cheap, someone else could find expensive. Where someone finds your product or service value for money, others may find it exorbitant. Hence, it is important to collect extensive feedback from your existing and potential customers about what they think is an ideal price to play. It is also important to conduct due diligence on competitors to map how they price versus the service and product features they provide. These factors will help you come close to an “ideal price” to charge.
• What is the vision for the brand? A vision for a brand dictates the level the brand aspires to be and wants to scale up to be. Apple is now a preferred phone because the vision was to be an experience, not a device. The device is the means to ensuring that vision. They wanted to make the ecosystem so robust that any device you use, that familiarity and ease of use is standardized but also stonewall easy. Despite being expensive and facing ridicule during early days due to the ecosystem being different, they are now a one trillion behemoth, more than the GDP of some countries, due to having a vision for the brand.
• What is the way to ensure you reach that vision? A vision is easy to have but tough to follow through on. This is because your vision may see many roadblocks and may not be the current flavor of the market, but it is the right thing to stick with it. Innovate in your product and service lines by taking into consideration what your customers want and need and items they themselves don’t know that they need. Despite enduring hardships, if you stick to your vision, it is easier to use that as a launchpad for being an immaculate and preferred brand.
• What should the brand branch out into to avoid stagnation or imitation? While launching a product or service, it’s essential to understand where your competitors stand on the same product type or service line. How soon can they catch up to you and imitate your service or product? On the other hand, stagnation brings the ultimate demise of a brand, product, or service line. With little innovation and competitors saturating the market by imitating your product or service line, you’ll soon see your customer base dwindle. To ensure your customers don’t drop out, the key question to ask is, “What next?”. The best way to innovate or bundle your product or service is to understand what your customers struggle with and what value they are looking for. For example, Sony is known for its PlayStations, but competitors like Xbox don’t take long to catch up to their new products. How Sony does manage to stay ahead of the market is by constantly branching into new products and services.
• What bundled service or product you can offer in conjunction with yours? Good partnerships are hard to come by, strategic ones are even harder. This question tackles two of your problems, how to offer  something new to your customers and how to reduce competitors in market. Your bundled service or product though has to make sense to the use, should complement your brand and cannot be an operational and logistical nightmare for your brand which then makes it counter-productive. Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram to consolidate on social images and short content rich video, is a strategic initiative to increase customer base as well as reduce competition at the same time. The key to building strong brand partnerships is to ensure your vision and product values align. Summing up, offering a bundled service or product in partnership will not only retain the existing customer base but also attract and increase new customers.

No matter why you are conducting a survey, you’ll find these 20 research questions at the core of “WHY” you want to know. Remember, your respondents will read or spend time with absolutely ANYTHING as long as they are at the center.  Be sure to keep these 20 questions in mind when creating your survey and everyone involved will save time, aggravation and money. You can use single ease questions . A single-ease question is a straightforward query that elicits a concise and uncomplicated response.

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Product Management

80 Market Research Questions for More Valuable Insights (+tips)

Content Writer

Created on:

April 15, 2024

Updated on:

Transform Insights into Impact

Build Products That Drive Revenue and Delight Customers!

There are different types of market research, with 85% of researchers regularly using online surveys as their go-to tool , allowing them to reach broad target audiences in a cost-effective way.

Online surveys can break down geographical barriers and uncover profound customer insights, but only if you come up with the right market research questions.

Your questions shape the data you get, influencing your understanding of customer behavior and key consumer trends.

In this article, you'll find many examples of market research questions organized by categories, followed by tips for creating and analyzing your own market research survey.

80 market research questions to ask for more valuable insights

Demographic questions.

Learning more about your existing customer base can help you identify your ideal customers and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. During the process, you may also discover that you have different customer personas, and you can later segment your audience.

Also, having detailed demographic data allows you to create targeted marketing campaigns that will convert better.

Here are some questions to explore your target audience:

• What is your age and gender?
• Where do you live?
• Do you have a partner or children?
• What is your highest level of education?
• In what industry do you work?
• What is your current job title?
• What is your annual income?
• What's the category you spend the most money on (e.g., groceries, technology, clothes)?
• What's the average amount you spend on _____ (mention a particular category relevant to your industry)?
• What websites, newspapers or magazines do you use to stay informed?

Product opportunities

Almost half of the startups fail because they're building products for which there's no real market need . That's why it's essential to do a product opportunity assessment before you invest time and money into building a product that may not have a big enough target market.

The following market research interview questions will help you discover burning issues and problems that your new product or service can solve.

• What challenges and problems do you currently face in _____ (name specific area) that you can't find an adequate solution for?
• Are there any existing products that you find close to meeting your needs but still fall short in some aspects, and which?
• How do you currently cope with the absence of a dedicated solution for that problem?
• Hypothetically speaking, what would an ideal solution for that problem look like?
• What features would you like this product to include?
• Would you purchase this product if it was available today? If not, why?
• What is the one feature that would make our product a must-have for you?
• Are there any untapped market segments or niches where our product could solve the existing problems?
• If you were to brainstorm about a product that anticipates future needs in your industry, what would be its main features?
• How would you prioritize the importance of the following features? (you can provide them with a list of features they need to rank from the most important to the least important)

If you've already started developing your product, read this article on how to get feedback for early-stage products and validate your product.

Customer feedback

If you've already launched a product or service, you should ask your existing customers for feedback and suggestions for improvement. This is an essential component of continuous product discovery , which is the best way to increase customer satisfaction by anticipating their needs.

Here are some questions you can use:

• How long have you been using our product?
• How often do you use our product?
• What made you decide to purchase our product?
• Describe how you use our product and what problems it solves for you.
• Which features of our product do you use the most?
• Which features of our product do you use the least or not at all?
• What is the best feature of our product in your opinion?
• What might be the weakest feature or the biggest area for improvement in our product?
• Have you had any issues or problems with our product?
• What would you miss the most if our product was no longer available?

Click here to discover 13 proven ways to collect customer feedback . Also, here are some additional questions for your product feedback survey .

Brand awareness

Market research surveys can help you see how existing and potential customers perceive your brand and whether you need to raise brand awareness or adjust your brand image.

• Have you heard about our brand before?
• How did you hear about us?
• What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions our brand?
• What emotions or feelings do you associate with our brand?
• How would you describe our brand in one sentence?
• Are you currently using our products, and how often?
• How likely are you to purchase our products again?
• Are you aware that we also offer _____? (this can be an excellent opportunity for up-selling)
• How often do you see our posts or ads on social media?
• You can also calculate the Net Promoter Score by asking your current customers: On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or colleague?

Pricing analysis

The following market research survey questions will help you explore the balance between product quality, features, and cost and assess the perceived value of your product.

• What is more important to you: product quality or price?
• In your opinion, what's a fair and reasonable price for a product like this?
• What is the price range within which you'd feel comfortable purchasing this product?
• What is the maximum amount you'd be willing to spend on this product?
• If you think the price is too high, what additional features or improvements would justify the current price of our product?
• Are there specific payment options or financing plans that would make you consider purchasing our product?
• Do you find our pricing information clear and easy to understand?

Customer preferences

This set of questions will help you learn more about consumer preferences and their purchasing habits so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

• What factors are influencing your purchasing decisions the most?
• Where do you look for products you want to buy?
• Do you prefer offline or online shopping, and why?
• Do you read customer reviews, and on which websites?
• Are you looking for recommendations from your friends and family?
• Do you use social media to follow brand accounts, and which platforms do you use the most?
• What is your preferred way to receive information and updates about a brand (e.g., social media, email newsletter, SMS)?
• How do you prefer to consume information: through video, audio or reading?

Customer concerns

Understanding why people are not buying from you is essential for adjusting your offer and marketing. This set of questions will help you uncover potential objections you can address on your website.

• Is there anything that's preventing you from buying our product?
• What would need to happen for you to purchase our product today?
• If now is not the right time to buy it, why is that?
• Do you have any doubts or questions about our product?
• What was your biggest concern before purchasing our product?
• What is the main reason for canceling your subscription / not ordering again?
• Did you encounter any problems or challenges when using our product?
• If there was one thing about our product that would have made your decision-making process faster, what would it be?

Competitive analysis

It's important to research your competitors and learn both about their unique selling points and their weaknesses from users’ perspectives, which can help you discover your own competitive advantage and do a thorough market opportunity analysis.

• How are you currently dealing with the problem that our product solves?
• Are you already using a product with similar features?
• Which products or brands would you consider as an alternative to ours?
• Why did you choose our product over other options?
• Did you consider any other options?
• Does our product miss some features that our competitors' products have?
• Are our prices higher, lower or similar to those of other companies?
• Which of these products have you tried? (provide a list of your competitors' products)
• What is your preferred brand?
• If our product was no longer available, what other product would you choose instead?

The following market research questions can be applied to your website, landing page, social media platforms or any other channel you use to share information about your product or service or communicate with your customers.

• Was it easy to find information on our website?
• Is our website easy to navigate and user-friendly?
• Is some information missing on our website?
• Is product information clear and transparent?
• Do you think we should add any features to our website, and which ones?
• What kind of content would you like to see on our blog?
• Did you have any difficulties using our website?

Market research questions: Best practices

Here are a few tips to consider when creating your own market research questions:

• Define clear objectives: Before starting, you have to be clear on what you want to get out of the market research. Learning more about your potential customers? Identifying your competition? Evaluating a new product idea? Identifying different customer segments?
• Use neutral language: If you want to get unbiased results to drive customer-led product growth , use neutral language to avoid leading participants toward a particular response.
• Use different types of questions: You should combine multiple-choice questions, Likert scales and open-ended questions, as each of them helps you gather different types of data. While close-ended questions are great for collecting and analyzing large amounts of quantitative data, the open-ended format can be better when creating interview questions for market research as it provides you with deeper customer insights .

Writing questions and conducting market research is just the first step. The second and even more important step is to analyze the data you've gathered so you can uncover insights and patterns.

The best way to do so is through a customer feedback platform like Zeda.io, which provides you with a centralized workspace to collect and manage feedback and analyze data from all customer interaction points in one place.

Our platform helps you transform customer feedback into actionable insights that can help you decide which product to build or how to prioritize product features .

Thanks to advanced AI algorithms, we can help you spot product opportunities by uncovering the features users desire the most.

It can also help you analyze customer feedback to detect issues and frustrations reported by users so that you can enhance customer experience by promptly fixing them.

We can also spot trends in user feedback and calculate a potential revenue impact from adding new features.

We hope you were able to pick some ideas for creating your next customer survey or interview questions for market research.

After conducting research, it's crucial to thoroughly analyze your market research questionnaire using the right user feedback tools .

Zeda.io is an AI-powered tool that transforms raw customer data into actionable insights, helping you better understand your customers and spot emerging trends before competitors.

It helps you take the guesswork out of product discovery and confidently create products your target market will love.

Sign up today, and let's uncover burning issues and market gaps together.

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How do you write a good market research question?

Good market research questions are the ones that are clear, concise, specific and aligned with your goals. To get unbiased data, avoid leading questions and suggesting particular answers to your target audience.

What questions should I ask for market research for a new product?

You should ask target customers about their pain points, struggles, challenges and desires. See how they're currently solving those problems, whether they're using any other similar product and whether some features of that product could be added or improved.

What are the 7 basic questions in market research?

Here are the key market research questions: What problem is our product solving? Who is our target audience? What product features are the most important for them? What influences their purchasing decisions? How much are they willing to pay? What's preventing potential customers from buying our product? Who are our main competitors?

What are the elements of market research?

The main elements of market research are researching your target audience, their needs and problems, doing a competitor analysis and spotting market trends.

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• 50+ Must-ask questions for your market research surveys

Şeyma Beyazçiçek

Market research is an essential part of finding answers to your questions. For this reason, market research surveys have a big importance. So, market study survey questions, too . These types of questions help you get essential data about the target audience, conduct competitive analysis, get new ones, or protect existing customers .

We have gathered the most essential data to help you gather information on the target market or target customer. In this article, you will find 50+ market research survey questions and examples about customers, products, social media, etc. You need to seriously consider these business survey questions for market research and learn more!

• What is a market research survey?

A market research survey is a document that asks demographic questions or any type of market research questions that aim to collect vital customer feedback to make you better in marketing . The critical point of a market research survey is to learn customer experience and make marketing plans according to it.

A report by Statista shows that since 2008 , the market research sector’s global revenue has increased by more than twice, surpassing $81 billion in 2022 . So, the importance of market research is getting more realized, and you need market analysis survey questions. Good survey questions for market research collect data to help you create definite strategies for a better marketing plan.

• 50+ Market research survey questions you must ask in your surveys

Each company has its own unique priorities and needs. For this reason, companies should choose questions carefully for their survey. 50+ market research survey questions might differ according to the needs and requirements of a company. Nevertheless, we have gathered the most essential and basic ones to make you grow faster. 

If you want to access all these privileges we have discussed so far, you need to have a look at these 50+ must-ask questions for your market research surveys:

Customer survey questions for market research questions

The primary reason for selling a product or service is for customers . Finding the target audience for your company is one of the most important parts of your market research survey. For that reason, you need to have a look at these customer survey questions for market research questions: 

1. How often do you shop from us?

• Once a week
• Twice a week
• Once a month
• Twice a month
• Once every two months
• Once every three months
• Once every six months
• Once a year

2. What is your favorite product/service?

3. What is your least favorite product/service?

4. Why do you choose us?

• Your reputation for quality products and services
• Your competitive pricing
• Your commitment to customer service
• Your convenient location
• Your wide selection of products and services
• Your knowledgeable staff
• Your experience in the industry
• Your commitment to innovation
• Your commitment to sustainability

5. Would you recommend us to your friends/family?

6. Since when do you choose us?

• Two Years Ago
• Three Years Ago

7. Overall, from 1-10, how do you rate us?

An opinion scale question example about satisfaction

Market research questions for a product

A market research question for a product is an excellent helper for companies to understand and collect data about existing. If you want to learn how your customers are satisfied with your exciting product, you only need to ask them these questions. Here are your market research questions for a product: 

8. Have you ever heard of this product before?

9. From 1-10, how would you rate this product?

10. Do you believe this product is useful/helpful for you? 

11. What is the likelihood of buying this product again?

• Very Likely
• Very Unlikely

12. What do you like about this product?

• It is easy to use
• It is cost-effective
• It is reliable
• It has great customer service
• It has a wide range of features

13. What do you dislike about this product?

• Functionality

14. Would you recommend this product to your friends or family?

You can replace the word “ product”  with the name of your own product.

A question example about purchasing behavior

New product market research survey questions

New product market research survey questions are perfect for your company if you plan for a new product. Imagine that you are about to launch a new product. You can take fewer risks if you ask questions about the new product before launching it. So you might need these market research questionnaire questions for your new product: 

15. Have you seen a similar product? 

16. How likely are you to use this product for your business activities?

17. What do you think is the best feature of this new product?

18. What do you think is the least favorite feature of this new product?

19. Do you find the price reasonable?

20. Are you excited about this product?

21. Overall, from 1-10, how do you rate this new product?

A question example about later use

Social media survey questions for market research

Social media is an excellent way of collecting helpful data from your customers because, today, nearly everybody has a social media account. You can have insightful data as long as you know which platform to use and how to use it. So, here are your social media survey questions for market research: 

22. Which social media platforms do you use? ( you can choose more than 1 )

23. In which social media platforms do you spend time the most?

24. Do you follow us on your social media accounts?

25. What do you think about our company’s social media account? 

• It's great!
• It could use some improvement.
• I haven't seen it

26. Do you believe we can use social media effectively?

27. What can we do to improve our social media accounts?

• Post regularly
• Run contests and giveaways
• Use relevant hashtags
• Optimize profile information
• Respond to comments
• Collaborate with influencers

28. Which influencers do you relate to us the most?

A market research survey question example about social media

Market research questions to ask potential customers

As much as trying to hold your existing customers, you should also try to find potential customers and expand your network. Because only in this way you can grow your business. When you have good market research questions to ask potential customers, as given below, you can easily get what you need: 

29. Have you ever heard us before?

30. When you think of our brand, what comes to your mind first? 

31. Who is our rival for you?

32. What is your minimum budget?

33. What is your maximum budget?

34. Would you consider choosing our product/service?

35. What are your best aspects, you think?

Market research questions for B2B companies

Just like any sector, B2B companies need to do their best to run market research. As for their market research survey, the questions will be different because they need to aim at businesses directly. If you need them, here are your market research questions for B2B companies: 

36 . Who is your ideal customer?

37. What really matters to your ideal customer?  

38. Do you think you know your customers?

39. How can you know your customers better?

40. What is your customers’ annual income? 

41. What do your customers do in their free time?

42. What attracts your customer?

Demographic questions for your market research survey

Demographic questions allow your company to understand your customer’s background better. Also, if you want to understand the certain characteristics of your target audience, demographic questions are the best option for you. Have a look at these demographic questions for your market research survey: 

43. What gender do you identify as?

• Genderfluid

44. How old are you?

• 65 or Above

45. What is your marital status?

46. Can you please specify your ethnicity?

• African American
• Asian American
• Hispanic/Latino
• Native American
• Pacific Islander
• White/Caucasian

47. Where are you located?

• United States
• United Kingdom

48. What is your education level?

• High School
• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree
• Doctorate Degree

49. What is your annual income?

• $0 - $25,000
• $25,001 - $50,000
• $50,001 - $75,000
• $75,001 - $100,000
• $100,001 - $150,000
• $150,001 - $200,000
• $200,001 and above

50. What is your current employment situation? 

• Employed full-time
• Employed part-time
• Self-employed
• Not looking for work

A market research survey question example about income

• How can I create a market research survey?

In order to collect essential data for your market research, if you want to handle it the fastest way, you will need an online form builder. Also, if you want to build your form with lots of options and create just like you wish and want to do all of them for free, there is only one option left: forms.app .

As long as you follow some basic steps, you can easily create your market research survey and here are the steps: 

1. Login or create an account

Firstly, you should log in to your existing account if you do not have one; no worries, you can easily and quickly create an account . Also, do not forget that you have the opportunity to log in via Google, Facebook, and Apple accounts. 

2. Start from scratch, choose a temple, or generate with AI

You have access to a wide range of options thanks to forms.app . You must begin from scratch if you wish to pick every aspect of your survey. The site offers pre-made market research survey templates if you do not want to spend too much time on it. However, if you stay current with the latest technology, artificial intelligence can create your survey in seconds!

3. Add your market research survey questions

Based on your company’s primary needs and essential requirements, you should choose your market research survey questions very carefully. Each company’s priorities can differ. For that reason, you need to pay attention while adding them. 

4. Customize your survey form

In this step, you can easily change and personalize your online survey . To give an example, you can change the size and type of the font, colors, and order of questions, add your brand’s logo, etc. 

5. Share your market research survey

In the final step, you can share your survey with your target via many platforms . You can choose the link to be public, limited, or private while sharing. Additionally, you can preview the link to see whether it has any meta titles, descriptions, or images. 

• How can I write good market research questions?

One can randomly create market research questions for the survey; however, if you want to be one step ahead of your rivals and be good at writing market research questions, you need to follow the points given below:

• Consider your company’s needs : You need to have a moment and consider what your company needs the most. What are your priorities or urgent needs? Or what are your urgent deficiencies to be covered? After answering these questions, you can create better questions. 
• Think like the customer: The key point is listening to your customers and trying to think like them. When you think like them, you can come up with better market research questions and collect more valuable data for your survey. 
• Be direct: Questions asked directly are definitely better , instead of asking too many indirect questions or long and complex sentences that might be confusing. So, you need to pay attention at this point. 
• Key points to take away

As we have discussed so far, the importance of market research is undeniable. If you want to increase your market share and be more successful in your sector, there are some key points for your company to take away. You should not ignore these points:

• Design of the survey: Do not forget that the more you pay attention to your market research survey design, the more you will seem professional. 
• Pay attention to the context: Design is an important factor, but context is the exact reason you run a survey. So, you need to be careful with your questions. 
• Check the result: At the end of the survey, checking and analyzing the results is a key point. If you will not do that, there is no need to share the survey, isn’t it?

Now that you have read so far, you know all the critical points about the issue and where to start. Take action now and start finding your own effective data collection methods for market research !

Şeyma is a content writer at forms.app. She loves art and traveling. She is passionate about reading and writing. Şeyma has expertise in surveys, survey questions, giveaways, statistics, and online forms.

• Market Research
• Form Features
• Data Collection

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Market Research Survey Questions Examples to Include in Your In-App Surveys

Have you ever wondered if you are wasting your resources because you don’t know your customers well enough? Some good market research survey questions examples can help you understand your customers better.

Market research survey questions are the key to thoroughly understanding user sentiment . With the help of market research, industry and company-specific data can be analyzed to obtain valuable insights.

In the article, we’ll discuss how you can create the right market research survey questions and 40+ market research questions you can ask your target audience.

