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Market research questions: what to ask and how.

9 min read Whether you’re looking for customer feedback, product suggestions or brand perception in the market, the right market research questions can help you get the best insights. Learn how you can use them correctly and where to begin.

What is market research?

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.

For example, this could be an online questionnaire , shared by email, which has a set of questions that ask an audience about their views. For an audience of target customers, your questions may explore their reaction to a new product that can be used as feedback into the design.

Why do market research?

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.

In doing this work, you can gain:

  • Improved purchase levels – Sales will improve if your product or service is ticking all the right buttons for your customers.
  • Improved decision making – You can avoid the risk of losing capital or time by using what your research tells you and acting with insights.
  • Real connection with your target market – If you’re investing in understanding your target audience, your product and service will more likely to make an impact.
  • Understand new opportunities – it might be that your research indicates a new area for your product to play within, or you find potential for a new service that wasn’t considered before.

Get started with our free survey maker

Who do you ask your questions to?

Who to target in your market research is crucial to getting the right insights and data back. If you don’t have a firm idea on who your target audiences are, then here are some questions that you can ask before you begin writing your market research questions:

  • Who is our customer currently and who do we want to attract in the future?
  • How do they behave with your brand?
  • What do they say, do and think?
  • What are their pain points, needs and wants?
  • Where do they live? What is the size of our market?
  • Why do they use us? Why do they use other brands?

We’ve put together some questions below (Market research questions for your demographics) if you wanted to reach out to your market for this.

With the answers, you can help you segment your customer market, understand key consumer trends , create customer personas and discover the right way to target them.

Market research goals

Give yourself the right direction to work towards.There are different kinds of market research that can happen, but to choose the right market research questions, figure out your market research goals first.

Set a SMART goal that thinks about what you want to achieve and keeps you on track. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. For example, a good SMART business goal would be to increase website sales for a top product by 10% over a period of 6 months.

You may need to review some strategic business information, like customer personas and historical sales data, which can give you the foundation of knowledge (the ‘baseline’) to grow from. This, combined with your business objectives, will help you form the right SMART targets tailored to your teams.

Types of market research questions

Now that you have your SMART target, you can look at which type of market research questions will help you reach your goal. They can be split into these types:

  • For demographics
  • For customers
  • For product

Market research questions for your demographics

Demographic information about your customers is data about gender, age, ethnicity, annual income, education and marital status. It also gives key information about their shopping habits.

Here are some questions you can ask in your market research survey:

  • What is your age / gender / ethnicity / marital status?
  • What is the highest level of education you have achieved?
  • What is your monthly income range?
  • What methods of shopping do you use?
  • What amount do you spend on [product/brand/shopping] each month?
  • How regular do you shop for [product/brand]?

Learn more about the demographic survey questions that yield valuable insights .

Market research questions for your customer

These questions are aimed at your customer to understand the voice of the customer — the customer marketing landscape is not an one-way dialogue for engaging prospects and your customer’s feedback is needed for the development of your products or services.

  • How did we do / would you rate us?
  • Why did you decide to use [product or service]?
  • How does that fit your needs?
  • Would you recommend us to your friends?
  • Would you buy from us again?
  • What could we do better?
  • Why did you decide to shop elsewhere?
  • In your opinion, why should customers choose us?
  • How would you rate our customer experience?

Learn more about why the voice of the customer matters or try running a customer experience survey.

Market research questions for your product

These questions will help you understand how your customers perceive your product, their reactions to it and whether changes need to be made in the development cycle.

  • What does our [product or service] do that you like or dislike?
  • What do you think about [feature or benefit]?
  • How does the product help you solve your problems?
  • Which of these features will be the most valuable / useful for you?
  • Is our product competitive with other similar products out there? How?
  • How does the product score on [cost / service / ease of use, etc.]?
  • What changes will customers likely want in the future that technology can provide?

There are also a set of questions you can ask to find out if your product pricing is set at the right mark:

  • Does the product value justify the price it’s marketed at?
  • Is the pricing set at the right mark?
  • How much would you pay for this product?
  • Is this similar to what competitors are charging?
  • Do you believe the price is fair?
  • Do you believe the pricing is right based on the amount of usage you’d get?

Have you tried a pricing and value research survey to see how much your target customers would be willing to pay?

Market research questions for your brand

How does the impact of your products, services and experiences impact your brand’s image? You can find out using these questions:

  • What do you think about our brand?
  • Have you seen any reviews about us online? What do they say?
  • Have you heard about our brand from friends or family? What do they say?
  • How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend?
  • Have you read the testimonials on our own channels? Did they have an impact on your decision to purchase? How?
  • When you think of our brand, what do you think/ feel / want?
  • How did you hear about us?
  • Do you feel confident you know what our brand stands for?
  • Are you aware of our [channel] account?

Learn more about brand perception surveys and how to carry them out successfully.

How to use market research questions in a survey

For the best research questionnaires, tailoring your market research questions to the goal you want will help you focus the direction of the data received.

You can get started now on your own market research questionnaire, using one of our free survey templates, when you sign up to a free Qualtrics account.

Drag-and-drop interface that requires no coding is easy-to-use, and supported by our award-winning support team.

With Qualtrics, you can distribute, and analyse surveys to find customer, employee, brand, product, and marketing research insights.

More than 11,000 brands and 99 of the top 100 business schools use Qualtrics solutions because of the freedom and power it gives them.

Get started with our free survey maker tool

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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100+ Market Research Questions to Ask Your Customers

Dwayne Charrington

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.

100+ Market Research Questions to Ask Your Customers

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:

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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 are some market research questions

  • 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

what are some market research questions

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 are some market research questions

  • 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

what are some market research questions

  • 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.

what are some market research questions

  • 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.

what are some market research questions

Case Study:

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

what are some market research questions

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 .

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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:

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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 .

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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 .

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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. 

what are some market research questions

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

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

  • 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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

  • 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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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?

what are some market research questions

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!

Potential customer in a supermarket

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?

Group of people taking part in market research

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.

what are some market research questions

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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what are some market research questions

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 CategoryDescription
Target Audience DescriptionQuestions focused on understanding the size of the target market, customer personas, and key consumer trends.
Customer Survey QuestionsInquiries directed at customers to gather feedback on their experience, preferences, and satisfaction levels.
Pricing and Value ResearchQueries aimed at assessing pricing strategies, value proposition, and competitor pricing in the market.
Product or Service QuestionsQuestions aimed at understanding product uniqueness, value proposition, and competitive offerings in the market.
Online Visibility QuestionsInquiries focused on assessing the online presence and visibility of the business in search engines and online platforms.
Reputation ManagementQuestions aimed at monitoring and managing the business's reputation by addressing reviews and customer feedback.
Messaging and AdvertisingInquiries focused on understanding customer needs, emotional triggers, and advertising effectiveness.

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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what are some market research questions

Home Market Research

20 Market Research Questions To Ask In Your Customer Survey

Market Research Questions

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.

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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.

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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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Beyond these 20 market research questions, here are 350+ Market Research Templates for you to use completely free!

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what are some market research questions

Product Management

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

Athira V S

Content Writer

Created on:

April 15, 2024

Updated on:

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

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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.

what are some market research 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

what are some market research questions

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

what are some market research questions

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.

what are some market research questions

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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what are some market research 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?

Ask the insightful questions with Voiceform

When it’s time to ask the market research questions that will get you the insight you desire, Voiceform will make the process simple. Our feature-rich, innovative multimedia survey platform empowers companies to get the answers they need. From voice and video functions to AI transcription and analysis , this powerful survey platform can help you create, launch and distribute multiple survey types. Learn more about our products today by scheduling a demonstration.

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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.

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Jan 29, 2024

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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: 

better brand health tracking webinar

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: 

Single select

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

Multi-select

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.)

rating matrix 2

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?;)

Screen Shot 2022-12-29 at 11.13.19 AM

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:

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85 Market Research Questions to Understand Your Audience

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Knowing your audience is the secret sauce of any successful business or campaign. But how do you crack the code and really get into the minds of your customers?

To truly understand your target audience, you need to ask the right questions. “85 Insightful Questions to Engage and Understand Your Target Audience” is an ultimate guide that provides you with the right set of questions that not only open doors to genuine insights but also help you create a real connection with your audience.

Whether you’re trying to refine your product, tailor your marketing strategy, or get a clearer picture of who’s on the other side of the screen, these questions are your ticket.

Get ready to dive deep, build trust, and unlock the valuable information within your audience’s answers.

Table of Contents

What are Market Research Questions?

Market research questions are crucial in gathering specific information and insights about a target market or audience. They are designed to analyze market trends and competitors and understand consumer preferences, behaviors, and opinions. You can use Quantitative Research Methods (surveys, polls, etc) or if you have a focus group, you can focus on a more qualitative structure.

Market Research to Collect Valuable Insights

what are some market research questions

Businesses can use market research questions to improve product creation, marketing, and sales decision-making. It’s important to pick questions that match the goals you have for your market research.

So, let’s get started. Below, you can find the breakdown of relevant categories and suggested questions. Feel free to customize your preference, but the market analysis questions below are a great start.

Consumer Insights:

Understanding your customers’ preferences, pain points, and purchase decisions is crucial. Armed with this knowledge, you can enhance what they like and address what they don’t like.

  • What drives your decisions when you buy something?
  • What changes or enhancements would you prefer in our products or services?
  • Rate your satisfaction level with our customer support.
  • Would you suggest our products to your friends or family?
  • What aspects of our product or service do you value the most?
  • How does our product/service fit into your daily lifestyle or routine?

Startup Questions:

In the world of startups, market research isn’t just helpful, it’s essential to your success. It is the key to validating your business vision, identifying your target audience, and anticipating potential opportunities and challenges. This research-focused feedback is crucial in shaping a product that truly reflects the voice of your audience and meets their needs.

  • Which attributes do you prioritize when choosing a [product/service]?
  • Are you open to adopting a novel [product/service] that better caters to your needs?
  • What would primarily influence you to pick one product over its rivals?
  • What is your budget for a [product/service] that fulfills your specific needs?
  • Which channels do you prefer for receiving updates about new [products/services]?
  • How do you like to purchase [products/services] – online, in a physical store, or via a mobile application?
  • In what ways do you think technology could further solve your current challenges in [specific industry/problem area]?

If You’re Launching a New Product

When you are getting ready to introduce a new product to the market, it can feel like you’re putting together a puzzle. Conducting market research helps you bring all the pieces together, highlighting potential interest, clarifying desired features, and outlining the characteristics of your target customer base. This strategic approach is a precaution against releasing a product that may not appeal to your audience.

  • How did you become aware of our latest product?
  • Based on the details provided, what are your first thoughts about our new product?
  • How excited are you to try our latest product?
  • Which features or advantages of our new product did you like the most?
  • Do you think the price of the new product is reasonable considering its value to you?
  • Do you have any concerns about the new product?
  • Would you like to participate in the new product’s test run or beta phase?
  • If you were to describe our new product in three words, what would they be?