• Market research is an organized effort to collect information about your ideal customers and their needs and preferences.
• Market research questions are questionnaires sent to potential users or existing customers to collect feedback .
• Market research surveys help you better understand your target market , optimize pricing, gain insights, learn about market trends, and do competitive analysis.
• To write survey questions, set clear market research goals, write straightforward questions, and send targeted surveys at the right time.
• The market research survey questions examples discussed here are used for knowing the demography, understanding brand perception, collecting user feedback, doing competitive analysis, prioritizing product development, and analyzing product pricing .
• Userpilot lets you create various in-app surveys code-free, trigger surveys across different stages of the user journey, and analyze responses .

What is market research?

Market research, or marketing research, is an organized activity of collecting information about your ideal customers and their needs and preferences.

Market research helps businesses identify and understand their target audience. It’s crucial for developing business strategies and creating a competitive advantage. For example, user feedback on a new product helps in improving the product’s design.

What are market research questions?

Market research questions are a questionnaire sent to potential users or existing customers to get their feedback on a specific topic.

Whether you want to identify your target market, get customer feedback, or understand user perceptions about your brand or product, market research questions offer the best insights.

Why do you need market research surveys?

Market research surveys offer a multitude of benefits. They allow you to:

• Better understand your existing customers and your target audience: This helps in product development and improvements to boost customer satisfaction.
• Optimize your pricing for your target market: Market research helps you know the expectations of your target market to create optimal pricing strategies .
• Gain customer insights regarding your product or service: Both prospective and existing users provide their feedback on your product or service and may also share their opinions on what needs to be improved.
• Learn about market trends: You can stay updated on relevant trends in the market to upgrade your product and develop marketing campaigns accordingly.
• Perform competitive analysis and work on your unique value proposition: Market research lets you assess your strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors and develop a unique selling point for your product.

How to write market research questions?

If you ever struggle with writing market research questions or need to refresh your memory before getting started, you can always refer to this post. You only have to follow three simple rules.

Set clear market research goals

The first step is to set clear market research goals. Since there are multiple types of market research surveys, it’s imperative to stay aligned with specific research goals for each survey.

Once you identify the problem you want to solve, a goal-setting framework helps to frame how the market research questions are written out.

For example, you may want to get customer feedback and thus create a market research survey to gain customer insights into improvement areas. You ultimately want to increase conversion by 10% by the end of the year.

SMART goals are a highly structured framework for establishing clear, precise goals. It takes a systematic approach to focus your strategies in the right place and improve your productivity.

The SMART acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Write clear market survey questions

Keep your questions short and simple to ensure high response rates. The answer options should also be easy to understand.

Use close-ended and open-ended questions to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.

Don’t use biased or leading questions by designing them in a way where you expect a positive or negative response.

Moreover, it is best to avoid double-barreled questions. Here’s an example: “How do you think this [feature name] improves the usability and competitiveness of this product?”

This reduces the quality of the feedback because people would give the same answer for ‘usability’ and ‘competitiveness’ although they are two different issues.

Ask the right market research questions at the right time

Make sure you ask the right market research questions to the right audience at the right time. Surveys should be contextual so users don’t feel bombarded with questions irrelevant to their use case.

Customer segmentation lets you understand how different users interact with your product. Therefore, segmenting users based on shared characteristics will help you send targeted survey questions at the right time.

Suppose you want to survey your new users. Since they are at the initial stage of the customer lifecycle, it’s best to ask them demographic questions in the welcome survey included in the welcome screen.

In another example, you can ask product experience questions after a specific interaction with the customer support team to measure customer satisfaction.

40+ Market research questions to ask your target audience

Now let’s check out the market research survey questions examples. There are six major types of market research questions.

• For knowing the demography
• To understand brand perception
• For collecting user feedback on your product or service
• For competitive analysis
• To prioritize product development
• For analyzing product pricing

Demographic questions

Demographic questions are used to learn about your target market’s age, gender, occupation, company role, etc. These questions help you segment target customers based on their user persona or jobs to be done.

Here are some examples.

• What is your current occupation?
• What is your job title?
• What is the name of your company?
• Please specify the number of employees that work in your company.
• Please specify your age.

Marketing survey questions to understand brand perception

These questions are needed to gauge brand awareness and how customers perceive the value of your brand. One example is an NPS survey to understand user sentiment and loyalty.

Some examples of marketing survey questions are:

• Describe [brand name] in one sentence.
• How do you feel about this brand?
• Do you currently use the product of this brand?
• Which of the following products have you tried? (Select all that apply)
• How did you hear about us?
• Would you recommend [brand name] to others based on our current features and attributes?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this brand to colleagues or friends?
• Of all the brands offering similar products, which do you feel is the best brand?
• Please specify what makes it the best brand for you in the category.

Marketing research questions to collect feedback regarding your product or service

These questions help you understand user perception and identify the necessary changes to be made in the product development cycle. This lets you improve your product and in turn, enhance the customer experience .

For instance, you can use a customer satisfaction score (CSAT) survey to know how satisfied customers are with your in-app self-service support.

Examples of marketing research questions include:

• Have you heard of [product name] before?
• How would you feel if [product name] was no longer available?
• What feature did you expect but not find?
• How are you planning to use [product or service]?
• How satisfied are you with the product?
• How disappointed would you be if you could no longer use [product/feature name]?
• Rate our product based on the following aspects:
• Have you faced any problems with the product? Specify below.
• According to you, In which area is this product/service lacking the most? Specify below.
• Please rate the following product features according to their importance to you.
• How often do you use [product name]?
• How long have you been using [product name]?
• When was the last time you used [product name]?
• How does the product run after the update?

Questions to ask existing and potential customers to perform competitive analysis

These market research questions enable you to analyze your relative position to competitors and devise strategies to gain a competitive advantage.

Examples include:

• Which product/service would you consider as an alternative to ours?
• How would you compare our products to our competitors?
• Rate our competitor based on the following:
• Compared to our competitors, is our product quality better, worse, or about the same?
• Have you seen any website/product/app with a similar feature?
• Please list the top three things that persuaded you to use us rather than a competitor.
• Why did you choose to use our [product] over other options?
• Which other options did you consider before choosing [product name]?
• According to you, which brand best fits each of the following characteristics?

Market research questionnaire to prioritize product development

To prioritize product development, you must work on new features your target customers will love. For instance, you can send a feature request survey to know how you need to improve your value proposition and match key consumer trends.

Some examples are:

• Would you purchase this product if it were available today?
• What feature would you like to see in the product?
• Would implementing [this feature] increase the usability of the [product name]?
• Which feature do you think will help improve the product experience for you?
• Please let us know how we can further improve this feature.
• What was your first reaction to the product?
• Of these four options, what’s the next thing you think we should build?
• What feature can we add that would make our product indispensable for you?
• What problem would you like to solve with our product?

Questions to analyze your product pricing

You can ask the following market research questions to analyze your pricing strategy. Thus, you can set optimal, competitive prices for your subscription plans.

• According to you, what should be the ideal price of the [product name]?
• According to you, what is the ideal price range for the product?
• Would you purchase the product at [price]?
• Is our product pricing clear?

How to create market research surveys in-app with Userpilot

Userpilot is a product growth that includes onboarding, product adoption, and product analytics as its major functionalities. So let’s see how you can create in-app market research surveys with Userpilot and get actionable insights.

Create different in-app surveys code-free

Userpilot lets you create a wide variety of in-app surveys , such as CSAT, NPS, PMF, and feature request surveys. You can even customize these surveys to reflect the style and colors of your brand, all code-free.

With Userpilot, you can add both close-ended and open-ended questions. For example, you can add qualitative follow-up questions to NPS surveys to know the reasons behind a particular score.

The image below shows a product-market fit (PMF) survey. You can add different formats to each survey for customization.

Trigger surveys at any point in the customer journey

You can send automated surveys by setting triggers at different stages of the customer journey .

This allows you to identify friction and drop-off points and address these areas to improve customer satisfaction. Moreover, you can analyze user perception at multiple stages, e.g., during awareness, conversion, and loyalty campaigns.

Use custom events to group several events together. It lets you trigger the survey after a custom event has been completed.

Collect feedback and analyze responses

Userpilot lets you tag and analyze qualitative responses in their dashboard. It offers in-depth insights into your target customers.

Below, you can see the various NPS response tags and the score for each of them.

Wrapping up

Want to get started with market research? Get a Userpilot demo and see how you can use these market research survey questions examples to analyze data and create effective marketing strategies.

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98 Quantitative Research Questions & Examples

As researchers, we know how powerful quantitative research data can be in helping answer strategic questions. Here, I’ve detailed 23 use cases and curated 98 quantitative market research questions with examples – making this a post you should add to your bookmark list , so you can quickly refer back.

I’ve formatted this post to show you 10-15 questions for each use case. At the end of each section, I also share a quicker way to get similar insights using modern market research tools like Similarweb.

What is a quantitative research question?

Quantitative market research questions tell you the what, how, when, and where of a subject. From trendspotting to identifying patterns or establishing averages– using quantitative data is a clear and effective way to start solving business problems.

Types of quantitative research questions

Quantitative market research questions are divided into two main types: descriptive and causal.

• Descriptive research questions seek to quantify a phenomenon by focusing on a certain population or phenomenon to measure certain aspects of it, such as frequency, average, or relationship.
• Causal research questions explore the cause-and-effect relationship between two or more variables.

The ultimate list of questions for quantitative market research

Get clear explanations of the different applications and approaches to quantitative research–with the added bonus of seeing what questions to ask and how they can impact your business.

Examples of quantitative research questions for competitive analysis

A powerful example of quantitative research in play is when it’s used to inform a competitive analysis . A process that’s used to analyze and understand how industry leaders and companies of interest are performing.

Pro Tip: Collect data systematically, and use a competitive analysis framework to record your findings. You can refer back to it when you repeat the process later in the year.

• What is the market share of our major competitors?
• What is the average purchase price of our competitors’ products?
• How often do our competitors release new products?
• What is the total number of customer reviews for our competitors’ products?
• What is the average rating of our competitors’ products?
• What is the average customer satisfaction score for our competitors?
• What is the average return rate of our competitors’ products?
• What is the average shipping time for our competitors’ products?
• What is the average price discount offered by our competitors?
• What is the average lifespan of our competitors’ products?

With this data, you can determine your position in the market and benchmark your performance against rival companies. It can then be used to improve offerings, service standards, pricing, positioning, and operational effectiveness. Notice that all questions can be answered with a numerical response , a key component of all successful examples of quantitative market research questions.

Quantitative research question example: market analysis

‍♀️ Question: What is the market share of our major competitors?

Insight sought: Industry market share of leaders and key competitors.

Challenges with traditional quantitative research methods: Outdated data is a major consideration; data freshness remains critical, yet is often tricky to obtain using traditional research methods. Markets shift fast, so being able to obtain and track market share in real time is a challenge many face.

A new approach: Similarweb enables you to track this key business KPI in real-time using digital data directly from the platform. On any day, you can see what your market share is, along with any players in your market. Plus, you get to see rising stars showing significant growth, who may pose a threat through market disruption or new tactics.

⏰ Time to insight: 30 seconds

✅ How it’s done: Using Similarweb’s Web Industry Analysis, two digital metrics give you the intel needed to decipher the market share in any industry. I’m using the Banking, Credit, and Lending market throughout these examples. I’ve selected the US market, analyzing the performance of the previous 3 months.

• Share of visits 

Here, I can see the top players in my market based on the number of unique visitors to their sites. On top of the raw data that shows me the volume of visitors as a figure, I can quickly see the two players ( Capital One and Chase ) that have grown and by what percentage. On the side, you can see rising players in the industry. Now, while my initial question was to establish the market share of my major competitors, I can see there are a few disruptive players in my market who I’d want to track too; Synchrony.com being one of particular interest, given their substantial growth and traffic numbers.

• Share of search 

Viewing the overall market size based on total search volumes, you can explore industry leaders in more detail. The top websites are the top five players, ranking by traffic share . You can also view the month-over-month change in visits, which shows you who is performing best at any given time . It’s the same five names, with Paypal and Chase leading the pack. However, I see Wells Fargo is better at attracting repeat visitors, while Capital One and Bank of America perform better at drawing in unique visitors.

In answer to my question, what is the market share of my major competitors, I can quickly use Similarweb’s quantitative data to get my answer.

This traffic share visual can be downloaded from the platform. It plots the ten industry leader’s market share and allocates the remaining share to the rest of the market.

I can also download a market quadrant analysis, which takes two key data points, traffic share and unique visitors, and plots the industry leaders. All supporting raw data can be downloaded in .xls format or connected to other business intelligence platforms via the API.

Quantitative research questions for consumer behavior studies

These studies measure and analyze consumer behavior, preferences, and habits . Any type of audience analysis helps companies better understand customer intent, and adjust offerings, messaging, campaigns, SEO, and ultimately offer more relevant products and services within a market.

• What is the average amount consumers spend on a certain product each month?
• What percentage of consumers are likely to purchase a product based on its price?
• How do the demographics of the target audience affect their purchasing behavior?
• What type of incentive is most likely to increase the likelihood of purchase?
• How does the store’s location impact product sales and turnover?
• What are the key drivers of product loyalty among consumers?
• What are the most commonly cited reasons for not buying a product?
• How does the availability of product information impact purchasing decisions?
• What is the average time consumers spend researching a product before buying it?
• How often do consumers use social media when making a purchase decision?

While applying a qualitative approach to such studies is also possible, it’s a great example of quantitative market research in action. For larger corporations, studies that involve a large, relevant sample size of a target market deliver vital consumer insights at scale .

Read More: 83 Qualitative Research Questions & Examples

Quantitative research question and answer: content strategy and analysis

‍♀️ Question: What type of content performed best in the market this past month?

Insight sought: Establish high-performing campaigns and promotions in a market.

Challenges with traditional quantitative research methods: Whether you consider putting together a panel yourself, or paying a company to do it for you, quantitative research at scale is costly and time-consuming. What’s more, you have to ensure that sampling is done right and represents your target audience.

A new approach: Data analysis is the foundation of our entire business. For over 10 years, Similarweb has developed a unique , multi-dimensional approach to understanding the digital world. To see the specific campaigns that resonate most with a target audience, use Similarweb’s Popular Pages feature. Key metrics show which campaigns achieve the best results for any site (including rival firms), campaign take-up, and periodic changes in performance and interest.

✅ How it’s done: I’ve chosen Capital One and Wells Fargo to review. Using the Popular Pages campaign filter, I can view all pages identified by a URL parameter UTM. For clarity, I’ve highlighted specific campaigns showing high-growth and increasing popularity. I can view any site’s trending, new, or best-performing pages using a different filter.

In this example, I have highlighted three campaigns showing healthy growth, covering teen checking accounts, performance savings accounts, and add-cash-in-store. Next, I will perform the same check for another key competitor in my market.

Here, I can see financial health tools campaigns with over 300% month-over-month growth and smarter credit and FICO campaigns showing strong performance. This tells me that campaigns focussing on education and tools are growing in popularity within this market. 

Examples of quantitative research questions for brand tracking

These studies are designed to measure customers’ awareness, perceptions, behaviors, and attitudes toward a brand over time. Different applications include measuring brand awareness , brand equity, customer satisfaction, and purchase or usage intent.

These types of research surveys ask questions about brand knowledge, brand attributes, brand perceptions, and brand loyalty . The data collected can then be used to understand the current state of a brand’s performance, identify improvements, and track the success of marketing initiatives.

• To what extent is Brand Z associated with innovation?
• How do consumers rate the quality of Brand Z’s products and services?
• How has the awareness of Brand Z changed over the past 6 months?
• How does Brand Z compare to its competitors in terms of customer satisfaction?
• To what extent do consumers trust Brand Z?
• How likely are consumers to recommend Brand Z?
• What factors influence consumers’ purchase decisions when considering Brand Z?
• What is the average customer satisfaction score for equity?
• How does equity’s customer service compare to its competitors?
• How do customer perceptions of equity’s brand values compare to its competitors?

Quantitative research question example and answer: brand tracking

‍♀️ Question: How has the awareness of Brand Z changed over the past 6 months?

Insight sought: How has brand awareness changed for my business and competitors over time.

⏰ Time to insight: 2 minutes

✅ How it’s done: Using Similarweb’s search overview, I can quickly identify which brands in my chosen market have the highest brand awareness over any time period or location. I can view these stats as a custom market or examine brands individually.

Here, I’ve chosen a custom view that shows me five companies side-by-side. In the top right-hand corner, under branded traffic, you get a quick snapshot of the share of website visits that were generated by branded keywords. A branded keyword is when a consumer types the brand name + a search term.

Below that, you will see the search traffic and engagement section. Here, I’ve filtered the results to show me branded traffic as a percentage of total traffic. Similarweb shows me how branded search volumes grow or decline monthly. Helping me answer the question of how brand awareness has changed over time.

Quantitative research questions for consumer ad testing

Another example of using quantitative research to impact change and improve results is ad testing. It measures the effectiveness of different advertising campaigns. It’s often known as A/B testing , where different visuals, content, calls-to-action, and design elements are experimented with to see which works best. It can show the impact of different ads on engagement and conversions.

A range of quantitative market research questions can be asked and analyzed to determine the optimal approach.

• How does changing the ad’s headline affect the number of people who click on the ad?
• How does varying the ad’s design affect its click-through rate?
• How does altering the ad’s call-to-action affect the number of conversions?
• How does adjusting the ad’s color scheme influence the number of people who view the ad?
• How does manipulating the ad’s text length affect the average amount of time a user spends on the landing page?
• How does changing the ad’s placement on the page affect the amount of money spent on the ad?
• How does varying the ad’s targeting parameters affect the number of impressions?
• How does altering the ad’s call-to-action language impact the click-through rate?

Quantitative question examples for social media monitoring

Quantitative market research can be applied to measure and analyze the impact of social media on a brand’s awareness, engagement, and reputation . By tracking key metrics such as the number of followers, impressions, and shares, brands can:

• Assess the success of their social media campaigns
• Understand what content resonates with customers
• Spot potential areas for improvement
• How often are people talking about our brand on social media channels?
• How many times has our brand been mentioned in the past month?
• What are the most popular topics related to our brand on social media?
• What is the sentiment associated with our brand across social media channels?
• How do our competitors compare in terms of social media presence?
• What is the average response time for customer inquiries on social media?
• What percentage of followers are actively engaging with our brand?
• What are the most popular hashtags associated with our brand?
• What types of content generate the most engagement on social media?
• How does our brand compare to our competitors in terms of reach and engagement on social media?

Example of quantitative research question and answer: social media monitoring

‍♀️ Question: How does our brand compare to our competitors in terms of reach and engagement on social media?

Insight sought: The social channels that most effectively drive traffic and engagement in my market

✅ How it’s done: Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence shows you a marketing channels overview at both an industry and market level. With it, you can view the most effective social media channels in any industry and drill down to compare social performance across a custom group of competitors or an individual company.

Here, I’ve taken the five closest rivals in my market and clicked to expand social media channel data. Wells Fargo and Bank of America have generated the highest traffic volume from social media, with over 6.6 million referrals this year. Next, I can see the exact percentage of traffic generated by each channel and its relative share of traffic for each competitor. This shows me the most effective channels are YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit – in that order.

In 30-seconds, I’ve discovered the following:

• YouTube is the most popular social network in my market.
• Facebook and LinkedIn are the second and third most popular channels.
• Wells Fargo is my primary target for a more in-depth review, with the highest performance on the top two channels.
• Bank of America is outperforming all key players significantly on LinkedIn.
• American Express has found a high referral opportunity on Reddit that others have been unable to match.

Power-up Your Market Research with Similarweb Today

Examples of quantitative research questions for online polls

This is one of the oldest known uses of quantitative market research. It dates back to the 19th century when they were first used in America to try and predict the outcome of the presidential elections.

Polls are just short versions of surveys but provide a point-in-time perspective across a large group of people. You can add a poll to your website as a widget, to an email, or if you’ve got a budget to spend, you might use a company like YouGov to add questions to one of their online polls and distribute it to an audience en-masse.

• What is your annual income?
• In what age group do you fall?
• On average, how much do you spend on our products per month?
• How likely are you to recommend our products to others?
• How satisfied are you with our customer service?
• How likely are you to purchase our products in the future?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is price when it comes to buying our products?
• How likely are you to use our products in the next six months?
• What other brands of products do you purchase?
• How would you rate our products compared to our competitors?

Quantitative research questions for eye tracking studies

These research studies measure how people look and respond to different websites or ad elements. It’s traditionally an example of quantitative research used by enterprise firms but is becoming more common in the SMB space due to easier access to such technologies.

• How much time do participants spend looking at each visual element of the product or ad?
• How does the order of presentation affect the impact of time spent looking at each visual element?
• How does the size of the visual elements affect the amount of time spent looking at them?
• What is the average time participants spend looking at the product or ad as a whole?
• What is the average number of fixations participants make when looking at the product or ad?
• Are there any visual elements that participants consistently ignore?
• How does the product’s design or advertising affect the average number of fixations?
• How do different types of participants (age, gender, etc.) interact with the product or ad differently?
• Is there a correlation between the amount of time spent looking at the product or ad and the participants’ purchase decision?
• How does the user’s experience with similar products or ads affect the amount of time spent looking at the current product or ad?