Feedback on Current Product Line:

If you need insight into your current product, make sure you ask the type of questions that really matter. Actionable data is what you’re looking for, not the fluff.

  • On a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate your happiness with our current product?
  • What difficulties have you had while using our product?
  • Are there any specific things you would like to see improved in our product?
  • How does our product stand against competitors in terms of functionality and cost?
  • If you could change one thing about our product, what would it be and why?

Psychographics To Help With Segmentation:

Using market research questions to split your market into different groups is like being an orchestra conductor. It allows you to adjust your marketing strategies, tailor your products to exactly what different groups want, and connect with each part of your audience in a way that really clicks. It’s all about ensuring each part of your marketing hits the right note with every group you’re trying to reach.

  • What age bracket do you fall into?
  • What is your gender identity?
  • What’s your current place of residence?
  • What level of education have you completed?
  • Are you employed, running your own business, studying, or retired?
  • What hobbies or pastimes do you enjoy?
  • Which methods of communication do you prefer?
  • How do you typically make your buying decisions?
  • What primarily motivates you to buy a particular product/service?
  • What media outlets do you frequently rely on for news and entertainment?
  • In what ways do your cultural or local influences affect your purchasing decisions?

Competitor Analysis:

Understanding your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and tactics can provide valuable insights into market share and potential ways to differentiate yourself in the industry. Using survey tools to analyze your competition is similar to conducting intelligence gathering, which enables you to gain strategic insights from the viewpoints of customers and industry experts.

  • Have you ever used products/services from our rivals?
  • How would you assess our competitors’ products/services regarding quality?
  • What do you consider to be the strong points of our competitors’ products/services?
  • What influences your preference for our products/services over our competitors’?
  • Are there any particular advantages or features of our competitors’ offerings that you find appealing?
  • How do our products/services stack up against our competitors regarding overall value?
  • How probable is it that you would suggest our products/services to others over our competitors’?
  • What areas do you feel our competitors miss out on, and how could we capitalize on these gaps?

Brand Recognition and Recall:

Assessing brand awareness helps businesses gauge the success of their marketing initiatives and their brand’s visibility in the marketplace. Market research questions on brand awareness can show how well your brand is recognized and perceived.

  • Were you previously familiar with our brand?
  • How did you come to know about our brand?
  • Which products of ours are you aware of?
  • Have you ever used or bought any of our company’s products?
  • What do you particularly like about our product?
  • On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our brand to someone you know?
  • Can you recall any specific marketing or advertising campaign from our brand that left a lasting impression on you?

Price Perception and Expectations:

Determining an effective pricing strategy is crucial for attracting customers and maintaining profitability. Market research questions relating to pricing can provide insight into how customers perceive your prices compared to your competitors and what they value when considering price.

  • What price range do you find is fair for our product?
  • How does our pricing stack up against that of our market competitors?
  • What considerations do you consider when judging a product’s price?
  • Would you be ready to spend more on extra features or benefits?
  • How does the perceived quality of our product/service influence your willingness to pay a specific price?

Evaluating New Concepts:

Performing concept testing before fully developing a product allows businesses to test the waters with new ideas, ensuring they align with customer needs and have a viable market before significant resources are invested.

  • After reading the concept description for our new product/service, how interesting is it?
  • Which parts of the concept mainly catch your interest or seem appealing?
  • Based on the concept description, how likely are you to try or buy this new product/service?
  • What would be your main reason for trying this new product/service over others?
  • Is there anything lacking in the concept that would make it more appealing or valuable?
  • Would you suggest any changes or improvements to the concept to make it more appealing?
  • Based on the concept description, how much would you be ready to pay for this new product/service?
  • In considering new products/services, how much do you value sustainability and eco-friendliness?

Digital Footprint and Online Interaction:

Everyone is online. No secret there. So it’s clearly important to get insight into how they found you, if they liked the website experience and design if the content matched up to their expectations, etc.

  • How did you come across our brand or company online?
  • How often do you encounter our brand or company during your internet browsing?
  • Have you visited our website, and if so, what was your reason for the visit?
  • Do you follow our brand or company on social media platforms, and if so, which ones?
  • What is your impression of our brand or company’s social media presence (e.g., active, engaging, informative)?
  • Do you find our website and online material (like blogs or articles) user-friendly and informative?
  • What are your thoughts about the overall online experience with our website (considering aspects like speed, design, and functionality)?
  • How do you think our online presence compares with that of our competitors?
  • Are there any specific online platforms or websites where you’d like to see more activity from our brand or company?
  • What type of online content from our brand would make you more engaged or likely to interact (e.g., tutorials, customer stories, live Q&As)?

Understanding Company Image and Reputation:

Knowing how they view your brand is one of the most impactful lines of questioning. If they don’t trust you or feel the authenticity, you lose them as customers. Ask them, point blank, what do you think about our positioning. Do we come across as worthy of earning your business? Get real here, it matters.

  • How would you describe your overall view of our company?
  • In your opinion, what are the strengths of our company?
  • Based on your current view, how likely are you to recommend our company to others?
  • Are there particular elements of our company’s reputation that stand out?
  • What are your thoughts on how our company handles customer feedback and issues?
  • Have any specific events or experiences significantly shaped your view of our company?
  • Can you share a particular experience, either positive or negative, that has significantly shaped your perception of our company?
  • How do you view our company’s commitment to social and environmental responsibilities?