Quantitative question examples for customer segmentation

Segmentation is becoming more important as organizations large and small seek to offer more personalized experiences. Effective segmentation helps businesses understand their customer’s needs–which can result in more targeted marketing, increased conversions, higher levels of loyalty, and better brand awareness.

If you’re just starting to segment your market, and want to know the best quantitative research questions to ask to help you do this, here are 20 to choose from.

Examples of quantitative research questions to segment customers

• What is your age range?
• What is your annual household income?
• What is your preferred online shopping method?
• What is your occupation?
• What types of products do you typically purchase?
• Are you a frequent shopper?
• How often do you purchase products online?
• What is your typical budget for online purchases?
• What is your primary motivation for purchasing products online?
• What factors influence your decision to purchase a product online?
• What device do you use most often when shopping online?
• What type of product categories are you most interested in?
• Do you prefer to shop online for convenience or for a better price?
• What type of discounts or promotions do you look for when making online purchases?
• How do you prefer to receive notifications about product promotions or discounts?
• What type of payment methods do you prefer when shopping online?
• What methods do you use to compare different products and prices when shopping online?
• What type of customer service do you expect when shopping online?
• What type of product reviews do you consider when making online purchases?
• How do you prefer to interact with a brand when shopping online?

Examples of quantitative research questions for analyzing customer segments

• What is the average age of customers in each segment?
• How do spending habits vary across customer segments ?
• What is the average length of time customers spend in each segment?
• How does loyalty vary across customer segments?
• What is the average purchase size in each segment?
• What is the average frequency of purchases in each segment?
• What is the average customer lifetime value in each segment?
• How does customer satisfaction vary across customer segments?
• What is the average response rate to campaigns in each segment?
• How does customer engagement vary across customer segments?

These questions are ideal to ask once you’ve already defined your segments. We’ve written a useful post that covers the ins and outs of what market segmentation is and how to do it.

Additional applications of quantitative research questions

I’ve covered ten use cases for quantitative questions in detail. Still, there are other instances where you can put quantitative research to good use.

Product usage studies: Measure how customers use a product or service.

Preference testing: Testing of customer preferences for different products or services.

Sales analysis: Analysis of sales data to identify trends and patterns.

Distribution analysis: Analyzing distribution channels to determine the most efficient and effective way to reach customers.

Focus groups: Groups of consumers brought together to discuss and provide feedback on a particular product, service, or marketing campaign.

Consumer interviews: Conducted with customers to understand their behavior and preferences better.

Mystery shopping: Mystery shoppers are sent to stores to measure customer service levels and product availability.

Conjoint analysis: Analysis of how consumers value different attributes of a product or service.

Regression analysis: Statistical analysis used to identify relationships between different variables.

A/B testing: Testing two or more different versions of a product or service to determine which one performs better.

Brand equity studies: Measure, compare and analyze brand recognition, loyalty, and consumer perception.

Exit surveys: Collect numerical data to analyze employee experience and reasons for leaving, providing insight into how to improve the work environment and retain employees.

Price sensitivity testing: Measuring responses to different pricing models to find the optimal pricing model, and identify areas if and where discounts or incentives might be beneficial.

Quantitative market research survey examples

A recent GreenBook study shows that 89% of people in the market research industry use online surveys frequently–and for good reason. They’re quick and easy to set up, the cost is minimal, and they’re highly scalable too.

Questions are always formatted to provide close-ended answers that can be quantified. If you wish to collect free-text responses, this ventures into the realm of qualitative research . Here are a few examples.

Brand Loyalty Surveys: Companies use online surveys to measure customers’ loyalty to their brand. They include questions about how long an individual has been a customer, their overall satisfaction with the service or product, and the likelihood of them recommending the brand to others.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys: These surveys may include questions about the customer’s experience, their overall satisfaction, and the likelihood they will recommend a product or service to others.

Pricing Studies: This type of research reveals how customers value their products or services. These surveys may include questions about the customer’s willingness to pay for the product, the customer’s perception of the price and value, and their comparison of the price to other similar items.

Product/Service Usage Studies: These surveys measure how customers use their products or services. They can include questions about how often customers use a product, their preferred features, and overall satisfaction.

Here’s an example of a typical survey we’ve used when testing out potential features with groups of clients. After they’ve had the chance to use the feature for a period, we send a short survey, then use the feedback to determine the viability of the feature for future release.

Employee Experience Surveys: Another great example of quantitative data in action, and one we use at Similarweb to measure employee satisfaction. Many online platforms are available to help you conduct them; here, we use Culture AMP . The ability to manipulate the data, spot patterns or trends, then identify the core successes and development areas are astounding.

How to answer quantitative research questions with Similarweb

For the vast majority of applications I’ve covered in this post, there’s a more modern, quicker, and more efficient way to obtain similar insights online. Gone are the days when companies need to use expensive outdated data or pay hefty sums of money to market research firms to conduct broad studies to get the answers they need.

By this point, I hope you’ve seen how quick and easy it is to use Similarweb to do market research the modern way. But I’ve only scratched the surface of its capabilities.

Take two to watch this introductory video and see what else you can uncover.

Added bonus: Similarweb API

If you need to crunch large volumes of data and already use tools like Tableau or PowerBI, you can seamlessly connect Similarweb via the API and pipe in the data. So for faster analysis of big data, you can leverage Similarweb data to use alongside the visualization tools you already know and love.

Similarweb’s suite of market intelligence solutions offers unbiased, accurate, honest insights you can trust. With a world of data at your fingertips, use Similarweb Research Intelligence to uncover facts that help inform your research and strengthen your position.

Take a look at:

• Our Market Research suite
• Our Benchmarking tools
• Our Audience Insights tool
• Our Company Research module
• Our Consumer Journey Tracker
• Our Competitive Analysis Tool

Wrapping up

Today’s markets change at lightning speed. To keep up and succeed, companies need access to insights and intel they can depend on to be timely and on-point. While quantitative market research questions can and should always be asked, it’s important to leverage technology to increase your speed to insight, and thus improve reaction times and response to market shifts.

What is quantitative market research?

Quantitative market research is a form of research that uses numerical data to gain insights into the behavior and preferences of customers. It is used to measure and track the performance of products, services, and campaigns.

How does quantitative market research help businesses?

Quantitative market research can help businesses identify customer trends, measure customer satisfaction, and develop effective marketing strategies. It can also provide valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and attitudes.

What types of questions should be included in a quantitative market research survey?

Questions in a quantitative market research survey should be focused, clear, and specific. Questions should be structured to collect quantitative data, such as numbers, percentages, or frequency of responses.

What methods can be used to collect quantitative market research data?

Common methods used to collect quantitative market research data include surveys, interviews, focus groups, polls, and online questionnaires.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using quantitative market research?

The advantages of using quantitative market research include the ability to collect data quickly, the ability to analyze data in a structured way, and the ability to identify trends. Disadvantages include the potential for bias, the cost of collecting data, and the difficulty in interpreting results.

by Liz March

Digital Research Specialist

Liz March has 15 years of experience in content creation. She enjoys the outdoors, F1, and reading, and is pursuing a BSc in Environmental Science.

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The 8 types of market research: definitions, uses and examples.

13 min read What are the different types of market research that can help you stay ahead of the curve with your marketing strategy? Understand how to use each type, and what the advantages and disadvantages are.

Market research (also called marketing research) is the action or activity of gathering information about market needs and preferences. This helps companies understand their target market — how the audience feels and behaves.

There are 8 types of market research, each with their own methods and tools:

• Primary research
• Secondary research
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Branding research
• Customer research
• Competitor research
• Product research

Let’s start our list by exploring primary and secondary research first.

Free eBook: How to rethink and reinvent market research

1. Primary research

Primary research is research that you collect yourself but going directly to the target market through a range of methods. Because it is data you create, you own the data set.

Two types of results — exploratory information (determines the nature of a problem that hasn’t yet been clearly defined) and conclusive information (carried out to solve a problem that exploratory research identified) — from participants are collected as raw data and then analyzed to gather insights from trends and comparisons.

This method is good for getting the views of a lot of people at one time, especially when time is short, but it comes with its own management issues. The interviewer must prepare a way to gather answers and record these, while engaging in conversation with many people.

Participants may be affected by the group setting, either from acquiescence bias (the desire to say yes to please the interviewer), dominance bias (stronger participants can alter the results from less dominant participants) or researcher bias (where the research leads or impacts the participant responses indirectly).

This provides a structured setting where the interviewer can listen to what’s being said and investigate further into an answer. The interviewer can also pick up on non-verbal cues from body language can help the interview understand where to deep-dive and broaden their understanding.

However, some of the same biases (acquiescence and researcher) still exit in this format. The method is time consuming to do the interviews and collect the data afterwards.

A survey is an excellent method for carrying out primary research as participants do need to be physically present with the interviewer to carry it out. The survey can be completed anywhere there is an internet connection, meaning there is flexibility for the participants to use different devices and for interviewers to contact participants in different geographical time-zones.Preparation is key, however, as the researchers must segment the market and create a list of participants to send the survey to. Hiring a panel or using existing marketing lists can help with this.

2. Secondary research

Secondary research is the use of data that has previously been collected, analysed and published (and therefore you do not own this data). An example of this for market research is:

Most information is freely available, so there are less costs associated with this kind of secondary research over primary research methods.

Secondary research can often be the preparation for primary research activities, providing a knowledge base. The information gathered may not provide the specific information to explain the results, which is where primary market research would be used to enhance understanding.

There is also a logistics planning need for a recording solution that can handle large datasets, since manual management of the volumes of information can be tricky.

Both primary and secondary research have its advantages and disadvantages, as we’ve seen, but they are best used when paired together. Combined, the data can give you the confidence to act knowing that any hypothesis you have is backed up.

Learn more about primary vs secondary research methods

The next market research types can be defined as qualitative and quantitative research types:

3. Qualitative research

Qualitative market research is the collection of primary or secondary data that is non-numerical in nature, and therefore hard to measure.

Researchers collect this market research type because it can add more depth to the data.

This kind of market research is used to summarise and infer, rather than pin-points an exact truth held by a target market. For example, qualitative market research can be done to find out a new target market’s reaction to a new product to translate the reaction into a clear explanation for the company.

4. Quantitative research

Quantitative research is the collection of primary or secondary data that is numerical in nature, and so can be collected more easily.

Researchers collect this market research type because it can provide historical benchmarking, based on facts and figures evidence.

There are a number of ways to collect this data — polls, surveys, desk research, web statistics, financial records — which can be exploratory in nature without a lot of depth at this stage.

Quantitative market research can create the foundation of knowledge needed by researchers to investigate hypotheses further through qualitative market research.

The next four variations of market research are specific to topics areas, that bring about specific information.:

5. Branding research

Branding market research assists a company to create, manage and maintain the company brand. This can relate to the tone, branding, images, values or identity of the company.

Research can be carried out through interviews, focus groups or surveys. For example, brand awareness surveys will ask your participants whether the brand is known to them and whether it is something they would be interested in buying.

Additional areas for brand research is also around brand loyalty, brand perception , brand positioning , brand value and brand identity .

The aim of research will be to understand how to know if:

• Your brand is performing in relation to other competitors
• There are areas to improve your brand activities
• There are positives to showcase to enhance your brand’s image

6. Customer research

Customer market research looks at the key influences on your target customers and how your company can make changes to encourage sales.

The aim of this research is to know your customer inside out, and continuously learn about how they interact with the company. Some themes covered by this include:

• Customer satisfaction – Exploring what keeps customers happy, as higher customer satisfaction is more likely to lead to increased customer retention.
• Customer loyalty – This looks at what experiences have happened to lead to greater customer loyalty across the customer lifecycle.
• Customer segmentation research – Discovering who the customers are, what their behaviour and preferences are and their shared characteristics.

Relevant desk research may look at historical purchase records, customer journey mapping , customer segmentation, demographics and persona templates.

Primary research, such as NPS and customer satisfaction surveys , or customer satisfaction interviews at the end of customer support calls, can also give more details.

7. Competitor research

Competitor market research is about knowing who your competition is and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to your organization. It can also be about your competitive offering in the market, or how to approach a new market.

The aim of this research is to find ways to make your organization stand out and future planning through horizon scanning and listening to customer preferences.

For example, for competitive analysis, researchers would create a SWOT for your business and your competitors, to see how your business compares.

Primary research could interview customers about their buying preferences, while secondary sources would look at competitor’s market dominance, sales, structure and so on. With this thorough analysis, you can understand where you can change to be more competitive, and look for ideas that make you stand out.

8. Product research

Product market research is a key way to make sure your products and services are fit for launching in the market, and are performing as well as they can.

The aim of this research is to see how your product is perceived by customers, if they are providing value and working correctly. Ideas can also be formed about upgrades and future product development.

There are a number of avenues within product research:

• Product branding – Does the product brand and design attract customers in the intended way?
• Product feature testing – this can happen at various stages of development with target markets (in early development, between versions, before product launch, etc.) to check if there are positive reaction to new or improved features
• Product design thinking – what solutions would solve your customers’ current or future problems?
• Product marketing – Do the marketing messages help your product’s memorability and saleability, or can they be improved?

Primary research methods have a clear advantage in this kind of market research: Surveys can ask for rankings on the popularity or usefulness of features or conduct conjoint analysis, while in-person observation interviews (where the participant can handle a product) can be particularly useful in seeing what customers do with the product in real time.

How to use market research types in your company

In a good marketing strategy, it’s preferable to have a mixture of data across:

• Qualitative and quantitative research
• Primary and secondary research
• Your specific topic area or area of focus

With these three components, you can make sure your market strategy gives you a complete picture of your market’s operational data and experience data , — what your market does and why .

Economical experience data (O data)

This type of experience data is quantitative in nature (including operations, featuring sales data, finance data and HR data ). As it can be quantified into numerical values, it can be measured over and over, providing datasets.

There is the opportunity to use a data-driven approach to understanding the results and making predictions based on historical trends.

This sort of data can be measured more easily than emotions and feelings. But it can only tell you about past activities and what happened. It can’t tell you what will happen in the future and why things will happen — this is where X data comes in.

Emotional experience data (X data)

This type of experience data seeks to find reasons to explain emotional decisions and how brands ‘sit’ in people’s minds. In this way, this data is qualitative in nature.

Companies that have X data have a ‘mental advantage’ over other companies,  as they are able to understand the perceptions of the customer, their needs and values.

When you have tangible insights on the audience’s needs, you can then take steps to meet those needs and solve problems. This mitigates the risk of an experience gap – which is what your audience expects you deliver versus what you actually deliver.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Small Business Trends

132 market research questions to ask.

Another market research example involves creating clear pictures of your ideal customers — called customer personas –for precise targeting. Other market research examples involve gathering feedback from existing customers to measure customer satisfaction.

Types of Market Research Questions

Market Research Questions

Questions to ask customers.

Use the following as survey questions, either post sale or as post-support surveys. Or use these market research questions to conduct a focus group, interview individual customers, or engage potential customers during the sales process.

Pricing and Value

Doing research may also require you to gather information internally. For example, meet with Sales to discuss feedback they receive from possible customers.

Product or Service Questions

Online visibility questions, reputation management.

A big part of market research today is to find out what customers think and say about your business (and also about your competitors). You want answers to the following market research questions:

Messaging and Advertising

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80+ Market Research Questions to Ask your Target Audiences

To remain competitive in the current business landscape, keeping up with the ever-changing market trends is not just an option but an absolute necessity. By adapting your customer interaction points and developing strategies that not only attract but also convert potential leads into loyal customers, you can solidify your standing in the industry.

But how can you achieve all of this effectively and efficiently? The answer lies in the power of market research and, more importantly, in asking the right survey questions .

Build & Send your Market Research Surveys🔥

Choose from over 30+ question types, add your own themes and create amazing surveys that people love answering.

Market research can navigate your company by helping you understand your audiences and customers better, identify shifting trends, and maintain that sought-after competitive advantage. In this blog, we'll throw light on the most compelling market research questions and best practices that can unveil valuable insights and give you a strategic edge in the ever-evolving market. 

Table of Content

What are market research questions.

• For Customers
• For Startups
• For New Product Launch
• For Existing Product
• To Segment Target Market
• For Competitive Analysis
• To Check Brand Awareness
• Pricing Analysis
• For Concept Testing
• To Understand Online Visibility
• For Reputation Management
• For Messaging & Advertising

Best Practices for Market Research Questions

Why do market research, top 10 market research questions.

Market research questions are designed to gather specific information and insights about a target market or audience. These questions play a crucial role in conducting systematic research to understand consumer preferences, behaviors, and opinions, as well as to analyze market trends and competitors.

You can use a market research survey template offered by Zonka Feedback to make informed decisions, identify opportunities, and develop effective strategies to stay competitive. If you are looking for a ready-to-use market research survey template, here is one that can gain you customer insights, consequently increasing customer satisfaction .

Market Research Questions to Gather Insights

Market research questions can help to optimize the decision-making process for businesses across various stages, from product development to marketing and sales. However, choosing the right market research questions should be based on what you want to achieve through market research. You can leverage microsurveys like the Net Promoter Score or Customer Satisfaction Surveys to conduct market research or create a comprehensive survey to gauge various aspects. Let us look at market research questions aimed at different user personas and business goals. 

1. For Customers

Understanding customers' preferences, concerns, and buying behavior are vital for your business to provide exceptional customer experiences . With this knowledge, you can focus on enhancing the aspects your customers love while working on areas that need improvement. 

What factors influence your purchasing decisions the most? What improvements would you like to see in our offerings?  How satisfied are you with our customer service?  Would you recommend our product to others? Which specific features of our product/service do you find most valuable?

2. For Startups

For startups, market research is crucial to validate business ideas , identify target markets, and uncover potential opportunities and challenges. Seeking product feedback for your startup in the early stages of brand development can be especially valuable in refining your beta version of the product and can help to create a product that truly resonates with your target audience.

What challenges do you currently face in [relevant industry/problem area]? What features are most important to you when considering a [product/service]? Would you be willing to try a new [product/service] if it addresses your needs more effectively? What would be your primary reason for choosing a product over competitors? How much would you be willing to pay for a product/service that meets your requirements? What are your preferred communication channels to learn about new products/services? How do you prefer to purchase product/service - online, in-store, or through a mobile app?

There are certain questions that you should be establishing as a startup before entering the market. Consider these market research questions to refine your startup's value proposition and make well-informed decisions to position your venture for success.

What are the total addressable market (tam), serviceable available market (sam), and share of the market (som)? What is your USP? Are you planning to refine your beta version of the product with beta testing survey ?  How would you onboard new customers? What are the potential barriers or challenges you may face in acquiring customers? How does the pricing of your product/service compare to the perceived value among customers?

3. For New Product Launch

Market research for new products helps locate potential demand, get product feature requests , and identify target markets, reducing the risk of launching a product with limited appeal. Consider these market research questions for new products that you can ask your customers.

How did you first hear about our new product? What is your initial impression of the new product based on the information provided? How interested are you in trying out this new product? What features or benefits of the new product appeal to you the most? How does the pricing of the new product align with your expectations and perceived value? Are there any specific concerns you have about the new product? Would you be open to participating in a trial or beta testing for the new product?

4. For Existing Product

For companies that thrive on product-led growth , customer feedback on the existing product is the key to success. Market research for existing products helps in understanding changing customer needs and market trends, ensuring that the product remains relevant and competitive. 

On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with our current product? What challenges are you facing in using our product? What additional features or improvements would you like to see in our product? How does our product compare to competitors in terms of performance and pricing?

5. To Segment Target Market

By asking market research questions, you can segment your target market based on various demographics, interests, behaviors, and preferences. Through user segmentation , you can create more targeted marketing campaigns, tailor products/services to specific needs, and effectively reach and engage your diverse user base. Here are some of the demographic survey questions that you can ask to segment your target market. 

What is your age group?  What is your gender? Where do you reside? What is your education level? Are you employed, self-employed, a student, or retired? What are your hobbies or interests?  What are your preferred modes of communication? How do you prefer to make purchase decisions? What are your primary reasons for purchasing a specific product/service? Which media channels do you use most frequently for information and entertainment? 

6. For Competitive Analysis

Understanding competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and strategies can help you dig deeper into market share and identify opportunities to stay ahead in the market. You can leverage survey collection software to perform competitive analysis and gather valuable analytics for marketing and conversion rate optimization. Consider these market research questions to ask your customers about competitors. Consider these market research questions to ask your customers about competitors.

Have you ever used products/services from our competitors? How would you rate the products/services of our competitors in terms of quality? What do you perceive as the main strengths of our competitors' offerings? What factors influence your decision to choose our products/services over those of our competitors? Are there any specific features or benefits offered by our competitors that you find appealing? How do you think our products/services compare to those of our competitors in terms of overall value? How likely are you to recommend our products/services over those of our competitors to others?

7. To Check Brand Awareness

Assessing brand awareness helps businesses measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and brand visibility in the market. Market research questions for checking brand awareness can include:

Have you heard of our brand before? How did you first learn about our brand? Which of the following products do you associate with our company?  Have you ever used or purchased any products from our company? What feature do you like the most about our product? On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?

8. Pricing Analysis

Determining the right pricing strategy is crucial to attracting customers while ensuring profitability. Market research questions for pricing analysis can include:

What price range do you consider reasonable for our product? How does our current pricing compare to competitors in the market? What factors do you consider when evaluating the pricing of a product? Would you be willing to pay more for additional features or benefits?

9. For Concept Testing

Before launching the final product, performing concept testing allows businesses to evaluate the viability of new ideas before investing resources in full-scale development. By doing so, you can tailor your product according to customer needs and assess the overall feasibility of your new product idea.

Please read the description of the new product/service concept carefully. How appealing does this concept sound to you? What specific aspects of the concept do you find most appealing or interesting? How likely are you to consider using or purchasing this new product/service based on the concept description? What would be your primary reason for choosing this new product/service over similar offerings in the market? Is there anything missing in the concept that you believe would make it more appealing or valuable? Is there anything you would change or improve in the concept to make it more appealing to you? How much would you be willing to pay for this new product/service, based on the concept description?

10. To Understand Online Visibility

In the digital age, online visibility is crucial to reach their target audience effectively. Whether you want to drive in-store customers or online, the route is by following online visibility. Conducting an online survey is the easiest way to understand this. Consider these market research questions to understand online visibility.

How did you discover our brand/company online? How frequently do you come across our brand/company while browsing the internet? Have you visited our website? If yes, what was your purpose for visiting? Are you following our brand/company on social media? If yes, which platforms? How do you perceive our brand/company's presence on social media? (e.g., active, engaging, informative) Do you find our website and online content (blogs, articles, etc.) easy to navigate and informative? What do you think about the overall user experience on our website? (e.g., website speed, design, functionality) How does our online presence compare to that of our competitors? Are there any specific online platforms or websites where you would like to see our brand/company more active?

11. For Reputation Management

Monitoring and managing your brand's reputation is essential for improving customer loyalty and business revenue. A major part of market research includes knowing what customers think and speak about your business. Including customer feedback and trends in your analysis will allow for more accurate predictions in your revenue forecasting software . Here are some market research questions for reputation management.

How would you describe your overall perception of our company? What do you think is our company's strengths? How likely are you to recommend our company to others based on your perception? Are there any specific aspects of our company's reputation that stand out to you? How do you feel about our company's responsiveness to customer feedback and concerns? Are there any specific incidents or experiences that have influenced your perception of our company?

12. For Messaging & Advertising

Crafting compelling messaging and advertising campaigns that resonate with the target audience is crucial for driving engagement and conversions. Your advertising should be in sync with your business goals and brand identity to communicate your unique value proposition. 

Have you come across any of our recent advertising or marketing campaigns? If yes, please specify where you saw or heard them. How well do you think our advertising aligns with your needs and preferences as a customer? Are there any specific advertising channels or platforms where you believe our brand should have a stronger presence? How likely are you to take action (e.g., visit our website, make a purchase) after seeing our advertising? Which specific elements of our advertising (e.g., visuals, slogans, offers) do you find most memorable? Have you ever shared or engaged with our advertising content on social media? Do you find our advertising to be informative and educational about our products/services?

Before you start framing your market research, it is essential to follow these best practices to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of your data:

Things to Do

• Decide your Goals : Clearly define the objectives of your market research. Determine what specific insights you aim to gather and how they will support your business decisions.
• Segment your Audience : Understand that different customer segments may have distinct needs and preferences. Tailor your survey questions to target specific groups, allowing for a more focused analysis.
• Choose the Right Survey Question Type : Select appropriate question formats based on your goals. Use a mix of multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions , Likert scales , and rating scales to capture both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Incentivize your Survey : Offer incentives to encourage participation and increase the response rate. It could be in the form of discounts, gift cards, or entry into a prize draw.

Things to Avoid

• Avoid Double-Barreled Questions : Double-barreled questions combine two or more issues into one question, making it challenging for respondents to provide clear and accurate answers. Keep your questions focused on one topic at a time.
• Avoid Leading Questions : Leading questions are worded in a way that influences or biases respondents' answers. Aim for neutrality and objectivity in your questions to obtain unbiased data.
• Avoid Too Many Questions : Lengthy surveys can lead to respondent fatigue, resulting in incomplete or rushed answers. Keep your survey concise and relevant, ensuring it can be completed within a reasonable timeframe.

All the popular companies in the market currently, whether it is Apple, Zappos, or Spotify, rely heavily on market research. Let us look at the reasons why you must consider market research to drive growth.

• Identifying Market Opportunities : Market research helps identify emerging trends, unmet needs, and untapped market segments, providing valuable opportunities for businesses to expand and innovate.
• Testing Product Concepts : Before launching a new product or service, market research can be used to gauge customer interest and receive feedback on potential concepts, get product idea validation , and reduce the risk of product failure.
• Evaluating Marketing Campaigns : Market research allows businesses to assess the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, whether it is driving NPS campaigns or launching new advertising initiatives. It helps to refine messaging, targeting, and channels for better results.
• Measuring Customer Satisfaction : Understanding customer satisfaction levels and identifying areas for improvement is crucial for retaining customers and building brand loyalty.

Now that you know the power of market research and how it can improve your offering and enhance customer experience, let us quickly recall the top 10 market research questions that can drive your business forward.

• What are the primary factors influencing your purchasing decisions?
• How satisfied are you with our product?
• What are the most desirable features you look for in a product?
• How did you first hear about our brand/product/service?
• What do you consider a fair price for our product?
• What improvements or additions would you like to see in our offerings?
• On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to recommend our brand to others?
• What are the main challenges you face when using our product?
• How well do you think our product compares to competitors in the market?
• Which aspects of our advertising or marketing message do you find most compelling?

From identifying market opportunities and testing product concepts to measuring customer satisfaction and tracking brand awareness, market research questions play a vital role in allowing you to adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing marketplace. By listening to your customers and gaining valuable feedback through market research, you can refine your products and marketing efforts to better meet customer expectations .

For creating a market research survey, it is important that you leverage an omnichannel survey software that enables you to create impactful surveys, share them across multiple channels with your target customers, and gather and analyze valuable feedback using reporting features.

Zonka Feedback is one such powerful market research software that can help you do all of that, along with offering survey logic & branching , segmenting your customers, measuring trends, and closing the feedback loop .

You can sign up for a 14 -day free trial to create effective market research surveys and see how it works for you. 

Published on Jul 25, 2023. Updated on Jul 10, 2024.

Written by Kanika

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63 Insightful Market Research Questions to Ask in 2023

Better understand your target customer with these must-ask questions.

Understanding your target market, and how they respond to your product, is the key to successful promotional campaigns. Even if you feel like you understand your market perfectly, markets do change over time. Your customers’ opinions, needs, and wants will change along with current trends in society, politics, pop culture, and other influences. Asking the right market research questions can help you stay on top of your changing market.

The market research questions below will help you understand your market’s most pressing concerns , along with potential pain points.

Market research questions to understand customer demographics and psychology

Aside from basic demographic questions, like age, gender, income, and location, you can create a more specific customer profile. Ask these questions to get to know your customers better:

• How do you primarily spend your time?
• In which industry do you work?
• What kind of hobbies do you regularly participate in?
• What are your main interests?
• If money or time were not an issue, what do you prefer to spend money on?
• What draws you to one brand over another?
• How do you choose between brands and products? 
• Who makes the primary purchasing decisions in your household?
• How many people do you shop for on a regular basis?
• What’s your preferred method of shopping? Why?
• What makes you decide to avoid a brand in the future?
• How do you feel about available products in [your product category]?
• How often do you shop for [your product category]? 
• How much do you spend on [product category] on a monthly basis?
• How do you use [product type] in your everyday life?

Market research questions for new products

If you’re gathering information to create or launch new products, these questions can provide valuable insight:

• What do you look for when purchasing [new product or service]?
• What is the most important feature for a [product type]?
• How does [product type] make your life easier?
• How often do you use [product type]?
• Describe how you use [product type].
• How much would you prefer to spend on a similar product or service?
• What features would encourage you to pay more for a product or service?
• Are there any features in [similar product or service] that you wouldn’t use?
• Do you feel [competing products] are priced fairly?
• What would convince you to try a new product or service in this category?

Market research questions for pain points

Understanding how your customers are responding to your current offerings, whether product, service, advertising, or customer service, can help you understand where your business can improve. Ask these questions to learn more:

• When was the last time you purchased from [company]?
• Describe your experience with your last purchase.
• Where did we succeed in meeting your expectations?
• Where did we fail in meeting your expectations?
• What would make your experience with [product] better?
• Are there any features you don’t use?
• What would your ideal product or service include?
• Have you ever talked to our customer service team?
• Describe your reason for needing customer service assistance.
• Describe your experience with our customer service team.
• Was your issue resolved?
• How quickly was your issue resolved?
• Were you satisfied with the outcome?
• What would have made the experience better?
• What’s the most difficult part of using our products or services?
• Do you use our website? How do you use it?
• Have you experienced any problems contacting us for assistance? What were they?
• Have you experienced any problems on our website? What were they?

Market research questions for pricing and placement

Understanding how your product pricing and placement compare to those of your competitors can be helpful. Use these questions to refine your pricing and promotional strategies:

• How much do you currently pay for [product type]?
• Do you think our product is priced fairly?
• Have you found [product or service] for less? Did you purchase it? Why or why not?
• What is a reasonable price range for [product or service]?
• What is the ideal price for [product or service]?
• Is [price point] too low or too high for a similar product/service?
• Have you seen our products in stores before?
• Where have you seen our products mentioned/placed/advertised?
• Where would you like to see our products or services mentioned/placed/advertised?

Market research questions for advertising and brand awareness

Advertising, marketing, and branding create an image in your customers’ minds. While brand awareness is its own market research niche, these questions will help you understand how customers perceive your brand and advertising campaigns:

• Are you familiar with our brand?
• How did you find our brand/company?
• Have you ever seen any reviews of our brand/product/company? How did they influence your purchase?
• Have you ever seen advertisements for our brand/product/company? How did they influence your opinion of us?
• Who do you think our target customer is?
• When you think of our brand, how do you feel?
• Does our advertising and branding accurately reflect your experience with our company?
• What should potential customers know about our products and services?
• What do you think our brand/company stands for?
• Have you ever followed any of our social media channels? Which ones? How do you feel about our social media presence?

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How to write effective market research questions

• October 31, 2022

Every business owner wants to get into the head of their audience, as it makes a business successful. That is why primary data is valuable, and every blog you read suggests asking the right market research questions. 

The right questions will give you a way into the psyche of your customers, driving your business in the right direction, but how do you create the perfect market research questionnaire? 

In this article, we will share some interesting tips and examples of market research questions that would help you speed up your market research process.

Types of market research questions.

Market research is a tricky game for someone who is just beginning. There are many moving pieces and cogs to handle, which can sometimes get overwhelming. 

 While it is crucial for decision-making and should be prioritized, many people make the mistake of rushing the process. They forget that if they do not create a contextual market research questionnaire, it can make the insights inconclusive or confusing. 

A market research survey should have questions based on your market research goal. This will help you get qualitative insights from your audience. Here are the types of questions you can ask your audience: 

Multiple choice questions 

You must have tackled MCQ quizzes in your high school or college. When doing market research, these questions are useful when you need to cast a wide net and understand the different opinions (or options) a respondent has. For example, the types of credit cards they hold and use frequently. 

Single choice questions

Single-choice (or radio button) questions give users only one choice to select from a given list. These questions are suitable when you want to:

• Segment your customers.
• Discover critical pain points.
• Qualify your respondents for the following survey segments.

You can also use these questions for product development or customer satisfaction surveys. For example, asking users which features they hate or like to see in future updates. 

Matrix grid questions 

A matrix question grid is usually seen in customer satisfaction surveys but can be used in market research questionnaires to shorten the surveys. 

Here’s an example of a matrix question: 

Ranking questions

Ranking questions ask the respondents to prioritize their opinions or choices in order of preference; for example, what is the most important criterion for you while booking a room in a hotel?

• Location 
• Amenities 
• Customer Ratings

Customers can rank their preferences by moving the options up and down. These questions help understand a respondent’s preferences and choices, which can be crucial for marketing campaign planning, copywriting, and creative decision-making. 

Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are straightaway questions that ask respondents to write out their answers directly. These are free text responses that one can share to explain the reasons for their last response or freely share opinions. 

Such answers do not have a definitive structure and can be hard to analyze at scale. Many modern market research tools use sentiment analysis features to categorize open-ended responses. 

For example, GapScout can help you unearth trends and the general sentiments from online customer reviews. 

Market research questions for segmenting your audience.

Segmentation divides your target audience into categories to personalize marketing campaigns, improve the value proposition, or delight users with contextual information or offers.

Market research with segmentation as an objective should have questions that give you granular-level insights about your audience, their preferences, and their character traits.

Ideally, segmentation questions should aim to gather insights about demographics, psychographics, or behavioral characteristics. 

Before writing market research questions for segmenting audiences, you should find answers to questions like:  

• What locations are the most popular among customers? 
• What are our existing customers’ interests, preferences, fears, and aspirations? 
• Do we have existing data on the demographics of our ideal target audience? 
• Have we segmented our customers before? If yes, how is the current situation different from before? 
• Are we expecting to prove any hypothesis regarding customer expectations, pain points, or aspirations? 
• How do our customers find out about us? 

Once you write out the answers to the above questions, you will have ample ideas on how to structure your market research survey. If you are still clueless, here are a few questions to help you get inspired. 

Segmentation market research question examples: 

• Are you open to trying new experiences, or love sticking to your regular brands? 
• What is your hobby? What do you enjoy in your leisure time? 
• What kind of food do you like? 
• Where do you research before going for a big-ticket purchase? 
• How much money do you usually spend on x (product)?
• What is your primary source of information? 
• Are you married? If yes, how many children do you have? 
• Where do you shop for your monthly groceries? 

Market research questions for product development.

A lot of data goes into developing a new product. So, conducting market research for product development is essential, as it gives you enough information about what your customer wants to see in a new product. It also helps you understand the perception of your product over competitors and will also help you prioritize your product roadmap. 

When planning to conduct market research for product development, ask yourself: 

• What products are currently available in the market? 
• Are the users dissatisfied with existing offerings? 
• How does your product compare to other products available in the market? 
• What are the pain points no one is solving for customers? 
• Do you have the resources to build a customer-centric roadmap and deliver a unique product? 
• What value proposition can you offer? 
• How to gather customer feedback from the existing users (of competitors)? 

You can use GapScout to conduct market research from existing product reviews of competitors to get deep insights into what users want. These insights will help you identify the opportunity gaps in the market that you can confirm by asking on-point questions in your market research questionnaire. 

Product development market research question examples:

• Which features are most valuable to you when you use xxx (product)? 
• What challenges do you face with XXXX ( your industry, for example, organic skincare brands)?
• What do you wish XXXX (product/service) had that it currently does not?
• What tools do you use at your job or in your daily life? 
• What brand/company do you turn to when you have xxxx problem (your pain point)?
• How often do you use a product/service during the day/week/month?

Market research questions for pricing strategy. 

An on-point pricing strategy is one of the most critical elements for the success of your business because this will drive revenues. Pricing market research to understand consumers’ interest in paying for something will ensure long-term success. 

Accurate pricing market research can help you stay profitable, attract more users, and keep growing through various business cycles. Before starting market research, ask yourself: 

• Have your existing customers ever complained about your price? 
• How do the competitors charge for their products, and what features do they offer? 
• How is the perception of your current pricing plans in the eyes of customers compared to competitors? 
• Do your products offer value for money for customers? 
• How will restructuring the price affect the revenue or profit margins?
• Is there any room for cross-selling or upselling among the existing customer group? 
• Can we offer a free tier, plan or demo to attract more customers? 

The answers to the above questions will give your market research a clear direction about what to ask. For example, suppose you know your customers charge less than you and your customers feel cheated because of this. In that case, you can create a direct question about how disappointed they are and then take corrective actions to delight future users. 

Pricing market research question examples:

• Would you purchase the product at xxx price? 
• What do you think about the cost of xxx (category or product) in the market? Is it costly, cheap, or justifies its worth? 
• What sort of customer service would you expect in return
•  if you have to pay for a service or product every month? 
• Are you confused about the pricing of xxx (competing product)? 

Market research questions for branding & marketing

Whether you are branding for a small business , startup, or enterprise, you will need detailed inputs and information about your target audience. Market research for branding and advertising helps you analyze the effectiveness of your current campaigns and provides inputs for future marketing strategies. 

A standard market research questionnaire would help you generate ideas, gather inspiration, and optimize your overall marketing/branding strategy. Here’s what you should keep in mind when you are planning market research for branding or marketing: 

• What are our best-performing advertising and marketing channels currently? 
• Do we have a brand recall or desired visibility? 
• Do we achieve the desired ROI? If not, what is stopping us from attaining efficiency or effectiveness? 
• Do our customers associate the brand with the value proposition we offer? 
• Are our positioning and communication precise enough for customers to understand how we address their fear and apprehensions? 
• Are our competitors performing better in terms of marketing? If yes, what channels are they most active on? 
• Are we running A/B tests or conducting conversion optimization for our existing marketing efforts? 

Branding & marketing research question examples:

• What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘xxx’ (your brand name)? 
• Where did you first hear about XXXX (your brand name)? 
• If XXXX (name of your brand) was a person, how would you describe them? 
• Will you pick xxx (the product) from an online store or an offline retailer? 
• Look at the video clip. What do you think right after you finish seeing the video? (for perception analysis of a new video campaign) 
• When you see it online, will you click on Banner A or Banner B? (linked with banner options) 

Best practices for writing market research questions.

• Create multiple-choice questions with mutually exclusive options: Do not create overlapping options for MCQs. For example, if you are asking about the age, make sure to have exclusive options such as 10-17, 18-24, 25-34 and so on. This will make sure your data is not skewed. 
• Calculate the required sample size beforehand: You should know how many respondents you need to gather conclusive findings. The best way is to use an online sample size calculator that helps you account for the margin of error and confidence level of respondents. This way, you will have desired data without wastage of resources. 
• Keep questions straightforward: Every question should be written with the intention of gathering one clear insight. There should not be more than one question about the same issue. This will make your life easier and improve the quality of the data you gather. At the same time, do not add double-barreled questions to the survey that confuse a respondent. 

Save time with GapScout. 

Conducting a compelling and conclusive market research survey is time-consuming and costly — something not every entrepreneur can afford, especially at the early stages. Even with the most accurate questions to gather insights, human errors can lead to inconclusive results. 

A better way to conduct market research for your business is to use online customer reviews to gather insights. GapScout helps you scan real customer reviews in your industry and provide deep insights on customer pain points, expectations, need gaps, and opportunities in the market. 

Use GapScout to save time gathering insights and start optimizing your business plan and operations within hours. 

Also Read: 

• Market Research vs Marketing Research
• Market research process
• Market research for startups  

Ready to Automate Your Market Research? Get exclusive access to GapScout prior to release!

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29 Market Research Questions to Improve Your Marketing Strategy

• Post author: Daniel
• Reading time: 5 mins read
• Post last modified: June 10, 2022

One of the best ways to learn about your market and customers is by asking questions. When you ask the right market research questions, you can identify opportunities to improve your marketing strategy , operations, and industry.

Page Contents

You can gain insights that help you:

• Attract your target audience
• Stand out from competitors
• Improve your products and services
• Better serve your customers

To ask the best questions, it helps to break down your market research questions into the following categories:

• Market research questions
• Questions to ask your target market
• Questions to ask your customers
• Questions for competitive analysis

Some market research questions will require research to find the answers. For example, you may want to know, “How do our competitors drive traffic?” Other questions you can directly ask your customers. For those questions, you can survey or interview customers to find answers and insights.

Here are some examples of questions you can ask for each type of marketing research .

Market Research Questions

General market research aims to help you learn about your market size and potential to connect with customers.

Great qualitative market research questions include:

• How big is our potential market?
• Will this market grow or shrink in the future?
• What other products and services are similar to ours?
• Who are our top competitors?
• What market share do our competitors own?
• What share is available for us to own/take?

To find answers to these questions, use  sites for market research  that help you find information on geographic locations, industry competitors, and economic conditions.

Market Research Questions to Ask Your Target Market

Questions to ask your target market include demographic market research questions that help you get to know who your customers are.

Here are some examples:

• What is your age?
• What is your gender?
• What is your education level?
• Where do you live?
• What is your profession?
• What is your household income?
• What is your household size?

These questions can go deeper and uncover psychographic segmentation details that help you learn about the interests, attitudes, and needs of your customers.

Examples of these questions include:

• What are your hobbies and interests?
• Where do you spend your free time?
• What are your biggest challenges?
• What are your primary goals?
• What is most important to you?
• Where do you go for information?
• How do you like to make purchases?