This set of questions is highly flexible, so you can tailor them to fit your market research requirements and your audience’s unique features. With the help of this toolkit, you have all the necessary resources to discover significant insights that can help you advance your business strategies.

How to Make the Most of Your Research Questions

what are some market research questions

A solid market research process is crucial because it’s the backbone of informed decision-making in your business. It’s like having a roadmap in unknown territory, guiding you to understand your customers, competitors, and the market.

To make the most of it, be clear about what you want to learn, and choose methods and questions that get you those answers. It’s not just about gathering data, but analyzing it to spot trends, understand behaviors, and predict future moves.

Remember, the goal is to convert this knowledge into actionable strategies that boost your business, not just to collect information. So, every step in your market research should be intentional, aiming to provide insights that directly support your business objectives.

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80+ Market Research Questions to Ask your Target Audiences

what are some market research questions

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 .

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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.

Kanika

Written by Kanika

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50+ Market Research Questions For Business Success

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10 mins read

Manisha Khandelwal

Senior Content Marketer at SurveySensum

the image shows the title of the blog, “50+ Market Research Questions For Business Success” with people conducting market research.

In this competitive era, where consumer preferences are constantly evolving, businesses need more than their instinct to go forward. They actually need to understand their target audience – their demands and needs. 

And market research helps with just that. 

Market research empowers businesses to stay ahead of the curve, identify emerging opportunities, mitigate risks, and ultimately drive growth and profitability. 

So, let’s delve deep and understand the importance of market research, how it serves as a strategic tool for businesses, and explore some important market research questions to ask customers, using the right market research tool .

Let’s start by understanding what is market research.

What is Market Research?

Market research is the process of gathering and interpreting information to deeply understand the target market, or industry, including customers, competitors, industry trends, and other relevant factors. 

It aims to provide businesses with valuable insights to make informed decisions about their products, services, marketing strategies, and overall business operations.

For example, a telecom company conducts market research to understand customer preferences for a new smartphone by surveying potential buyers about their desired features, price points, and brand preferences.

The global market research industry generates more than $118 billion in annual revenue, according to ESOMAR . And that’s some number right? 

Market research goes beyond understanding your target audience. It gives you so much more than that. So, let’s understand a few reasons – in detail – why you need to do your market research.

Why to Conduct Market Research?

Market research is essential for businesses because it provides a solid foundation for informed decision-making and strategic planning. Here are several key reasons why market research is crucial:

  • Understanding Customers: It helps businesses understand their target audience, their needs, preferences, and behavior, leading to better product development and marketing strategies .
  • Evaluating Competition: It enables businesses to assess their competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, benchmark their performance, and devise strategies to gain a competitive advantage.
  • Minimizing Risks: Market research reduces the risks associated with product launches, marketing campaigns, and business decisions by providing data-driven insights and validating ideas before implementation.
  • Optimizing Marketing Efforts: It helps businesses optimize their marketing efforts by targeting the right audience, crafting compelling messages, and choosing the most effective marketing channels.
  • Improving Customer Satisfaction: By understanding customer feedback and preferences, businesses can improve their products, services, and customer experiences, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

So, yes market research is important. Now the question is –  who is your target audience for this research? 

Your Target Audience – Whom to Ask These Questions?

When conducting market research, identifying the right audience to ask your questions is crucial for obtaining accurate and actionable insights. Here are some segmentations where you can direct your market research questions:

The image shows the different target audiences that a business needs to focus on while conducting market research.

1. Current Customers: Directly surveying current customers helps you understand their needs, satisfaction levels, and feedback on your products or services.

2. Prospective Customers: If you’re targeting new customer segments, asking questions to prospective customers helps gauge their interest and potential barriers to adoption.

3. Industry Experts: Engaging with industry experts or consultants provides pertinent insights into market trends and best practices.

4. Competitors’ Customers: Analyzing competitor customers helps you identify areas where you can differentiate and add value.

5. Focus Groups: Conducting focus group discussions with a group of participants from your target audience yields qualitative insights and generates ideas for innovation.

As per your objective, you can choose any of the segments for the market research. The other question that now arises is – What questions to ask in your market research? Well, let’s get to that.

Types of Research with Question Examples

Here are examples of research types with corresponding question examples for each:

1. Demographics/Segment Target Market Research:

  • What is your age group?
  • Which gender do you identify with?
  • What is your annual household income?
  • What is your level of education?
  • Which industry do you work in?
  • What are your primary interests or hobbies?

2. Market Research Questions For Customer Research:

  • How did you first hear about our product/service?
  • What influenced your decision to purchase/use our product/service?
  • What features do you find most valuable in our product/service?
  • How satisfied are you with the customer support provided?
  • Would you recommend our product/service to others? Why or why not?

 3. Market Research Questions For New Product Launch:

  • What are your initial impressions of our new product?
  • How likely are you to purchase/use this new product in the future?
  • What improvements or additions would you like to see in this new product?
  • How does this new product compare to similar products in the market?
  • What price range would you consider reasonable for this new product?

 4. Market Research Questions For Startups:

  • 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?

 5. Market Research Questions For Brand Research:

  • What words or phrases come to mind when you think of our brand?
  • How would you describe the personality of our brand?
  • What sets our brand apart from competitors?
  • How likely are you to remain loyal to our brand in the future?
  • What can we do to improve brand awareness and perception?

6. Market Research Questions For Existing Products:

  • How long have you been using our product/service?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of our product/service?
  • Have you encountered any issues or challenges while using our product/service?
  • How satisfied are you with the updates or new features introduced recently?
  • Would you consider switching to a competitor’s product/service? Why or why not?