To gather these details, you can survey or interview your customers.

Market Research Questions to Ask Customers

Existing customers can provide great insight into your business, products, and services.

Market research questions to ask clients or customers include:

• How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend?
• How long have you been a customer?
• What problem does [product/service] solve for you?
• How does the [product/service] fit into your daily workflow?
• How well does [product/service] meet your needs?
• What do you wish the [product/service] had that it currently does not?
• What do you like [most/least] about [product/service]?
• What made you choose us over a competitor?
• How would you rate your last experience with us?

You can gather this information through audience analysis, in-person interviews with your customers, or online customer surveys.

Pro Tip:  It’s important to collect information from customers who are advocates of your product/service, but also those who did not have an agreeable experience. Asking infrequent or lost customers for their feedback is an excellent way to surface gaps in your product/service and identify opportunities for improvement.

Market Research Questions for Competitive Analysis

Once you assess your industry and customers, start asking market research questions about your competitors. Some questions to ask include:

• How is our brand doing compared to our competitors?
• How do our competitors effectively attract customers?
• How much website traffic do our competitors receive?
• Which keywords are driving traffic to our competitors?
• What sources are driving traffic to our competitors?
• How many inbound links do our competitors have?
• What type of content is performing well for our competitors?

For tips on how to conduct a thorough  competitive analysis , download our free competitive analysis template.

Get Better Answers to Your Market Research Questions

Asking the right market research questions helps you uncover insights to improve customer satisfaction, business operations, and  marketing strategies . But asking questions is only half the process. You also need to make sure you’re collecting the most accurate and authentic answers.

Use the market research questions in this post to direct your inquiries to your business, customers, and industry.

Source: blog.alexa.com

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• → The 8 types of market research and ho...

The 8 types of market research and how to use them

There are eight types of marketing research you can try to stay ahead of the competition. Learn more about marketing research methods and how to use them.

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“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”

Doesn’t sound too threatening if you’ve always been successful, right?

Continuing to do what you’ve always done means you’ll fall behind—and probably fade to darkness—to where all the forgotten brands go.

Take Kodak. They were a major player in photography for decades—remember? When digital photography boomed, Kodak kept doing what they always did. Their business floundered and people forgot about them. Well, everyone apart from Pitbull.

Now, look at Fujifilm, one of Kodak’s biggest competitors. They did the opposite and looked for ways to apply their expertise in film to the technology of the new millennium instead. Their company is still going strong.

The same goes for research. If you’re doing the same old types of market research, speaking to the same old people, and doing the same old tired surveys—you’re already behind.

How do you decide what kind of market research you need to do? It all comes down to what you need to know and what your business goals are.

In this article, we’ll explain the various types of market research you can use to solve issues and challenges in your business. We’ll throw you a freebie, too, and provide some market research tips about when to use each strategy.

Let’s get you ahead of the curve.

1. Brand research

Brand research helps with creating and managing a company’s brand, or identity. A company’s brand is the images, narratives, and characteristics people associate with it.

When to use it

Brand research can be used at every stage in a business’s lifecycle, from creation to new product launches and re-branding. There are at least seven types of brand research:

Brand advocacy: How many of your customers are willing to recommend your brand?

Brand awareness : Does your target market know who you are and consider you a serious option?

Brand loyalty: Are you retaining customers?

Brand penetration: What is the proportion of your target market using your brand?

Brand perception : What do people think of as your company’s identity or differentiating qualities?

Brand positioning: What is the best way to differentiate your brand from others in the consumer’s mind and articulate it in a way that resonates?

Brand value: How much are people willing to pay for an experience with your brand over another?

How to do it

A researcher will use several types of market research methods to assess your and your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Generally, they will conduct competitor research, both qualitative and quantitative, to get a picture of the overall marketplace. Focus groups and interviews can be used to learn about their emotions and associations with certain brands.

Market research surveys are useful to determine features and benefits that differentiate you from competitors . These are then translated into emotionally compelling consumer language.

2. Campaign effectiveness

This type of market research is designed to evaluate whether your advertising messages are reaching the right people and delivering the desired results. Successful campaign effectiveness research can help you sell more and reduce customer acquisition costs.

It’s estimated people see up to 5,000 advertising messages each day. That means attention is a scarce resource, so campaign effectiveness research should be used when you need to spend your advertising dollars effectively.

Campaign effectiveness research depends on which stage of the campaign you use it in (ideally, it’s all of them!). Quantitative research can be conducted to provide a picture of how your target market views advertising and address weaknesses in the advertising campaign.

3. Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis allows you to assess your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace, providing you with fuel to drive a competitive advantage.

No business exists in a vacuum—competitive analysis is an integral part of any business and market plan. Whether you’re just getting started, moving into a new market, or doing a health check of your business, a competitive analysis will be invaluable.

A researcher will typically choose a few of your main competitors and analyze things like their marketing strategy, customer perceptions, revenue or sales volume, and so on.

Secondary sources such as articles, references, and advertising are excellent sources of competitive information; however, primary research, such as mystery shopping and focus groups, can offer valuable information on customer service and current consumer opinions.

4. Consumer insights

Consumer insights research does more than tell you about who your customers are and what they do. It reveals why customers behave in certain ways and helps you leverage that to meet your business goals.

Knowing your customers deeply is integral to creating a strategic marketing plan. This type of market research can help you anticipate consumer needs, spark innovation, personalize your marketing, solve business challenges, and more.

Consumer insights research should be specific to your business—it’s about getting to know your target audience and customers. Various market research methods can be used, such as interviews, ethnography, survey research, social monitoring, and customer journey research.

Here are some of the characteristics you should understand through consumer insights research:

Purchase habits

Interests, hobbies, passions

Personal and professional information

How they consume media and advertising

5. Customer satisfaction research

Customer satisfaction research is a type of market research that measures customers’ experiences with products or services, specifically looking at how those meet, exceed, or fail to live up to their expectations.

Customer satisfaction is a strong indicator of customer retention and overall business performance. Successful customer satisfaction research should help you understand what your customers like, dislike, and feel needs improvement. You can use this type of market research to look at the quality and design of products, speed and timeliness of delivery, staff and service reliability, knowledge, and friendliness, market price, and value for money.

There are several ways to measure customer satisfaction, most commonly using surveys. An NPS or Voice of the Customer Survey can help you measure customer loyalty. Customer Effort Scoring measures how satisfied people are with customer service or problem resolution. CSAT is any survey that measures customer satisfaction , typically measured using Likert scale surveys . They can be conducted at different points in the customer experience, allowing deeper insight into that moment.

6. Customer segmentation research

Customer segmentation studies aim to divide markets or customers into smaller groups or personas with similar characteristics to enable targeted marketing. By understanding how people in each category behave, you can understand how each influences revenue.

Customer segmentation research is best used if you’re ready to give customers individualized experiences. Not every customer in your target market is the same. The more you understand each specific persona, the easier it is to focus on delivering personalized marketing, build loyal relations, price products effectively, and forecast how new products and services will perform in each segment.

Market researchers use four characteristics to segment customers.

Demographics: demographic information such as age, gender, family status, education, household income, occupation and so on

Geography: where people live, from cities and countries to whether they are city dwellers or suburbanites

Psychographics: socioeconomic status, class, lifestyle, personality traits, generation, interests, hobbies, etc.

Behavior: brand affinity, consumption and shopping habits, spending, etc.

A researcher will identify your current customers and collect data about them through various market research methods, such as surveys, database research, website analytics, interviews, and focus groups. The aim is to gather as much information as possible.

7. Product development

Market research for product development involves using customer knowledge to inform the entire process of creating or improving a product, service, or app and bringing it to market.

Innovation is hard work. A quick Google will tell you that 80–95% of new products fail every year. Conducting market research for product and app development helps minimize the risk of a new product or change going bust as it enters the market. There are three stages where you can use market research:

Conception: The moment you’re thinking about adding something new, market research can find market opportunities and provide insights into customer challenges or their jobs-to-be-done, so you can find a way to fill the gap.

Formation: Once you have an idea, market researchers can help you turn it into a concept that can be tested. You can learn more about strategizing pricing, testing advertising and packaging, value proposition, and so on.

Introduction: Market research can help you gauge attitudes toward the product once it’s in the market and adapt your messaging as it rolls out.

Keep making the product better or find opportunities to introduce it to new markets.

Product development research will utilize different market research methods, depending on the goal of the research. A researcher could present focus groups with product concepts and listen to their opinions, conduct interviews to learn more about their pain points, or perform user testing to see how they interact with an app or website.

8. Usability testing

Usability testing is concerned with understanding how customers use your products in real time. It can involve physical products, like a new blender, or digital products like a website or app.

Usability testing is helpful when you need to detect problems or bugs in early prototypes or beta versions before launching them. It typically costs far less to test a product or service beforehand than to pull a flawed product off the shelves or lose sales because of poor functionality.

There are several types of usability tests, which vary based on whether you’re testing a physical or digital product.

Journey testing involves observing the customer experience on an app or website and monitoring how they perform. This type of study can be done online

Eye tracking studies monitor where people’s eyes are drawn. Generally, they are conducted on websites and apps, but can also be done in stores to analyze where people look while shopping

Learn ability studies quantify the learning curve over time to see which problems people encounter after repeating the same task

Click tracking follows users’ activity on websites to evaluate the linking structure of a website

Checklist testing involves giving users tasks to perform and recording or asking them to review their experience

Combining types of market research with Typeform

When it comes to market research, you need to ask yourself what business challenge or question you’re trying to address. Then, select the appropriate methods and tools, such as market research automation , to simplify your process.From there, the world of useful data and actionable insights will open to you.

About the author

We're Typeform - a team on a mission to transform data collection by bringing you refreshingly different forms.

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75+ Market Research Questions for Success

Regarding market research, having the right questions is critical for getting  accurate  and  valuable insights .

These 75 market research questions can help you get started on your next project, giving you an idea of what topics to cover to ensure success.

We’ll review everything you need to know about  customer surveys ,  competitive analysis, product feedback, and more !

What is Market Research?

Market research is the process of gathering and analyzing data to understand customer behavior, market trends, and competitor strategies.

It gives businesses the insights needed to make informed decisions about their products and services.

Market research is important because it  helps companies to understand what their customers want  and  how they can best serve them .

We’ll review the steps to help you start conducting market research and asking the right questions.

Types of Market Research

Several different types of market research questions can be used to gain insights into customer behavior and market trends.

These include the following:

• Single choice
• Multiple choice
• Ranking questions
• Likert scale
• Dichotomous

Single-Choice

These basic questions ask respondents to select one answer from a list of options.

The purpose of a single-choice question is to provide a general overview of customer preferences and needs.

 An example of a single-choice question is:

“What is your favorite type of ice cream?”

Multiple-Choice

These questions ask respondents to select multiple answers from a given list of options.

They can be used to gain more detailed insights into customer preferences than single-choice questions.

An example of a multiple-choice question is the following: 

Which of these activities do you do regularly?

A) Exercise

D) Watch TV

E) Listen to Music

The purpose of a multiple-choice question is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer behavior and preferences.

Ranking Questions

Ranking questions ask respondents to rank a list of options in order of preference.

These types of questions can be used to understand how important certain factors are when making decisions.

An example of a ranking question would be the following:

Please rank the following items from most important to least important when selecting a car:

(D) Fuel Efficiency

Likert Scale

A Likert scale is a type of question that asks respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a statement.

It can be used to gauge customer sentiment around specific topics and gain insights into how they feel about your products or services.

An example of a Likert scale question is: 

“How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?”

Dichotomous Questions

Dichotomous questions present respondents with two possible answers and ask them to choose one. They are often used to gain quick insights into customer preferences.

An example of a dichotomous question is the following: 

Do you prefer online or in-store shopping?

B) In-store

Open-ended questions allow respondents to provide more detailed answers than single-choice, multiple-choice, ranking, and dichotomous questions.

They are helpful in gaining qualitative insights into customer behavior and preferences.

An example of an open-ended question is the following: 

“What do you think could be improved about our product?”

By understanding the different types of market research questions, businesses can more effectively gather data to gain insights into customer behavior and make informed decisions. With the proper market research techniques, companies can better understand their customers and identify growth opportunities.

How to Write Questions for Market Research

Writing practical questions for market research is key to getting meaningful and valuable results.

Questions should be clear and concise, avoiding jargon or overly technical language. They should also cover the topics that are most important to the project.

Additionally, it’s important to remember who you’re targeting with your questions. Write them in a way the target audience can easily understand and relate to, which will help ensure they provide accurate responses.

For example, if you are writing questions as a market research agency in the USA, you’ll want to tailor them to the appropriate culture and consumer trends.

Finally, take into account any legal or ethical considerations when writing questions. This is especially important when collecting sensitive personal data or working with vulnerable groups.

We’ll go over how to write the following types of questions: 

Feedback Questions

Existing product questions, market segment quesitons, market discovery questions, brand awareness questions, customer reservation questions, pricing analysis questions.

To write feedback questions, start by asking general questions about customer satisfaction. These can include queries about the level of service they received, the quality of products, and whether they would recommend it to others.

You can also ask more specific questions, such as what features customers like or dislike, how easy it is to use a certain product or service, and what changes they would like to see.

To write great existing product questions, you need to know what customers think about your current offerings.

Ask them how satisfied they are with the features and performance of the products or if there is anything that could be improved.

You can also get their opinion on your product’s design, packaging, price point, and customer support.

These questions are designed to gain an understanding of different segments within the market.

Questions can include asking about the following:

• Income level
• Customers’ age
• Primary interests and activities

This information can help businesses identify potential target markets and tailor their products and services accordingly.

Market discovery questions help businesses explore the market and gain insights into customer behavior.

These questions can include asking customers what they currently use their product or service for, their expectations and needs, and what would make them switch to a different offering.

Brand awareness questions can help businesses understand how well their products are known in the market.

Questions can range from asking customers to rate how familiar they are with the brand to what words or phrases come to mind when they think of it.

Boosting brand awareness is important for businesses to reach new customers, so this information can be invaluable.

Customer reservation questions can help businesses identify potential barriers preventing customers from purchasing their products or services.

Questions like the following can be useful in uncovering potential areas for improvement:

• “What is holding you back from making a purchase?”
• “What would make you more likely to buy?”
• “What feature do you wish was available?”

Finally, pricing analysis questions can help businesses determine how much customers are willing to pay for their products and services.

Questions such as the following can help businesses gain valuable insights:

• “What is your budget?”
• “Would you be willing to pay more for extra features?”
• “What other products have you considered in a similar price range?”

By following these tips, you should be able to write effective questions that will provide valuable insights into the market.

75+ Market Research Questions

In addition to the above questions, here are 75 market research questions you can ask your target audience to help inform your business decisions.

• How did you learn about our product or service?
• What made you decide to purchase our product or service?
• How likely are you to recommend our product or service to a friend or colleague?
• Would you say that the features of our product or service met your expectations?
• Did you find it easy to navigate our website and locate the information needed to make your decision?
• Did you find any areas of improvement in terms of usability when using our website?
• How satisfied are you with the customer support options we provide?
• Did the delivery process for our product meet your expectations in terms of speed, accuracy, and overall experience? 
• If applicable, did the installation process for our product meet your expectations in terms of speed, accuracy, and overall experience? 
• Are there any other products or services we could offer that would improve your overall experience with us?
• What do you think of the quality of our current offerings?
• How would you rate the usability of our products/services?
• How would you rate the performance of our products/services?
• What could we do to make our products/services more appealing to you?
• Are there any features that are missing from our products/services?
• What do you like most about our products/services?
• What could we change to make them better?
• Do you think our prices are competitive?
• Would you recommend our products/services to someone else?

Market Segment Questions

• What age range would you classify yourself in?
• Are you married, single, or in a relationship?
• What city/town do you currently reside in? 
• How many hours a day do you typically spend on the internet?
• What type of device(s) do you use to access the internet (desktop, laptop, mobile phone)? 
• On average, how much money do you spend online each month? 
• What products or services have you purchased online within the last 6 months? 
• How likely are you to purchase goods or services from an unfamiliar website compared to a familiar website? 
• How often do you interact with social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter? 
• Are there any particular features or functions that would make it easier for you to shop online or make purchases? 
• Do you find yourself comparing prices and product features before making a purchase decision? 
• Are there any particular brands that stand out to you when shopping for products or services online? 
• When looking for information about products and services online, what sources do you rely on most (e-commerce websites, review sites, etc.)? 
• What types of discounts are most enticing to customers when making an online purchase (free shipping offers, bonus items with purchase, coupon codes)? 
• Do certain payment methods influence your purchasing decisions? 
• What do you think are the most important features when considering a purchase?
• How would you define your personal style and aesthetic preferences? 
• Are there any new products or services you want to see in the marketplace? 
• Do certain brand values affect your purchasing decisions (e.g., sustainability, ethical practices, etc.)? 
• What do you think are the biggest challenges facing companies in your industry?
• When researching products or services, what content or information would you like to see from brands? 
• Are there any particular technologies that you think could improve customer experiences online? 
• Do current trends in social media affect your views on certain brands and their offerings?
• Are there any new products or services that would benefit your lifestyle? 
• What do you think sets certain brands apart from their competitors?
• Are there any particular marketing strategies that you find appealing when considering a purchase? 
• Which channels do you prefer to use for customer service (live chat, email, phone)?
• What is your familiarity with our brand?
• Do you recognize our brand name when shopping online or in-store?
• Are there any particular elements that stand out to you in the design of our website, logo, products, and services? 
• How do you feel when interacting with our brand (positive, neutral, negative)?
• What do you think our brand stands for?
• What words would you use to describe our brand and its offerings? 
• Do you prefer more traditional or modern marketing techniques/strategies when engaging with our brand? 
• Which social media platforms do you associate most with our brand?
• Are there any particular campaigns that have resonated with you in the past?
• What type of content do you expect to see from our brand? 
• Are there any particular features or services that make our brand stand out from its competitors? 
• Do certain events or promotions influence your views on our brand? 
• Do you believe our brand offers competitive pricing compared to other brands?
• Do you think our brand is transparent with its customers regarding providing information and responding to inquiries? 
• Are there any particular resources that could help customers better understand our brand and offerings? 
• What do you believe our brand should focus on to improve customer experiences?
• Do you think our brand adequately addresses customer feedback or suggestions? 
• Do certain rewards or loyalty programs influence your purchasing decisions when considering our brand?
• Do you feel that our brand keeps up with the latest trends in technology and innovation?

Customer Retention Questions

• What do you believe are the key factors that make customers commit to our brand?
• Do you think our customer service is up to par with competitors in the market?
• How likely are you to recommend our products or services to friends and family? 
• What do you think keeps customers engaged with our brand, both online and in-store? 
• Are there any particular features or services that you think make our brand stand out from its competitors?
• Do certain discounts, promotions, or loyalty programs influence your decision to stay with us?
• What do you think is the biggest challenge when retaining customers for our brand?
• Are there any new products or services that would make you a more loyal customer?
• Are there any particular communications or marketing tactics that could help keep customers engaged with our brand?
• Do certain events or milestones influence your commitment to our brand?
• What do you think is the most effective way to show appreciation for customers?
• Are there any loyalty or rewards programs that have successfully kept customers loyal to our brand?
• Do you think our customer service team is responsive and attentive when addressing customer needs and inquiries?
• Are there any particular features or services that could improve your overall experience with our brand? 
• Do you feel our prices are reasonable compared to other products and services in the market?
• Are there any specific features or services that add value to our offerings?
• What do you think is the best way to differentiate ourselves from competitors regarding pricing?
• Are there any particular discounts or promotions that could influence customers to purchase from us?
• Do you think our pricing strategy is transparent and easy for customers to understand?
• Do certain market events or trends influence customer decisions when choosing our brand over competitors?
• What do you believe are the biggest challenges when it comes to setting prices for our products or services?
• Do you think our price points are competitive enough to draw customer interest?
• Are there any particular features or services that could be offered at a lower cost than competitors?
• Do you think certain rewards or loyalty programs influence customer decisions when comparing brand prices?
• Are there any discounts, promotions, or offers that have successfully driven sales?
• What is the most effective way to communicate pricing information to customers?
• Are there any particular resources or tools that could be used to analyze and adjust our prices as needed?

Market Research Wrap Up

These 75 market research questions provide a great starting point for any business looking to gain valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends.

By using this as a guide, you can ensure that your surveys are comprehensive and effective in helping you make informed decisions about your products and services. Good luck!

Do you have any questions of your own to add? Let us know in the comments below!

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Types of market research: Methods and examples

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Here at GWI we publish a steady stream of blogs, reports, and other resources that dig deep into specific market research topics.

But what about the folks who’d appreciate a more general overview of market research that explains the big picture? Don’t they deserve some love too?

Of course they do. That’s why we’ve created this overview guide focusing on types of market research and examples. With so many market research companies to choose from, having a solid general understanding of how this sector works is essential for any brand or business that wants to pick the right market research partner.

So with that in mind, let’s start at the very beginning and get clear on…

Market research definition

At the risk of stating the slightly obvious, market research is the gathering and analyzing of data on consumers, competitors, distributors, and markets. As such it’s not quite the same as consumer research , but there’s significant overlap.

Market research matters because it can help you take the guesswork out of getting through to audiences. By studying consumers and gathering information on their likes, dislikes, and so on, brands can make evidence-based decisions instead of relying on instinct or experience. 

What is market research?

Market research is the organized gathering of information about target markets and consumers’ needs and preferences. It’s an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness.

If a business wants to know – really know – what sort of products or services consumers want to buy, along with where, when, and how those products and services should be marketed, it just makes sense to ask the prospective audience. 

Without the certainty that market research brings, a business is basically hoping for the best. And while we salute their optimism, that’s not exactly a reliable strategy for success.

What are the types of market research?

Primary research .

Primary research is a type of market research you either conduct yourself or hire someone to do on your behalf.

A classic example of primary research involves going directly to a source – typically customers or prospective customers in your target market – to ask questions and gather information about a product or service. Interviewing methods include in-person, online surveys, phone calls, and focus groups.

The big advantage of primary research is that it’s directly focused on your objectives, so the outcome will be conclusive, detailed insights – particularly into customer views – making it the gold standard.

The disadvantages are it can be time-consuming and potentially costly, plus there’s a risk of survey bias creeping in, in the sense that research samples may not be representative of the wider group.

Secondary research 

Primary market research means you collect the data your business needs, whereas the types of market research known as secondary market research use information that’s already been gathered for other purposes but can still be valuable. Examples include published market studies, white papers, analyst reports, customer emails, and customer surveys/feedback.

For many small businesses with limited budgets, secondary market research is their first choice because it’s easier to acquire and far more affordable than primary research.

Secondary research can still answer specific business questions, but with limitations. The data collected from that audience may not match your targeted audience exactly, resulting in skewed outcomes. 

A big benefit of secondary market research is helping lay the groundwork and get you ready to carry out primary market research by making sure you’re focused on what matters most.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is one of the two fundamental types of market research. Qualitative research is about people and their opinions. Typically conducted by asking questions either one-on-one or in groups, qualitative research can help you define problems and learn about customers’ opinions, values, and beliefs.

Classic examples of qualitative research are long-answer questions like “Why do you think this product is better than competitive products? Why do you think it’s not?”, or “How would you improve this new service to make it more appealing?”

Because qualitative research generally involves smaller sample sizes than its close cousin quantitative research, it gives you an anecdotal overview of your subject, rather than highly detailed information that can help predict future performance.

Qualitative research is particularly useful if you’re developing a new product, service, website or ad campaign and want to get some feedback before you commit a large budget to it.

Quantitative research

If qualitative research is all about opinions, quantitative research is all about numbers, using math to uncover insights about your audience. 

Typical quantitative research questions are things like, “What’s the market size for this product?” or “How long are visitors staying on this website?”. Clearly the answers to both will be numerical.

Quantitative research usually involves questionnaires. Respondents are asked to complete the survey, which marketers use to understand consumer needs, and create strategies and marketing plans.

Importantly, because quantitative research is math-based, it’s statistically valid, which means you’re in a good position to use it to predict the future direction of your business.

Consumer research 

As its name implies, consumer research gathers information about consumers’ lifestyles, behaviors, needs and preferences, usually in relation to a particular product or service. It can include both quantitative and qualitative studies.

Examples of consumer research in action include finding ways to improve consumer perception of a product, or creating buyer personas and market segments, which help you successfully market your product to different types of customers.

Understanding consumer trends , driven by consumer research, helps businesses understand customer psychology and create detailed purchasing behavior profiles. The result helps brands improve their products and services by making them more customer-centric, increasing customer satisfaction, and boosting bottom line in the process.

Product research 

Product research gives a new product (or indeed service, we don’t judge) its best chance of success, or helps an existing product improve or increase market share.

It’s common sense: by finding out what consumers want and adjusting your offering accordingly, you gain a competitive edge. It can be the difference between a product being a roaring success or an abject failure.

Examples of product research include finding ways to develop goods with a higher value, or identifying exactly where innovation effort should be focused. 

Product research goes hand-in-hand with other strands of market research, helping you make informed decisions about what consumers want, and what you can offer them.

Brand research  

Brand research is the process of gathering feedback from your current, prospective, and even past customers to understand how your brand is perceived by the market.

It covers things like brand awareness, brand perceptions, customer advocacy, advertising effectiveness, purchase channels, audience profiling, and whether or not the brand is a top consideration for consumers.

The result helps take the guesswork out of your messaging and brand strategy. Like all types of market research, it gives marketing leaders the data they need to make better choices based on fact rather than opinion or intuition.

Market research methods 

So far we’ve reviewed various different types of market research, now let’s look at market research methods, in other words the practical ways you can uncover those all-important insights.

Consumer research platform 

A consumer research platform like GWI is a smart way to find on-demand market research insights in seconds.

In a world of fluid markets and changing attitudes, a detailed understanding of your consumers, developed using the right research platform, enables you to stop guessing and start knowing.

As well as providing certainty, consumer research platforms massively accelerate speed to insight. Got a question? Just jump on your consumer research platform and find the answer – job done.

The ability to mine data for answers like this is empowering – suddenly you’re in the driving seat with a world of possibilities ahead of you. Compared to the most obvious alternative – commissioning third party research that could take weeks to arrive – the right consumer research platform is basically a magic wand.

Admittedly we’re biased, but GWI delivers all this and more. Take our platform for a quick spin and see for yourself.

And the downside of using a consumer research platform? Well, no data set, however fresh or thorough, can answer every question. If you need really niche insights then your best bet is custom market research , where you can ask any question you like, tailored to your exact needs.

Face-to-face interviews 

Despite the rise in popularity of online surveys , face-to-face survey interviewing – using mobile devices or even the classic paper survey – is still a popular data collection method.

In terms of advantages, face-to-face interviews help with accurate screening, in the sense the interviewee can’t easily give misleading answers about, say, their age. The interviewer can also make a note of emotions and non-verbal cues. 

On the other hand, face-to-face interviews can be costly, while the quality of data you get back often depends on the ability of the interviewer. Also, the size of the sample is limited to the size of your interviewing staff, the area in which the interviews are conducted, and the number of qualified respondents within that area.

Social listening 

Social listening is a powerful solution for brands who want to keep an ear to the ground, gathering unfiltered thoughts and opinions from consumers who are posting on social media. 

Many social listening tools store data for up to a couple of years, great for trend analysis that needs to compare current and past conversations.

Social listening isn’t limited to text. Images, videos, and emojis often help us better understand what consumers are thinking, saying, and doing better than more traditional research methods. 

Perhaps the biggest downside is there are no guarantees with social listening, and you never know what you will (or won’t) find. It can also be tricky to gauge sentiment accurately if the language used is open to misinterpretation, for example if a social media user describes something as “sick”.

There’s also a potential problem around what people say vs. what they actually do. Tweeting about the gym is a good deal easier than actually going. The wider problem – and this may shock you – is that not every single thing people write on social media is necessarily true, which means social listening can easily deliver unreliable results.

Public domain data 

Public domain data comes from think tanks and government statistics or research centers like the UK’s National Office for Statistics or the United States Census Bureau and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences. Other sources are things like research journals, news media, and academic material.

Its advantages for market research are it’s cheap (or even free), quick to access, and easily available. Public domain datasets can be huge, so potentially very rich.

On the flip side, the data can be out of date, it certainly isn’t exclusive to you, and the collection methodology can leave much to be desired. But used carefully, public domain data can be a useful source of secondary market research.

Telephone interviews 

You know the drill – you get a call from a researcher who asks you questions about a particular topic and wants to hear your opinions. Some even pay or offer other rewards for your time.

Telephone surveys are great for reaching niche groups of consumers within a specific geographic area or connected to a particular brand, or who aren’t very active in online channels. They’re not well-suited for gathering data from broad population groups, simply because of the time and labor involved.

How to use market research 

Data isn’t an end in itself; instead it’s a springboard to make other stuff happen. So once you’ve drawn conclusions from your research, it’s time to think of what you’ll actually do based on your findings.

While it’s impossible for us to give a definitive list (every use case is different), here are some suggestions to get you started.

Leverage it . Think about ways to expand the use – and value – of research data and insights, for example by using research to support business goals and functions, like sales, market share or product design.

Integrate it . Expand the value of your research data by integrating it with other data sources, internal and external. Integrating data like this can broaden your perspective and help you draw deeper insights for more confident decision-making.

Justify it . Enlist colleagues from areas that’ll benefit from the insights that research provides – that could be product management, product development, customer service, marketing, sales or many others – and build a business case for using research.

How to choose the right type of market research 

Broadly speaking, choosing the right research method depends on knowing the type of data you need to collect. To dig into ideas and opinions, choose qualitative; to do some testing, it’s quantitative you want.

There are also a bunch of practical considerations, not least cost. If a particular approach sounds great but costs the earth then clearly it’s not ideal for any brand on a budget.

Then there’s how you intend to use the actual research, your level of expertise with research data, whether you need access to historical data or just a snapshot of today, and so on.

The point is, different methods suit different situations. When choosing, you’ll want to consider what you want to achieve, what data you’ll need, the pros and cons of each method, the costs of conducting the research, and the cost of analyzing the results. 

Market research examples

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Marketing Research Questions and How to Craft Them Effectively

Caleb Gasilao

Author & Editor

Copywriting Team Lead

Published on: Sep 14, 2023 Updated on: May 16, 2024

Invest 5 Minutes a Week to Grow Your Brand.

Get reliable marketing ideas and tactics that drive digital differently from top minds in the digital space.

Crafting impactful marketing research questions is a crucial skill in building effective customer personas for all realms of expert digital marketing .

From content marketing services to search engine optimization (SEO) to and even web or mobile development, formulating well-crafted survey queries can help you understand customers better - thus allowing you to create more powerful digital strategies and executions in the long run.

Asking the right questions can return answers that yield valuable insights - but how might one craft these data-driven marketing research questions and examples for things like social media marketing or user experience (UX) design? What are some best tips and practices that you can follow to design comprehensive inquiries for a digital execution?

Discover important techniques to identify and craft these queries with this comprehensive guide today. From pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to digital analytics and more, utilize these analytical tips to improve your customer experience strategies and executions for better digital wins this year.

The importance of good marketing research questions

To be able to craft an effective set of research queries for your digital marketing services and buyer persona needs, you have to understand the importance and relevance of such inquiries first.

A good marketing research question can help you gather consumer insights in an incredibly focused and strategic way. Inquiries that are open-ended, deep, and comprehensive allow you to easily uncover authentic customer sentiments, thus providing you better insight into your audience’s motivations towards your brand.

Well-crafted queries shape the quality of your digital strategies. With open-ended questions aided by analytical tools, you can collect critical insights such as customer needs, pain points, desires, and contexts.

These insights inform business strategies, shape the foundation of data-driven decisions, and help drive wins for things like your content marketing , PPC advertising, and other customer experience executions in the long run.

Best practices to design examples of marketing research questions

Now that you understand the importance of such a research tool to your promotional needs, it’s time for you to discover the best techniques in designing these queries for your customer experience strategy . You can break these practices down into three tips:

• Start with a clear objective. By defining and clarifying your objective, you’ll be able to guide your question formulation and succeeding investigative design accordingly. This will help you link the objective to your business goals, thus resulting in more focused and relevant research insights.
• Don’t be afraid to probe. Make sure to include follow-up prompts in your market research , in order to delve deeper into your customers’ responses. This will aid you in extracting nuanced insights for a more comprehensive customer persona.
• Balance quantitative and qualitative approaches. Explore both open-ended and close-ended queries that are also qualitative and quantitative; this will yield a better mix of both numerical data and qualitative insights.

By employing these best practices, you can garner more valuable and diverse data that aligns with your brand’s goals and ensures a more comprehensive understanding of your customers’ personas or behaviors. So make sure to enact these digital marketing skills to improve your strategy for data collection and exploration design.

Marketing research survey questions for pain points and desires

The next thing you need to do to further refine your research surveys is to craft them according to user pain points and desires. Here are some reasons why you need to address these specific user needs in the question creation process:

• To resolve customer challenges. By designing inquiries that uncover pain points and elicit genuine user frustrations, you’ll be able to identify concerns that you can inevitably resolve for customers through your brand and its products or services.
• To discover customers’ ideal outcomes. By formulating such queries that reveal a user’s aspirations, motivations, and desires, you can design customer experiences that create ideal outcomes and endear audiences to your business.
• To know where you stand in your industry. Are you able to address user needs, or are you currently lacking in certain service areas? By asking for ways you can address pain points and desires, you’ll know where you stand compared to competitors in your brand’s industry today.

Delve into your customers’ pain points and desires in order to reveal insights that help drive ideal content creation for audiences . This will enhance your buyer persona, thus allowing for more opportunities for user engagement and customer satisfaction for your brand in the long run.

How to identify marketing research questions

Want to enrich your marketing research design even further? Then you need to identify and craft inquiries that seek to understand your audience’s demographics and psychographics. Here’s a quick breakdown of the two for your query-making needs:

• Demographic information. This refers to information that focuses on a person’s age, gender, location, and other similar data points. By identifying this information among your audiences, you can tailor your conversion marketing strategies to even more unique customer personas.
• Psychographic information. This refers to information that covers a person’s interests, values, and lifestyle, like their hobbies, political leanings, or buying habits. With psychographics, you’ll have a deeper understanding of  a user’s desires and motivations for a better digital experience strategy .

By identifying and crafting queries based on demographics and psychographics, you’ll get to collect responses that enrich your understanding of user characteristics or preferences. This inevitably contributes to a more comprehensive customer persona, thus enabling you to tailor-make communication strategies that resonate with specific audience segments.

Good questions to ask in an in-depth research marketing interview

Now that you’re equipped with guidelines on formulating queries for your in-depth market exploration, you might be interested in specific prompts that you can ask throughout your well-crafted data collection process.

These inquiries mainly work for primary market study tools, such as surveys, focus groups, or in-depth interviews. If you wish to collect supplementary information from secondary sources like journals, websites, or competitor materials, then you should conduct social listening and social monitoring for these data points instead.

But for more context-specific inquiries and real-life insights, you’ll need to practice:

• Immersing in a customer’s shoes. Create questions that prompt customers to share their own life experiences. This will allow you to understand their interactions with key touchpoints, like your brand’s own products and services, with more personal and emotional resonance .
• Unearthing pain points through contextual inquiry. You can do this by designing interactive content that specifically asks about customer challenges in real-world scenarios. These may include requests for comments and feedback in areas where your business needs to improve its products and services.

Examples of specific market research questions that you can explore, based on your identified business objective, include:

• How old are you? Where do you live? What gender do you identify as? These are a number of good examples of close-ended, quantitative, demographic queries that should be part of any analysis design.
• What have you heard about X brand? This is a simple example of an open-ended, qualitative, and psychographic survey question that uncovers your target market’s knowledge of your brand.
• How much do you usually spend on X brand products? What is the maximum amount you’d pay for X? This is a comprehensive set of close-ended, quantitative inquiries that allow you to probe deeper and follow up with more queries for your target market.
• From a scale of one to ten (1-10), how likely are you to recommend X product and why? This is both a quantitative and qualitative query that allows for an open-ended response, in order for you to identify your user’s desires or pain points with your brand’s product or service.

These are just a few simple examples of contextual inquiries that you can use on your target market. As simple as these are, however, these types of market surveys can add a dynamic dimension to your buyer persona by prompting audiences to reveal their real-life customer experiences too.

With these kinds of questions included throughout your data collection process, you’ll ultimately be able to formulate an accurate buyer persona, pinpoint areas of improvement for your brand, and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty in the long run.

Key takeaways

Craft queries that create buyer persona wins for your brand’s own digital strategies and executions today. Bring these final takeaways with you as you embark on this crucial research journey for your business this year:

• Start with an end goal in mind. By establishing a clear objective from the very start, you can provide more direction to your study and map out your succeeding survey journey accordingly.
• Step into your customers’ shoes. Discover the pain points, desires, demographics, and psychographics of your target market so that you can truly discover what makes your audiences tick.
• Improve your strategy constantly. The more questions you ask your audience segments, the more solutions you’ll learn to improve your strategy. Optimize an ever-evolving strategy and execution process when you ask for help from the experts at Propelrr today.

If you have any other comments, send us a message via our Facebook , X , and LinkedIn accounts. Let’s chat.

Subscribe to the Propelrr newsletter as well, if you find this article and our other content helpful to your needs.

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Types of Market Research Questions

June 12, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

A common confusion that we get when conducting a market research survey is the market research questions that we should ask from the sample population. While preparing the market research questionnaire , the type of questions you prepare is very important. These questions can be the difference between precise answers or deep insight into the customer’s mind.

If you were to launch a new automobile in the market, can you do a market survey with just 2-3 questions? You probably cannot. You would like to ask market research questions which answer what kind of cars the customers want, what speed they want, how many people are in their family who want to travel through car so on and so forth.

Thus, when you survey the general population, you will find out that most of them have different opinions on different subjects. As a result, these potentials can be divided into various groups based on their preference. This is the objective of asking market research questions – to get answers which divide the population into different segments and to find out which type of product each segment prefers.

So what are the 11 type of Market research questions? Read on

First, we need to divide the market research questions into 2 broad types

Table of Contents

A) Close-Ended Questions

Close-ended questions are questions which have a simple answer. Are you reading this article with your eyes open? Yes, you are. That’s a close-ended question. There is a precise and short answer which answers the question.

It is not necessary that close-ended market research questions be only of the YES or NO type. There are 7 different types of Close-ended market research questions each of which are discussed below and can help you in your questionnaire.

1) Dichotomous

It is a simple YES and NO type of questions which gives a precise answer. These kind of questions should be asked in the start when you are analyzing the respondent. Companies use this kind of questions to find out more about the customer and his mindset.

Example – Do you do your own shopping? Do you like to watch television? Do you like to listen to songs? Such questions can have either a yes answer or a no answer.

2) Multiple Choice

In this type of market research questions, the options given are multiple choice and customer is asked to choose one of the choices given. Alternatively, the customer can also choose 2 or 3 choices too. The objective here is to understand the different requirements a customer might have regarding the product.

Example –Which type of soap do you use the most? Dove , Pears , Olay , Lux , Cetaphil, Others. In this type of question, the customer can answer with a single choice or a multi-choice. Nonetheless, by giving this multiple choice questions, you get an idea of what the customer is preferring In the current market.

3) Likert Scale

Likert scale is used when you want to give a scale of measure to the customer. How much does he like a brand or a product? This is also a close-ended question because there is a definite scale of measure which is given to the customer.

Example – How much do you like Sunsilk shampoo?

• I don’t like it at all
• I wash with it when available but not important
• I like it and use It frequently
• I use it regularly
• I ONLY use Sunsilk shampoo

4) Semantic Difference

Two different opposite words are used to understand which side the customer stands on. These two words can be anything and are better explained with examples.

Example – In the below scale, the respondent can select the point that represents his opinion.

How did you rate the latest star wars?

Excellent ________________ Pathetic

Good storyline __________________ Worst storyline

Good acting ___________________ Worst acting.

5) Importance scale

These type of market research questions tell a lot about the customer. It shows what is important for the customer and therefore gives the brand a good insight in the mind of the consumers . A large population can show what is important for them which makes a huge difference to the brand and gives a direction to the brand as well. Note – this is a question about the customer and not about the brand.

Example – How important is leg space in airlines for your comfort?

• Extremely important
• Very important
• Somewhat important
• Not very important
• Not at all important

6) Rating scale

This question tells brands how the customer would rate the brand on its performance. There are many factors which play a role here. A customer might rate the brand low because he has had the better experience with another brand or another customer might rate the brand high because his previous experience with another brand was bad.

It is one of the most widely adopted close ended market research questions in the market currently. E- commerce companies like Amazon , Blogs, Restaurants and many such online markets use the Rating scale to judge the customers rating for their brands. Even search engines use these ratings to rank companies.

Example – How would you rate the store experience of Zara ?

• Beyond Compare
• Good enough
• Could be better

7) Intention to buy

This question is again a scale of measure of customers likely to buy a product. It gives an insight into the population as a whole. If a big population shows that it is highly unlikely to buy your product, then there is something very wrong in the market or in your product. However, if a large population shows that it is going to buy the product, then it gives you a signal to improve after-sales service so that you can retain the existing large market and do not lose it to other players in the market.

Example – How likely are you to visit this restaurant again? (Or how likely are you to buy this product in the future)

• Will definitely visit/buy
• Will probably visit/buy
• I am unsure of my future visit/buying
• I will probably not visit/buy
• I will never visit/buy

B) Open-Ended Questions

As the name suggests, open-ended questions are questions where customers have their freedom to express their opinions about a product or a service. It is very difficult to ask open-ended questions and to analyze the answers of a large population. These type of questions are used in conjunction with close-ended questions. Market research cannot be done ONLY with open-ended questions.