7. Market Research Questions For Competitive Analysis:

  • How aware are you of our competitors in the market?
  • What do you perceive as the strengths of our competitors’ products/services?
  • How does our pricing compare to our competitors?
  • What do you think our competitors are doing better than us?
  • What can we learn from our competitors to improve our offerings?

8. Market Research Questions For Concept Testing:

  • What are your thoughts on this new product/service concept?
  • How likely are you to use this concept in your daily life?
  • What aspects of this concept appeal to you the most?
  • What concerns do you have about this concept?
  • Would you recommend this concept to others? Why or why not?

9. Market Research Questions For Pricing Analysis:

  • How do you perceive the current pricing of our product/service?
  • What factors influence your decision to purchase based on price?
  • Would you be willing to pay more for additional features or benefits?
  • How does our pricing compare to similar products/services in the market?
  • What pricing strategies do you find most appealing as a customer?

Best Practices for Market Research Questions

Writing effective market research questions involves following best practices to ensure clarity, relevance, and actionable insights. Here are some best practices for crafting market research questions:

1. Be Clear and Specific: Ensure that each question is clear, concise, and specific to avoid ambiguity and confusion among respondents.

2. Avoid Leading Questions: Avoid framing questions in a way that influences respondents’ answers. Keep questions neutral to gather unbiased data.

3. Avoid Jargon and Complex Terminology: Use familiar terms and language to respondents, avoiding technical jargon or complex terminology that may lead to misinterpretation.

4. Include Both Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions: Incorporate a mix of open-ended questions (allowing respondents to provide detailed responses) and closed-ended questions (with predefined answer options) for comprehensive insights.

5. Consider Context and Order: Arrange questions logically, starting with general or introductory questions before moving to more specific or detailed inquiries. Consider the flow and context of the survey or interview.

6. Focus on Actionable Insights: Frame questions in a way that generates actionable insights and helps inform decision-making processes.

By following these best practices, you can create well-crafted market research questions that effectively gather valuable insights from your target audience.

The use of well-crafted market research questions is essential to succeed in a highly competitive and customer-centric market. The insights from these questions help in understanding your customers and adjusting to their changing needs. 

And a robust market research platform such as SurveySensum can help you accomplish this task efficiently! SurveySensum enables you to create impactful surveys with just the right questions in hardly any time. Additionally, it helps in analyzing the feedback using an AI-powered dashboard and powerful features such as Text Analytics .

The seven basic questions in market research, often referred to as the “W’s and H” questions, include:

  • Who: Who is your target audience or customer segment?
  • What: What products or services are they interested in or looking for?
  • When: When do they typically make purchasing decisions or engage with your offerings?
  • Where: Where do they prefer to shop or interact with your brand (online, in-store, etc.)?
  • Why: Why do they choose your products/services over competitors?
  • How: How do they use your products/services, and how satisfied are they with their experiences?
  • How much: How much are they willing to pay for your products/services, and what factors influence their pricing decisions?

When conducting market research, four essential questions to consider include:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What are their needs and preferences?
  • How do they currently perceive your brand or offerings?
  • What are the key factors influencing their purchasing decisions?

To write a market research questionnaire, start by defining your research objectives and identifying the target audience. Then, craft clear and concise questions that cover key aspects such as demographics, preferences, buying behavior, and satisfaction levels. Use a mix of closed-ended (multiple-choice, rating scales) and open-ended questions to gather quantitative data and qualitative insights.

Unlock the power of market research with SurveySensum! Start gathering actionable insights today to drive informed decisions and boost your business success.

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What are the top market research questions?

Asking the right market research questions in your surveys can get you ahead of the competition. This article explains what market research questions are, why they matter, and how to create them like a pro.

Mehal Rashid

Have you ever wondered why your favourite stores seem to always have exactly what you need? Or how that new app you downloaded magically solves a problem you didn't even know you had? The answer is market research. 

Companies develop products and services that resonate with their target audience by asking the right questions. 

This article explains what market research questions are, why they matter, and how to create them like a pro. 

What are market research questions?

Market research is when companies or businesses try to understand what their customers want, need, and like. It's a way to peek into people's minds (in a totally legal and ethical way, of course) to see what makes them tick when it comes to products or services.

Market research questions are the tools you use to unearth this valuable information.  Think of them as conversation starters – a way to get your ideal customers talking about their preferences, pain points, and buying habits. 

Online surveys are the go-to quantitative tool for market researchers, with 85% of respondents stating they use them regularly. 

A good market research questionnaire uses a series of questions to gather and analyze data that helps you achieve a specific goal. This goal could be anything from understanding brand awareness to identifying customer pain points to testing a new product concept.

Here's a breakdown of the different types of market research questions:

  • Demographic Questions: These are the icebreakers. Age, location, income, education level – they help you sketch out a profile of your typical customer.
  • Behavioural Questions: These questions focus on past actions and habits to understand how your target market interacts with similar products or services. How often do they buy similar products? Where do they shop? What influences their purchasing decisions?
  • Attitudinal Questions: Here's where you get to understand your target market's feelings and opinions. What do they think about your brand (if you have one yet)? What are their biggest concerns about the type of product you're offering?

Understood what are market research questions? Let’s take a look at why it’s important.

Reasons to conduct market research

Market research is basically research and development for understanding your customers. It helps you avoid launch-day disasters by giving you a clear picture of what your target customers actually want. 

It's not just a fancy thing big companies do; even small businesses need it to figure out what's up with their customers and their competition. 

Here are a few rock-solid reasons why businesses should conduct market research: 

  • Stay ahead of the curve: The market is constantly changing, and market research helps you identify trends so you can adapt and innovate before your competitors steal your thunder.
  • Know your target market INSIDE OUT: Your ideal customer isn't just a demographic statistic. They're a real person with needs, wants, and quirks. Market research helps you understand them on a deeper level, so you can tailor your products and services to their desires.
  • Reduce risks: Nobody wants to gamble their hard-earned cash. Market research helps you identify potential roadblocks before you invest heavily in a product. 
  • Make smarter decisions: With market research, you're not just guessing what your customers want. You have data to back up your choices, so you can launch products and marketing campaigns with confidence.
  • Brainstorm new ideas: Sometimes, market research reveals needs you never knew existed. It can lead to the creation of innovative products and services that blow the competition out of the water.
  • Boost your sales: By understanding your target market, you tailor your messaging and offerings to resonate with them directly, which translates to happy customers and a ringing cash register.

Some good market research questions

Different questions serve different goals. In this section, we describe some examples of market research questions to explore demographics, customer sentiment, product perception, and brand image.

Market research questions for demographics

Market research survey questions for demographics are all about understanding the basic who, what, and where of your target audience. They help you understand who you're talking to, based on factors like age, location, and income.

Some market research question examples for demographics include: 

  • What is your age range? (Select one: Under 18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+)
  • What is your gender identity? (Select one: Male, Female, Non-binary, Prefer not to say)
  • What is your highest level of education? (Select one: High school diploma or equivalent, College, Associate's degree, Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, Doctorate or professional degree)
  • What is your current employment status? (Select one: Full-time employed, Part-time employed, Self-employed, Unemployed, Student, Retired)
  • What is your annual household income range (before taxes)? (Select one: Under $25,000, $25,000 - $49,999, $50,000 - $74,999, $75,000 - $99,999, $100,000+)
  • In which country do you currently reside? (Select one from a dropdown list)
  • What is your marital status? (Select one: Single, Married, Domestic partner, Divorced, Widowed, Prefer not to say)

Market research questions for customers

Market research questions for customers are all about getting inside the minds of your target audience. A study reveals that CRM and customer satisfaction surveys receive 20% of the total global market research expenditure.

These questions go beyond demographics and delve into their needs, wants, and frustrations. They help you understand how your customer service is perceived and what you can do to improve customer satisfaction.

  • What are the biggest challenges you face when [insert general task or situation relevant to your business]?
  • What factors are most important to you when considering [insert general category relevant to your business]?
  • Where do you typically go to find information about [insert general category relevant to your business]?
  • How can we make the process of [insert general customer journey step relevant to your business] easier for you?
  • What is your preferred method of communication with businesses like ours?
  • What are some of the biggest frustrations you encounter when interacting with businesses in this industry? 

Market research questions for product/service 

Market research questions for products and services help you understand how customers perceive your specific product or service, its strengths, and weaknesses, and how it stacks up against the competition.

Here are 12 sample market research questions to ask for a new product/service that get in-depth feedback:

  • What do you like most about our product/service?
  • What improvements would you suggest for our product/service?
  • How often do you use similar products/services?
  • What features are most important to you when choosing a product/service like ours?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with our product/service?
  • What do you think about our pricing compared to similar products/services on the market?
  • Where did you first hear about our product/service?
  • Have you recommended our product/service to others? Why or why not?
  • What obstacles or challenges prevent you from using our product/service more often?
  • How would you rate the convenience of purchasing our product/service?
  • What other products/services would you like to see us offer in the future?
  • How likely are you to continue using our product/service in the future?

Market research questions for brand

Market research questions for your brand are like conducting a focus group for your reputation.  These questions help you understand how your target audience perceives your brand, its values, and its overall image. 

Here are some brand-related questions to ask for market research:

  • What words come to mind when you think of our brand? 
  • Have you seen any recent advertising for our brand? If so, what did you think of it?
  • Do you follow our brand on social media? Why or why not?
  • What channels do you most often encounter our brand through (e.g., social media, advertising, word of mouth)?
  • Can you recall a recent experience you had with our brand (positive or negative)?
  • Is there a brand ambassador or influencer you associate with our brand?
  • In your opinion, what are our brand's biggest strengths?
  • In your opinion, what are some areas where our brand could improve?

How to ask the best market research questions that drive results?

Asking the right questions is the golden rule of good market research. It can mean the difference between insights that fuel success and data that gathers dust.

Before you start, be clear on what you want to achieve. Are you looking to understand customer needs for a new product? Uncover buying habits? Gauge brand perception? Having a specific goal keeps your questions focused and relevant.

Don't just settle for yes/no questions . Instead, use questions that encourage detailed explanations and honest opinions. Keep your questions concise and easy to understand. Avoid jargon or technical terms that might confuse your target audience.

Don't put words in people's mouths. A market research question like "Wouldn't you agree our service is excellent?" comes under the leading question category and won't give you genuine feedback.

Your research should guide future decisions. The best market research questions are the ones that provide insights you can use to take concrete actions, like improving your product or marketing strategy.

Conduct market research with top survey software 

You've learned how to write market research questions that provide valuable customer insights. But how do you put those questions into action and turn them into actionable data? That's where a user-friendly and feature-rich survey software platform like Formaloo comes in.

Ranked as one of the top survey software by Tekpon , Formaloo offers plenty of features to streamline your research process. It has a library of ready-to-use templates that cover a wide range of market research areas.