This is why when asking an open-ended question, the sample population is generally smaller. Nonetheless, Open-ended questions tend to give more insight in the customers’ mindset and what is at the top of the mind of the customer. They also tend to give new ideas to the companies which ask such questions.

There are 6 types of Open-Ended Market Research Questions

1) Completely Unstructured

This type of open-ended question is literally a rambling by the customer. It is not a yes or not type of question and neither is a scale of measure. It uses the experience of the customer and gives an insight into the opinions and values of the customer. It is very useful for behavioural studies.

Example –What do you think about the products of HUL?

On the above questions, the customer can answer about the products which he buys which belong to HUL company . He can tell why he liked some products and not others. He can also share a comparison between products for P&G or HUL and which one he likes better. The question is open-ended and so is the answer and the customer can comment whatever he likes.

2) Word Association

This type of open-ended question is asked when the customer is not given an option to choose from. In these questions, a brand can get the answer of which brand is in the top of the mind positioning for the customer and can get a good market analysis from the same.

Example – What comes to mind when I use these words?

Toothpaste – _____?

Shampoo- _____?

Soap – ______?

3) Sentence completion

Again one of the types of open-ended market research questions, wherein a half-finished sentence is given to a customer and he has to finish the complete sentence. The advantage here is that the answer or the choices are not given to the customer so he has to form his own choices or write his own opinion – which gives us an insight into the mind of the customer.

While buying a car, I prefer the one with ____________________

While buying a laptop, the most important feature for me is _____________

While buying a Smartphone, my ideal screen size is ____________

There are two other forms of Open-ended questions which deal with using pictures to understand the customer mindset but they are mostly used in focus groups and not for the open market.

When preparing the market research questionnaire, it is important that you keep the questions less and more impactful. This is done so that the customer does not get bored and does not ignore questions and hence – choosing the right market research questions from the above type is important.

Ultimately, you should know the objective of market research before deciding the type of research questions that you want to ask.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Market research

Related posts:

• 12 Questions that explain the importance of marketing research
• What is Research Design? Type of Research Designs
• How to Write Research Proposal? Research Proposal Format
• 7 Key Differences between Research Method and Research Methodology
• Qualitative Research: Meaning, and Features of Qualitative Research
• Research Ethics – Importance and Principles of Ethics in Research
• What is Primary Market Research? Types & Examples
• 9 Types of Qualitative Research used by Market Researchers
• 11 Types Of Quantitative Research options that exist for Market Researchers
• What are the Types of Market Research?

About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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The 11-Minute Marketing Research Process Guide You Need for 2024

Estimated Reading Time : 9 mins

Is marketing research relevant for data-led marketers? How does it impact business success in today’s digital-first environment? Why do top marketers rely on it to maximize customer engagement? Do traditional market research surveys still serve as effective channels?

In this article, we decode the ideal marketing research process for the modern, tech-savvy marketer. Got 11 minutes? Dive into this step-by-step guide to approaching marketing research from processes that add CX value to benefits that maximize customer lifecycle value.

What is market research?

We’d say 99% of marketing is understanding the human behind the customer. And marketing research helps you decode things that make this human tick. It lets you explore the many factors that influence your customer; similar to mapping the customer experience across touchpoints. 

Effective market research tools and methods help you with the precise insights you need to get an edge in the market – right from competition sentiment to ideal product pricing. Over the years, marketing research has even been synonymous with stellar business insights and even turnarounds.   

Take, for instance, the case of LEGO. After struggling to stay profitable in 2003, the toy manufacturer was able to recapture the imagination of customers owing to high-impact market research .

Contrary to what many digital-first marketers think, marketing research isn’t limited to large companies with giant budgets. Whether you are an established mid-size firm or a team of two, consistent marketing research is key to engaging and winning your customers. Don’t worry about investing and training resources.

Depending on your immediate to mid-term priorities, you can choose to limit your marketing research . This may mean understanding evolving pricing sensibilities. Or you may want to narrow down your research to the top 3 purchase triggers for Gen Zs. Using intelligent marketing research tools and methods , you can develop a process ecosystem that is not resource or skill-intensive which will help you find out why you should conduct a market research survey .

The efficacy of your marketing research is shaped by a single factor – the emotional intelligence and design quotient of your marketing research surveys. The metrics and methods you use to analyze customer responses come a close second.

Top benefits of marketing research

Before you get down to developing your marketing research process, you must weigh the top benefits. This lets you arrive at the business value you stand to get from the exercise

Benefit #1 – Retain customer trust

Your customer’s needs and expectations are changing faster than ever. And a growing percentage of them expect brands and businesses to keep pace. As personalization becomes integral to Customer Experience (CX), customers want to do business with companies that put them first.

When a business fails to deliver on this expectation, it loses customer trust. This demands that you invest in a CX-focused marketing research ecosystem. By using effective market research tools and conducting on-point market research surveys , you stand to gain deep, impactful insights into every customer’s psyche. When you leverage these insights to engage with the customer across touchpoints, you earn their trust.

Benefit #2 – Win the ‘speed-to-market’ race

Being the first to own a category or introduce a breakthrough offering always comes with a massive advantage – you can gain a huge market share and forge strong customer relationships before the competition kicks in.  

Whether you are weeks away from launching a new offering or want to know the viability of expanding to a new category, market research lets you know where you stand in the context of your competition. This works to your advantage – alter your launch strategy… get your pricing right…invite pre-orders. It lets you build a go-to-market strategy that is far more likely to succeed.   

Benefit #3 – Build a strong brand

It takes more than a great product or a powerful marketing campaign to make customers fall in love with your brand. Following a marketing research process consistently gives you access to the many facets that customers will value in your brand. When you engage customers across markets, you arrive at a gold mine of research. It helps you build a brand that caters to the emotional and rational needs of customers.   

Right from your innovation and product design team to your sales and finance teams, everyone aligns with a perspective that is rooted in market reality. For instance, it can help you understand how the market is keeping up with customer-first pricing in a subscription economy.   

Benefit #4 – Pivot at the right time

The decision to scale or innovate, when implemented in isolation, can be dangerous for profitability. On the other hand, investing in a marketing research process lets you gain significant business velocity

With tech and AI disrupting markets in the most unimaginable ways, strategic market research methods help you move your business in the direction of changing customer needs. The Fujifilm pivot to new verticals outside of film photography remains an industry favorite example in this context. Your marketing research exercise may even point you in the direction of an unconventional collaboration. This makes it critical to approach the process with an open mind.   

The marketing research process

The process you deploy can define the success of your marketing research exercise. It also helps everyone on the team see the value in investing and aligning with the preferred method and the results.   

Here are some step-by-step examples of the marketing research process :  

• Identify your marketing research goal(s)
• Define the type of marketing research
• Design your research framework and methods
• Map your sample cohorts
• Onboard partners and tools
• Gather data and insights
• Action change

Have you ever wondered what top marketers do differently to get the most out of their marketing research? They act upon micro insights without a moment’s delay. This is often key to staying ahead of competitors as well as retaining customer confidence. How? By investing in marketing research and survey tools that make sense of data for them. 

Types of marketing research with examples

Depending on your business and marketing goal, you can choose one or a mix of marketing research designs to build your research framework.

Primary research

Secondary research, exploratory research, descriptive research, causal research, putting your marketing research results to work.

Ready to build your marketing research process? Learn how SogoCX can help you build an integrated ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the marketing research process.

Depending on the goal and scale of the research, every marketer’s process may differ. But in essence, it involves taking a structured, step-wise approach to gain deep, precise insights into various or specific market dynamics.

What is the role of marketing research?

In a highly dynamic business environment, market research ensures you are in sync with changing customer preferences, evolving stakeholder sentiment, competitor strength, and other external factors. It allows you to resolve a marketing challenge or unlock new opportunities, depending on your business priority.

Why is the marketing research process important?

Adopting a marketing research process makes it quicker and easier for everyone on your team to action research and act swiftly on the findings. A step-wise framework ensures the results are credible and relevant. This greatly increases the chances of thriving in an immensely competitive market. It can also enable you to compare results each time on a couple of common metrics even if every research’s primary goal is unique.

What are the 7 steps in the marketing research process?

Many marketers choose to create their own steps and framework to arrive at a marketing research process. Broadly, these align to the below 7 steps:

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How to do market research for branding and positioning

Last updated

10 August 2024

Reviewed by

When you launch a company or begin to seriously market an existing one, it’s important to understand the concept of brand positioning. It can be key to reaching the consumers who are most likely to become your customers.

A well-positioned brand makes it easy to convert those potential customers into paying ones and makes your brand more memorable. This improves your marketing efforts’ return on investment (ROI). It will even give you the tools you need to refine your message and increase conversions.

• What is brand positioning?

Brand positioning is when a business establishes and maintains a distinctive image and identity for its brand. This is typically thought of in relation to the brand’s competitors.

A brand’s positioning is the unique attributes, values, and benefits it offers that set it apart in the marketplace. When done correctly, brand positioning can help your business create a lasting impression on customers, increasing their loyalty and driving business growth.

So, what makes brand positioning effective?

Target audience: the specific group of consumers your brand aims to reach

Market segmentation: segmenting potential customers into distinct groups with similar needs and characteristics

Value proposition: the unique benefit and value you offer your customers

Brand promise: a concise message that communicates your brand’s commitment to customers and keeps employees focused

Differentiation: the elements of your business that stand apart from other competitors in your space

• Why is brand positioning important?

When starting a business or growing one, there’s a lot to do and even more to think about. Brand positioning can impact many decisions you make, so it should be one of the top things on your mind.

Effective brand positioning is key as it allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Unless you’re in a non-competitive industry, standing out from all the other options your potential customers could choose is difficult. Brand positioning requires you to think about what makes your business unique. This unique value proposition can form the backbone of your marketing efforts, positioning your brand as the go-to choice.

Another part of brand positioning is determining who your target audience is, the values you have in common with them, and how these customers think. This knowledge is what allows you to position yourself as the best option for that audience, establishing a loyal customer base.

• Examples of effective brand positioning

Before we go into any more detail, let’s take a moment to look at some examples of successful brand positioning. This will help you better understand what it means to position a brand and how you can use it to bring in a specific customer segment.

Apple: innovation and premium quality

From Apple’s first days developing home computers to the continually evolving iPhone, Apple has positioned itself as a company that innovates, creates products with a sleek design, and offers a premium user experience. As a result, they are positioned as the brand of choice for consumers who are both tech-savvy and design-conscious.

Nike: inspiration and motivation

With the introduction of Nike’s slogan: “Just Do It,” they established themselves as a brand that inspires and motivates athletes of all backgrounds and abilities.

The company emphasizes athletic performance and achievement, positioning itself as the brand of choice for athletic consumers—from backyard warriors to professional athletes.

Tesla: sustainability and innovation

As one of the first successful electric vehicle manufacturers, Tesla is a leader in sustainable energy and automotive technology. They have positioned themselves to appeal to environmentally conscious tech enthusiasts. To bridge those two demographics, Tesla ensures that the technology in their vehicles is state-of-the-art.

Airbnb: belonging and community

Airbnb first launched with a unique business model. Allowing homeowners to rent their homes to travelers provided a unique vacation experience that feels more like staying at home.

They positioned themselves as a brand that believes in the power of community and embraces the idea of belonging anywhere. In doing so, they were able to attract customers looking for unique experiences.

• How market research helps improve branding

You won’t be able to position yourself effectively in the market if you don’t understand it. Only then can you know how you compare to your competitors and what unique value propositions to offer.

Understanding the market also requires you to gather customer insights and preferences, which can further aid your branding efforts.

Here are some of the advantages of market research for branding and positioning:

It can help you avoid mistakes

As you evaluate the market and the trends associated with your industry, you’ll gather data that can help you avoid mistakes.

For example, you may identify problems that your competitors have experienced themselves, such as products that didn’t take off or pricing models that weren’t profitable. The data you gather throughout the process will give you insights to make more informed decisions and avoid these issues yourself.

It can help you create a customer-centric brand

Ultimately, building a business focused on customers’ needs and desires supports long-term relationships with those who purchase from you.

It helps when launching a new product or service

Sometimes, you might think you have a great product or service idea only to find out that it doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped once it hits the market.

Perhaps there wasn’t enough market demand for the product. Perhaps you didn’t position your product effectively and the people who wanted to buy it didn’t receive the message that would have prompted them to do so.

Whatever the cause, when you deep dive into the market and its customer base before launching your product or service, you’ll know what customers are looking for and how to craft targeted messages that reach them.

It improves brand perception

The way customers perceive your brand will change over time. If you’re careful, your brand perception will improve. If you don’t monitor brand sentiment, the opposite could occur.

Part of market research is monitoring how customers perceive your own brand and your competitors’ brands. With this information, you can respond to negative feedback about your brand promptly and reinforce positive attributes in your messaging. You’ll also be able to take advantage of negative sentiment that develops around your competitors.

• How to conduct market research for branding

It’s easy to see how using market research to drive branding decisions can play a major role in your business’s success. This section will detail the six steps of the process, telling you everything you need to know to start planning your own market research.

1. Define what you want to research

The first step is setting clear objectives. Don’t get started before you precisely define what you will be researching.

You’ve seen many examples of what market research can illuminate for you. Rather than trying to catch all of them in a large net, break your research down into logical groupings and approach them one at a time.

2. Decide on your research questions

Next, determine the key research questions you’ll be asking. These should be informed by the goal you established in the first step.

For example, if you want to research how you compare to competitors, define the key metrics you’ll be using for the comparison. Remember, if you plan to collect feedback from potential customers, take care to define who your target audience is so that you’re gathering the information that is most relevant to your business.

3. Talk to the people who matter

Many of the market research topics we’ve discussed involve talking to customers—your customers, other brands’ customers, or potential customers of both. Regardless of who they are, you need to give them a convenient way to answer your questions and provide as much detail as you need.

Sometimes, surveys may be enough to get the information you’re looking for—but if this data requires more of a back-and-forth than a survey allows for, one-on-one interviews and focus groups are a good approach. With these methods, you can get deeper insights into consumers’ minds.

You can also engage directly with your customers on social media. Keeping an eye on what people are saying on your competitors’ social feeds can also provide useful information.

4. Test your branding

Large brands that have been around for a while have typically had several different logos and branding strategies over the years. They have adapted to market forces, and you can do the same. You want your brand to resonate with your target audience as much as possible.

One approach to finding the branding that works best for your business and its customers is A/B testing.

A/B testing involves one group of customers being shown one version of your branding and another group being shown a secondary version. When you see which version of branding works best, you’ll know which is the most profitable. You can repeat this process until you’re happy with the metrics. Repeat it regularly so your appeal remains relevant to changing consumer preferences.

In addition to A/B testing, you need to be proactively listening to what consumers are saying. When you get feedback about your branding or your brand’s perception, respond to it and adapt your strategies. Regularly ask for feedback about your branding so you can gather useful data without waiting for your customers to say something.

5. Be consistent and check in on your brand awareness

Consumer preferences change over time, and successful companies adapt to them. Your company must do the same.

By conducting regular brand audits that test for things like brand recognition and brand perception, you’ll be able to stay ahead of a changing market landscape and remain as relevant as possible to your target audience.

Perform regular brand audits and record the key metrics you use to track your branding efforts. This will reveal a set of trend lines that allow you to see how your brand awareness and perception are shifting—information that will help you determine when a change is needed and how well it works.

Building a coherent brand identity requires consistency across all channels. Every interaction your customers have with your company should feature messaging with the same tone and values. This will establish a more cohesive and memorable brand identity and ensure that the metrics you track are relevant to a particular message and tone.

6. Use market research tools to be in control of your research

Technology has provided businesses with a wealth of tools for gathering and analyzing market research and customer data.

Online survey tools will help you collect data from your customers or target audience easily and in a way that’s convenient to them.

Social listening platforms will help you monitor and respond to online feedback.

Detailed customer feedback tools like Dovetail provide you with deep analysis of the data you gather to help you develop actionable insights from customer interviews, product feedback, and everything in between.

As you develop your market research strategy, look at the tools available to you and see which ones best fit into your goals. By utilizing these tools, you’ll be able to streamline your tasks, keep them better organized, and get deeper insights into the data you have collected.

• How to leverage brand positioning research

As you plan out your messaging strategy, follow the tips below to help you make the most of the data you gather.

Identify core benefits in your customers’ own words

Your messaging will be most effective when you align it with the tone your customers use to convey their needs and opinions.

Analyzing customer feedback will unlock this language and enable you to discover the aspects of your business that existing customers like the most and find most valuable. You can use this to craft your key value propositions so your messaging aligns with their needs.

Avoid testing “shades of gray”

Many people make the mistake of asking overly broad questions in surveys. Without further clarification, these questions don’t always provide actionable insights.

With surveys and other non-interactive forms of feedback, you must be careful to ask questions with clear and distinct options from the beginning. Ensure they are phrased unambiguously so the answers are as direct and relevant as possible.

In focus groups or interviews, you can pivot on the fly and ask for these clarifications.

Get the “why” as well as the “what”

Make sure that the feedback you’re getting is as actionable as possible.

People may tell you how they feel about something, but unless they tell you why , your solution might not actually align with their needs. This is why it’s important to conduct in-depth qualitative research that drills down into your target audience’s underlying motivations and emotional drivers.

Agree on what success looks like

Improving your brand alongside its reputation and positioning all require continuous effort. However, you should approach this process in stages.

As you begin to act upon the market research you’ve conducted, you should have a clear set of goals to shoot for. These goals must be realistic and attainable.

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What Is Incident Response? Definition & Best Practices

Published: Aug 15, 2024, 8:08am

Table of Contents

How incident response works, why incident response is important, types of security incidents, incident response process, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

When an organization believes its data or IT systems have been breached by a cyberattack, it puts a pre-established plan in motion to respond to the attack. These procedures and policies put into action are referred to as incident response.

The primary goal of incident response is the mitigation of damage that could occur during the attack. Ideally, incident response allows the organization to recover faster and reduce the cost and reputational damage of data breaches .

To better understand incident response and how it works, it’s important to specify what a credible incident is. Three terms are used when defining an incident:

• Events are common actions such as opening an email or deleting a folder that—on their own—are not an immediate indication of a threat.
• Alerts are notifications that are triggered by an event and may or may not indicate a threat.
• An incident is a group of related alerts that artificial intelligence (AI) tools or humans have identified to be a genuine threat.

Once an event sets off an alert that has been verified by IT to be a threatening incident, the incident response plan is set in motion. Incident response plans differ among organizations, but they share a common blueprint. Typically, incident response plans will outline the following:

• A definition of what constitutes an incident for the organization. Potential financial, reputational and legal damages are considered as well as the likelihood for said incident to occur.
• Detailed instructions to be followed when an incident occurs in order to isolate affected systems and remove the threat.
• An organized list of the individuals and teams that will be handling the incident along with their contact information. Depending on the nature of the attack, this list may also include contacts outside of the business such as privacy experts and lawyers.
• An inventory of the tools that will be used for combating and mitigating the attack such as anti-malware software, network tools, hard drives with backups and forensic software.
• A communication and public relations strategy for disclosing information pertaining to the incident within the organization as well as to consumers and the public.

When an organization experiences a serious cyberattack, its operations, finances and brand reputation can be damaged—especially if the company is implementing a poor (or no) incident response strategy.

A study conducted by Cyentia Institute in 2020 found that weak incident response processes cost firms 2.8 times more than those without signs of poor response. A well-devised incident response plan allows companies to act swiftly and effectively to mitigate these types of damages.

Incident response planning also acts as a form of documentation that can be helpful for legal and compliance regulation reasons. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires companies to report data security incidents within 72 hours of discovery, for example. If any incidents become a violation of civil or criminal law, documentation created through incident response can be used as evidence.

Companies can also leverage incident response for positive public relations in the event of a breach. Instead of hiding the incident, organizations can point to their response and recovery, showing the public that they took the threat seriously and that they were able to prevent greater damage from being done.

Some common methods hackers use to access a business’s data or compromise its systems are:

Cybercriminals use ransomware to encrypt sensitive data and hold it hostage as a way to squeeze money out of businesses. The hackers will usually make the data inaccessible and threaten to destroy or release it to the public if the victim doesn’t pay the ransom.

Man in the Middle

This method involves a hacker inserting themselves in the middle of a private conversation. The hacker then intercepts messages and manipulates them in clever ways to get the recipients to give up sensitive data.

Malware is software designed to take advantage of hardware and software vulnerabilities in order to extract data and harm computer systems. Different forms of malware include spyware, Trojan horses and viruses.

Denial of Service

Also known as a DoS attack, denial-of-service attacks slow or crash networks and systems by overwhelming them with traffic. DoS attacks are commonly used to disrupt the operations of high-profile companies; however, organizations of all sizes can be victims of DoS attacks.

Referred to as a type of social engineering, phishing uses text, email or phone calls to imitate recognizable brands in order to trick users into downloading malware or giving up sensitive data such as passwords. Phishing can be used on a mass scale where the goal is to expose as many people as possible in hopes of a few users falling prey to the tactic.