Plus it lets you set up automatic email invitations, reminders, and data analysis reports to free yourself up for strategic decision-making.

‍ Sign up for a free trial today and experience the ease of conducting market research on Formaloo.

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98 Quantitative Research Questions & Examples

98 Quantitative Research Questions & Examples

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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 

quantitative market research example

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 

quantitative market research question example

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.

Traffic distribution breakdown with Similarweb

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.

industry leader’s market share quadrant

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.

popular pages extract Similarweb

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.

Wells Fargo popular pages extract Similarweb

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.

quantitative research questions for brand tracking

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.

Quantitative research questions example for brand awareness

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.

Quantitative social media questions

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.

quantitative research questions for online polls

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.

quantitative research questions for segmentation

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.

Quantitative market research method examples

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.

Qualitative customer experience example Culture AMP

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.

author-photo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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The Most Insightful Market Research Questions You Can Ask

what are some market research questions

With great customer expectations in today’s ever-growing digital world, market research has become exceedingly important. It should be at the forefront of every business’s strategy. Even if you feel as though you’ve nailed your target market down to a tee, there will always remain work to be done on the market research front.

That’s because market trends sway, as do the opinions and desires of your customer base. That means when you least expect it, even your most loyal customers will turn to your competitors, sometimes for good. But you can still stay in the know about what your customers want and think by running a sturdy market research plan.

As part of any solid market research endeavor, you’ll need an apt set of questions to help answer the most pressing needs and opinions of your customers. You’ll also need sets of questions that pertain to your needs as well; this is especially crucial to understanding your customers’ minds about your product or service.

Let’s explore four sets of insightful market research questions.

Questions Based on Pain Points

what are some market research questions

These questions are thematically based on the difficulties customers may have undergone, are currently experiencing, or may run into in the future. In regards to the latter, these types of questions are great in that they are wired to prevent the pain points from occurring in the first place.

Here are some examples of market research questions on customer experience (CX) and customer journey points of friction.

What is the most difficult aspect of [action related to your product]?

What bothers you the most about ?

What issues do you typically run into on our website?

How can we better support your needs when shopping for…?

What frustrates you the most about ?

Questions Based on Goals

Goals-based questions help answer what your customers want, in that they inquire specifically about what it is customers are looking for and what they hope to gain from a product or service. These questions do not necessarily have to zero in a particular product/service — although some of them should. Rather, they can focus on improving specific tasks/actions related to your field. This will not only help you understand how your customers feel about your market but will allow you to innovate more and faster.

Here you’ll find some examples of market research questions on customer goals.

What do you look for in a ?

What do you think can do to improve its usefulness?

What can do to help improve your overall user experience?

What aspects would you like to see in new ?

What do you hope to gain when taking on [problem or goal within a market]?

Questions Based on Pricing

Pricing has always been (and will remain to be) a major part of the buying equation. Even customers in the luxury sector care about prices to some extent. No one wants to be ripped off; even businesses aim to save money. For example, in 2020, 69% of companies are expected to decrease ad spending.

Thus, it is ideal to have reasonably priced goods or services. But you won’t know what is considered a reasonable price until you conduct a questionnaire on your target market. Referring to general internet research alone will not suffice for this.

Here are a few examples of market research questions to ask about pricing.

What is a reasonable price range for ?

Are there any conditions in which you’d be willing to buy at a higher range?

What do you think is the ideal price for ?

How would you rate the prices within [industry, niche, or specific market]?

Is [price point] too high, low, or a fair ask for ?

Questions Based On Psychographic Traits

Psychographic questions help reveal the psychological characteristics within your target market, or your entire pool of respondents. This type of approach to market research questions involves the feelings, interests, and attitudes your customer base holds.

It allows brands to understand their customers at a more intimate level, specifically, their views on any topic. You can tailor these to focus on your product/service or the desired act of making purchases.

what are some market research questions

Here are a few examples of questions based on psychographic traits.

Which of the following is most important to you?

How do you like to spend your free time?

If you had more time, which of the following would you do?

If you had more time, what would you spend more money on?

How do you favor making purchases?

What interests you?

What draws you to one brand over another in the [niche, industry, space, etc.]?

A Reminder on Market Research Questions

All four of the question types covered in this article are critical to tap into the brains of your current and potential customers. What’s more empowering about these kinds of questions is that they can help you expand your target market and appeal to a much wider audience. They can inform both your marketing strategies, your content, and the innovation of your product/service itself.

But you must remember, these in-depth questions do NOT cover demographics. Instead, these questions are for those who already passed the screening question portion of the survey.

Screening questions, which determine the eligibility of a respondent to partake in a survey, answer demographic questions about the responders. While they are incredibly necessary to understand who your respondents are, they do not necessarily allow you to conclude your customers’ behaviors, needs, and attitudes (although a few of them might).

A strong survey should combine both sets of questions for a comprehensive market research assemblage.

If you’re looking for more great resources on using surveys to meet your business and marketing goals, check out the Pollfish Resource Center, or reach out to our 24/7 customer experience team for guidance and support.

Frequently asked questions

What is market research.

Market research is an important aspect of business strategy that focuses on gathering information about the target market.

How are surveys used in market research?

Surveys can be used to gather first-hand information while conducting market research. Surveys are an example of primary research and are tailored to gather information specific to your business.

What is the purpose of goals-based questions in a market research survey?

Goals-based questions help you understand what your customers want from a certain product or service. This type of question will help you understand your customers’ wants and needs better so you can create or improve a product to meet their needs.