Spear phishing is when research is used in order to craft threats that would be particularly persuasive for specific individuals.

Insider Threat

Employees who have legitimate access to sensitive and otherwise restricted resources can pose an equal and sometimes greater threat than outside actors. Insider threats can be intentional such as a disgruntled employee leaking sensitive data, or they can be unintentional such as an employee accidentally compromising security through poor security practices.

Unauthorized Access

Hackers may gain unauthorized access to networks or systems through many means such as phishing or guessing a weak password. Once they have access, they are able to install malware or even escalate their access privileges to gain control of more sensitive data.

Incident response frameworks have been created to act as standards and step-by-step instructions on how the incident response process should go. While there are many frameworks to choose from, the two most prevalent come from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security (SANS) Institute.

The NIST and SANS frameworks actually share all of the same components; however, they differ slightly in organization and verbiage.

The NIST framework consists of four steps:

• Preparation
• Detection and Analysis
• Containment, Eradication and Recovery
• Post-Incident Activity

The SANS framework consists of six steps:

• Identification
• Containment
• Eradication
• Lessons Learned

The major departure between NIST and SANS is that SANS considers the processes of containment, eradication and recovery as independent steps. The following is a breakdown of the NIST framework while highlighting how it may differ from that of the SANS.

Step 1: Preparation

The preparation step is similar for both NIST and SANS.

In the preparation step, security policies, procedures and team member roles are defined. Assets such as servers, networks and critical endpoints are subjected to risk assessments. These assets and their traffic patterns are then monitored to create controls for later comparison.

Communication plans are created including a guide on who to call based on the type of incident.

Team members also need to identify which types of incidents will warrant action and create a response plan for each type of incident.

Step 2: Detection and Analysis

This step is similar for NIST and SANS; however, SANS uses slightly different verbiage.

In this step, an incident has been identified and is analyzed to determine whether it is threatening or not. Information such as log files, error messages and firewalls are gathered to help in researching the entry point and breadth of the incident.

Step 3: Containment, Eradication and Recovery

The SANS framework separates this step into three separate steps; however, the essence remains the same: dealing with the incident and bringing systems back to normal.

In containment, infected applications and systems are isolated to prevent damage from spreading, and the threat’s entry point is patched up. Eradication seeks to remove all elements of the incident, which may involve taking systems off-line. In recovery, affected systems are tested and validated before being brought back online. The environments are then monitored in case the attacker returns.

Step 4: Post-Incident Activity

Both NIST and SANS agree that the last step should be treated as a learning experience in order to create stronger security protocols and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Cybercrime is constantly evolving, and cybercriminals constantly refine it—making it impossible to predict when and what sorts of cyberattacks might be used against your business. A well-crafted incident response plan provides a strategy to follow in the event of an attack—expediting damage mitigation, reducing potential losses and bolstering defenses for future incidents.

What are the three basic elements in an incident?

An event, alert and incident make up the three basic elements of a genuine threatening incident. The event is a common action that may or may not be threatening. The alert is a notification triggered by the event, which also may not be threatening. The incident is the combination of events and alerts that lead to the discovery of a threatening incident.

What are the 4 Rs of incident management?

The four Rs of incident management refer to a framework that encapsulates the process of effective incident management. They are repair, resolution, recovery and restoration.

What are the five elements of a good incident report?

Incident reports are formal documents that can be used to prove compliance, and in some cases, they are used as evidence. Incident reports should include these five important elements: the incident, the victim, the perpetrator, the aftermath and the lessons learned.

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Since 2010, Juliana has been a professional writer in the technology and small business worlds. She has both journalism and copywriting experience and is exceptional at distilling complex concepts into compelling stories. She has written for technology giants, including Oracle, Hitachi Vantara and Comcast, and she specializes in cybersecurity and cloud topics.

Construction of environmental discourse concerning Europe in China

• Original Paper
• Published: 14 August 2024

Cite this article

• Sidan Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2176-2760 1 &
• Luhua Yang 1 , 2  

The European Union (EU) has been seen as a key actor in constructing global environmental governance, and China has seen its rising role in global environmental politics. The Sino-EU environmental cooperation plays an important role in enabling global governance. And, while a wide range of studies on European environmental politics and the Western academic perspectives of observing China’s environmental governance have been identified widely, it remains very weak in understanding China’s construction of environmental discourse concerning Europe. This research employs the environmental discourse approach to observe the case of China and develop the research question: how have environmental discourses concerning Europe been constructed in China. The data for observing the discourse is collected from newspapers, academic articles, publications of environmental stakeholders, and governmental statements on environmental cooperation. The main finding is that the transition discourse and the liberal market discourse have been growing in the environmental discussion while the justice discourse has received weak attention in China. This research argues that the evolution of the environmental discourse has been determined by the types of sources, the non-state actors making the discourses, the positive image of European environmental affairs, and China’s supportive attitudes towards the Sino-EU cooperation.

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Data availability

The data from the newspapers and academic papers generated by the researcher’s own coded and analysed works were collected through the database of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) available from https://www.cnki.net/ . The documents of the identified non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were collected from their own official websites. The identified documents about the cooperation between China and the EU were collected through the official website of the European Commission available from https://climate.ec.europa.eu . The primary data can be publicly available.

Reflecting on the EU-China Joint Statement on Climate Change (2015), the EU-China Leader’s Statement on Climate Change and Clean Energy (2018) and Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation on Emissions Trading between European Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China (2018), they are influential statements of governments’ priorities.

See “European road to green energy (Ouzhou Zou Lvse Nengyuan Zhilu)”, 21/03/2001, the Guangming Daily (Guangming Ribao).

See ClientEarth, 2022, “EU-China Environment Project”, https://www.clientearth.cn/

See “Rising profits from business opportunities around four industrial areas (Sida Gongye Yuanqu Shangji Diechu Lirun Xianjian)”, 26/03/2004, Science and Technology Daily (Keji Ribao).

See “Telecommunications companies passing the green gate towards Europe (Tongxin Qiye Zouxiang Ouzhou Xianguo Lvse Guan)”, 04/07/2005, Communications Weekly (Tongxin Chanye Bao).

Chengqian Tang, Zhuori Yi, 2023, 2022 European Banking Climate Risk Stress Test: A Study Based on Stress Testing of 104 European Banks (2022 Ouzhou Yinhangye Qihou Fengxian Yali Ceshi: Jiyu Ouzhou 104jia Yinhang Yali Ceshi De Yanjiu), New Finance (Xin Jinrong) , No. 3.

See Ben He, 2020, “Europe: Climate Impact on Peach, Nectarine, and Apricot Production” (Ouzhou: Qihou Yingxiang Tao Youtao Xing Shengchan), China Fruit News (Zhongguo Guoye Xinxi), Vol 37, No. 6.

Abbreviations

Circular economy

The China National Knowledge Infrastructure

The European Green Deal

Emissions Trading System

The European Union

China-EU High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate

Non-governmental organisations

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful and constructive comments on this article.

This research is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China Foreign Affairs University (no. 3162023ZYKC01).

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Money blog: Trendy area in uproar over Gail's potentially coming to high street

Welcome to the Money blog, a hub of personal finance and consumer news/tips. Today's posts include a look at the discounts available to students, and local a revolt against Gail's. Leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering in the box below - we round them up every Saturday.

Thursday 15 August 2024 18:00, UK

• Uproar over Gail's potentially coming to high street in trendy area
• Aldi axes click and collect
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• Is this the end of the British pub?
• What's gone wrong at Asda?
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• All the discounts you get as a student or young person
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Amazon has been cleared for take-off with the testing of new drone delivery in the UK.

Amazon Prime Air already offers drone deliveries in the US with drones able to fly 12km from their fulfilment centres. 

But the service could now come to the UK, with Amazon hoping to launch it by the end of the year. It has ambitions of delivering small packages within an hour of an order being placed.

The online retailer is one of six organisations taking part in a new trial from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) - with other projects including using drones to inspect offshore windfarms, for policing and delivering medical supplies. 

The trials will gather safety data and look at how drones can detect and avoid other aircraft while up in the air. 

"Our goal is to make drone operations beyond visual line of sight a safe and everyday reality, contributing to the modernisation of UK airspace and the incorporation of new technology into our skies," said Sophie O'Sullivan, from the CAA.

Octopus Energy is launching "free electricity sessions" for its customers when wholesale prices plummet. 

Starting from today, those who are signed up to the "Octoplus" rewards scheme can take part. 

The one-hour-long sessions will be available whenever the wholesale electricity price hits zero or goes into negative figures, the energy firm said.

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, chief product officer at Octopus Energy, said: "Free electricity sounds like it's too good to be true but it's real.

"By using more when there is plenty of renewable energy instead of when the grid is dirty, our customers can save money while making the grid greener and more efficient. It's a win-win for our customers and the planet." 

How does it work? 

Those who have signed up for the free electricity will be notified the day before the session will take place. 

On its website, the company said the free period will generally be between 1pm to 2pm. 

During that time, customers can use as much electricity as they want, with all the power used above their typical usage not costing anything. 

Within a week, customers will receive an email telling them how much extra power they used, and within two weeks, they will see that amount paid into their account as bill credit. 

How many sessions will there be? 

There are no set amount of sessions planned to take place as they are based on dips in the market, which is changing all the time. 

However, Octopus Energy has said it is hoping for at least two or three before winter.

In the last year, it said there had been 14 days when electricity prices dropped below £0 due to excess renewable energy being generated. 

"During these times, wind farms are often paid to shut down to prevent grid overload, meaning valuable green electrons go to waste," it added.

"By powering up during these periods, households can maximise green energy availability - making the system more efficient and lowering system costs for all." 

It's important to know that you must have a working electric smart meter in order to take part. 

You can read all the terms and conditions here ... 

Drivers are being told to avoid scanning QR codes to pay for parking in light of a spate of scams.

Motorists should only make payments with cash, cards or using official apps, the RAC has warned.

It comes after fraudsters placed stickers with fake QR codes on parking signs in Barking and Dagenham, Northumberland, Northamptonshire, South Tyneside and Pembrokeshire (among others).

When drivers scan the codes, they are taken to a scam website where they are asked to enter their card details, which the criminals use to take money from their accounts.

"As if this scam isn't nasty enough, it can also lead to drivers being caught out twice if they don’t realise they haven't paid for parking and end up getting a hefty fine from the council," says RAC head of policy Simon Williams. 

And depending on where you are in the UK, that fine can be anything from £50 to £300. 

Thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare evasion are set to be declared void after a judge ruled they were wrongly made. 

It means people who previously paid fines for fare evasion could be due a refund, with a team being set up by the end of November to identify everyone unlawfully prosecuted. 

Four train companies including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP) - despite not being permitted to do so.

The SJP was set up in 2015 to allow magistrates to decide on minor offences, such as using a television without a licence or driving without car insurance, without defendants going to court.

But concerns have been raised that cases are being brought before magistrates without prosecutors, or without any mitigation being taken into account. 

Rail companies were permitted to use the SJP in 2016 to prosecute privately fare evaders, but the Evening Standard reported that several of these cases were brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not allowed under the procedure.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Westminster Magistrates' Court in June that thousands of prosecutions were "probably unlawful".

The exact number of those affected is currently unknown, with a previous hearing told around 75,000 people could have been prosecuted for fare evasion offences under the SJP.

Northern Rail, just one of the companies involved, said it apologised for the errors involved.

Greater Anglia also said it acknowledged "a series of significant errors" had occurred.

Locals in a trendy London neighbourhood have signed a petition against Gail's bakery setting up shop in their area.

After (unconfirmed) rumours began circulating that the chain was looking to open a site in Walthamstow village, more than 600 have signed a petition opposing the plans.

The petition, which features a cross made out of two baguettes over the company logo, says the village "faces a threat to its uniqueness" should Gail's move into the area.

"Gail's, although respected for their quality, bring a risk of overshadowing our much-loved local stores due to their massive scale and advertising reach," it continues.

"This could lead to decreased visibility and pedestrian traffic towards independently run businesses, threatening their very existence and dismantling the character and diversity crucial to Walthamstow's charm."

Local business owners have also said they oppose the plans because of the pro-Brexit and anti-lockdown views of Luke Johnson, the company’s minority investor.

Adrian Spurdon, a barista at an independent coffee shop, said Mr Johnson's views clashed with the politics of Walthamstow.

He told The Times: "We've just had this big, diverse counter-protest to protect Walthamstow from the far-right and I doubt Luke Johnson would support that.

"He is very different to the people here. His views are not the same."

The opening of a Gail's - where a regular latte will set you back £4.10 - has become a mark of prosperity in the area. 

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the party looked at where the bakery chain had opened as an indicator of constituencies that could turn yellow, while the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton is known to be partial to their chocolate brownie finger. 

A spokesman for Gail's said: "We understand the concern around chains, but our view is that a healthy high street is one with a diversity of quality offers, each delivering their best.

"High streets evolve over time and we open our small bakeries often in closed banks or stranded restaurants.

"All of our bakeries exist in areas where the choices are wide and growing – we should be celebrating the improvement in our food landscapes."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

Despite the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine tension, the benchmark oil price has come down from the highs of Monday to just over $80 a barrel, good news for motorists. 

The value of a pound is down from the highs of July but still better than most of the last six months, with £1 equal to $1.2856. Sterling has done worse against the euro with one pound buying €1.1663, less than could be bought for most of the last three months.

Following news that insurance company Admiral will up payments to shareholders, the price of its shares increased nearly 8%, the most of all the companies on the London Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the FTSE 100. 

As a whole, the FTSE 100 grew 0.06% while the larger and more UK-based FTSE 250 index of valuable London-listed companies grew 0.28%.

Whether or not results day goes to plan today, you can always console yourself with some free chicken, pizza and nachos. 

Major chains like Nando's, Pizza Express and Frankie & Benny's are offering some great freebies for students picking up their A-level results. Most you can get simply by showing a copy of your results to staff. Some have a few extra steps - but we've outlined this below, and most usually just involve signing up for some kind of free app or reward programme.

(And don't worry year 11, many of these offers will also be available when you receive your GCSE results next week).

Nandos: Chicken Bring your ID and results and you will get a free starter or quarter chicken, provided you also spend £7 or more.

Frankie & Benny's: Pizza Each restaurant is giving away 50 free pizzas - you just need to purchase a large soft drink (and show off your results).

Pizza Express: Dough balls You'll get one free portion of dough balls when you purchase a main - for this one you also need to present a valid UNiDAYS offer code.

Wagamama: Free side and drink You need to sign up to the Soul Club app to get this one, but you'll get a free side dish and free soft drink, or cider can, if you order between 11am and 3pm.

Bill's: Dessert To qualify for a free dessert you also need to purchase a main course, or brunch.

Banana Tree: Pad Thai You need to purchase one starter (excluding edamame) and a drink, but you then qualify for a free main meal. Just make sure you sign up  here  first.

Chiquito: Loaded nachos You have two options for this - Chicken & Chorizo or Pibil Pulled Jackfruit, as long as you order at least one large soft drink. There are only 600 available, so you'll want to head down early.

Bird & Blend: Drink Get a magical matcha, refreshing ice tea or a herbal brew if you present your results and your student ID between 11am and 5pm.

Showcase Cinema: Popcorn If you have a ticket for a film today, just show proof you received your results and you qualify for a free popcorn.

Starbucks: Cookie Grab a free cookie with any beverage today.

Bella Italia: 30% off Students get a very decent 30% off their food bill - but you will need to sign up here first.

TGI Fridays: 24% off your bill You need to be a free Stripes Reward member to get this one, and bring a copy of your results.

In a little over a month, hundreds of thousands of young people will once again descend on university towns across the UK - armed with maintenance loans and newly found financial freedoms.

With their arrival comes their business - and retailers and restaurants all fight for the chance to part students with their cash in the form of special discounts. 

It would be a pretty long post were we to list every single student discount, so for this guide we'll go through some of the most notable and our favourites. 

Let's start with the world's most valuable company, which offers various deals to students. 

Buying a new iPad or Mac will land you a gift card worth £120, while you're able to access a cheaper Apple Music plan with Apple TV+ included. 

It's available through discount portal UNiDAYS , or you can read more about the offers here .

Another student essential - bag yourself six months of free Amazon Prime (which offers next-day delivery on thousands of items and Prime Video).

Once that ends, students only need to pay half price for their membership (£4.49 a month). 

Check out the offer here .

If you didn't opt for the Apple Music offer outlined above, then getting 45% off your Spotify subscription might be worth it. 

It's this link to sign up. 

If you want 10% off clothes from one of the world's biggest online fashion retailers, you simply need to fill in this form . 

Another top tip: ASOS often drops prices, starts sales or increases discount when your student maintenance loans hit your account. 

It might be worth waiting for then to use your codes to maximise your savings - you'll get your first loan at the end of September/start of October, one at the start of January and the last will be at the start of April.

YouTube Premium and Music can be yours for £7.99 (plus a free trial month) - allowing you ad-free watching, downloads, background play and unlimited tunes. 

Click here for more. 

An unequivocal student essential. 

Railcards are a must while you're moving around the country visiting friends, family or just making your way home for Christmas. 

They cost just £30 and give you a third off expensive rail fares for the full year. 

More on that here . 

Nike and  Adidas

Two of the big players in sports fashion.

Bag the latest athleisure with 15% from Adidas and 10% off at Nike . 

If you don't like the trainers either Nike or Adidas provide, then take a look at Schuh.

The footwear brand offers 10% off full-price and  sale items - click here to find out how. 

Another top tip: if you like a pair of Nike or Adidas shoes, check out whether you could get them cheaper at Schuh with discounts, and factoring in delivery charges and sales.

Via discount portal StudentBeans, you can grab 15% off at Sephora. 

It's one of the biggest self-care and beauty brands anywhere on the planet, and 15% off will save you a decent chunk. 

Click here to find out more. 

Boots 

Being a student can save you 10% at Boots - sometimes more.

However, you will need to sign up for one of their (free) advantage cars, so maybe one you need to think about.

Check out the steps here .

Burger King

Students can enjoy a free Chicken or Vegan Royale with purchase of a Chicken or Vegan Royale via their StudentBeans portal.

This link has more.

The big night in vendor offers students up to 50% off. 

This is another one you'll need a StudentBeans discount portal login for, but you can get all the details here . 

Through UNiDAYS, you can get £10 off your first two orders (over £15) on Uber Eats.

They're not only offering takeaways, but grocery shopping too, so that's something to bear in mind. 

Details here .

There's 10% off at New Look for students - and you can bag a further 25% if you sign up to their mailing list.

Discount is in-store and online, so there's a bit of flexibility regarding where you shop.

This one is through UNiDAYS, details here .

Grab yourself a free cheeseburger, mayo chicken or McFlurry when you buy selected menu items. 

Read the full list and T&Cs here . 

The delivery giant always offers student deals, but they're yet to make public this year's plans.

You can enter your email address into this link for updates on it. 

Savings on your sex life start at 20%.

This one is via UNiDAYS - more here .

MyProtein 

50% off protein at MyProtein for fitness-hungry students is one of several offers the company has put up. 

Again, via UNiDAYS, which has the full list of deals/offers here .

Sticking with health and fitness, several high-street value gym chains offer discounts, including  The Gym Group  and  PureGym . 

Blackwell's

We've done all the fun stuff like food and clothes - but you do have to study at some stage. 

That's where having 15% off at major book supplier Blackwell's can help. 

All the details are here . 

While we're on the more boring stuff - let's turn to furniture and cutlery. 

Over the years millions of students have descended on the Swedish giant to fill their new rooms and cupboards. 

Offers change every year - and they'll be updated here . 

If you are a regular reader of the Money blog, you will have seen us cover the topic of security tags before. 

We've noticed them on meat, cheese and baby milk , and now some chocolate treats are also getting the yellow security sticker treatment. 

We spotted the tags below at an Asda in Twickenham earlier this week. 

They were placed on a £2.50 box of Celebrations and Lindt Salted Caramel Lindors costing £5.

Also tagged were a £9.30 box of Maltesers Truffles, a £6.55 pack of Raffaello, a £10.50 tray of Ferrero Rocher and an £8.95 Thortons Classic box. 

An Asda spokesperson confirmed to the Money team that "individual stores may tag specific products at their own discretion as a precautionary measure". 

Earlier this year, it was revealed shoplifting had hit its highest level in 20 years. 

The number of offences increased by 37% to 430,104 in the year ending 31 December 2023, compared with 2022, the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales found. 

Several retailers have taken steps to curb the surge, including extra security and body-worn cameras. 

The UK economy grew 0.6% over three months to the end of June, official figures show. 

But there was no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics said, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election.

"In a range of industries across the economy, businesses stated that customers were delaying placing orders until the outcome of the election was known," the ONS said, though added it's difficult to quantify the exact impact.

Gross domestic product (GDP) - the measure of everything produced in the UK - expanded from April to June.

That growth rate was the second highest among the G7 group of industrialised nations, only the United States performed better with 0.7%.

Two G7 countries, however, have yet to publish their GDP data for the period - Japan and Germany.

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