What are psychographic questions?

Psychographic questions help a researcher understand consumers’ feelings, values, interests, and lifestyle choices. Understanding the psychographic traits of an audience can help a company market to them more effectively.

What are screening questions?

Screening questions are conducted before a survey is distributed. They help researchers identify the eligibility of individuals to take part in the survey. Typically, screening questions focus on demographics and the relationship to a company’s products or services.

Do you want to distribute your survey? Pollfish offers you access to millions of targeted consumers to get survey responses from $0.95 per complete. Launch your survey today.

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75+ Market Research Questions for Success

what are some market research questions

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

75+ Market Research Questions for Success

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.

market research questions - feedback

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.

market research questions - research

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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100+ Market Research Questions To Ask Your Target Audience

blog author

Kate Williams

Last Updated: 22 August 2024

21 min read

best market research questions to ask

Table Of Contents

  • 100+ Market Research Questions
  • For a New Product
  • For New Business
  • For Competitive Analysis
  • For Existing Customers
  • For Customer Service
  • For Startups
  • For Potential Customers
  • For Cosmetics
  • For Restaurants
  • For B2B Business
  • For Food Products

Before we learn about market research questions , how about a coke?

Coca-Cola, from classic coke to their famous diet Coke, is a success. No doubt. But they’ve had their share of failures too.

One of these failures happened because of poor market research. Coca-Cola’s highly ambitious product, C2 , which was half regular and half diet coke, tanked badly, as they didn’t ask the right questions to the right audience during market research.

According to the Coca-Cola market research surveys , Coca-Cola lost upwards of $50 million on C2, and we don’t want something similar happening to one of your products. That’s why we focus on market research questions that’ll get the right responses to scale your business to better heights. 

Here’s a snippet of what we’ll further discuss in this article.

  • What are market research questions
  • 100+ Market research questions
  • How to write market research questions
  • Benefits of market research questions
  • Tools for conducting market research

What are Market Research Questions?

The main intent of market research is to understand customers and competitors, but ultimately, the market as a whole. This is done by asking the right set of questions. These are what market research questions are. 

There are three main types of survey questions that are used in market research to acquire relevant and precise data. They are as follows. 

  • Demographic - These gather all the basic information about the customers.
  • Behavioral - These questions explore how customers interact with products/services.
  • Psychographic - These shine a light on the interests, attitudes, and lifestyles of the respondents. 

If you are interested in understanding a bit more about what a market research survey might look like, here is something for you. The following is a sample template from SurveySparrow. 

Product Market Research Survey

Preview Template

Product Market Research Survey

There are more such (1000+) templates available with SurveySparrow - all for free. You just have to sign up (also, for free). 

100+Market Research Survey Questions to Use

Here we are now – the 100+ most effective market research questions that deliver outstanding results when used in research surveys. We’ve split these questions into eleven categories so you can pick the right ones at the right time.

  • New Product Survey Questions
  • New Business Survey Questions
  • Competition Analysis Survey Questions

Questions For Your Existing Customers

Questions to improve customer service, market research questions for startups, marketing survey questions for customers, marketing research survey questionnaire on cosmetics, restaurant market research survey questions, b2b market research questions, market research questions for food products.

These marketing research questions can be open-ended , multiple-choice, or scale-based questions as per your data requirements.

Did you know  that you can now generate an entire survey from scratch within seconds? Yes, you heard it right!

SurveySparrow now offers an AI feature that allows you to create tailored surveys from scratch and that too within seconds. Just add in your prompt and the tool will do the rest.

Here's a sneak peek into how the feature works. 

Create Market Research Surveys with AI

Market Research Questions for a New Product

A new product launch is where most market research happens. As exciting as it sounds, it can cause a massive failure if the new product ain’t what the target audience wants it to be.

To understand that, here are market research survey questions you can ask.

  • How excited are you about our upcoming product? Would you be willing to test it?
  • Is the product solving your problem accurately?
  • What change do you wish to bring to this product?
  • If given the responsibility, how would you go about promoting it?
  • How much would the competitors charge for a product like this?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to purchase this product once it’s available?
  • What features or benefits of the product stand out the most to you?
  • Do you have any concerns or hesitations about the product?
  • In comparison to products you currently use or are familiar with, how does our product fare?
  • Which marketing channels (e.g., social media, email, TV, etc.) would you most likely notice information about this product?

Market Research Questions for New Business

market research questions

When you’re about to enter a new business or market opportunity, it always works well, too.

  • Research the audience you’ll target
  • The competition you’ll face
  • The market size of this new opportunity
  • The buying behavior of your target group

These are examples of market research questions for new businesses.

  • Who are the groups or groups that’ll buy from us?
  • How big is the market for this opportunity? Will it sustain or shrink in the long run?
  • How can we capitalize on customers’ buying habits/behaviors in this market??
  • How are our direct or indirect competitors doing their business in this market?
  • What are the problems we’ll solve for our target groups here?
  • What differentiates our business or offering from existing competitors in the market?
  • Which marketing channels most effectively reach our target audience in this new market?
  • Are there any cultural, regional, or demographic factors we should know when entering this market?
  • What regulatory or compliance challenges might we face in this specific market?
  • How open is the target audience to trying a new product or service in this category?

Competitive Analysis Questions

Let’s face it. Whatever your business is, there are competitors. Some are big, some are small, but competition is there, and when you’re keeping tabs on them by asking the right market research questions from your teams and customers, you stay ahead of the curve!

Here are some good market research questions for competition analysis.

  • What do you like the most about our (competitor’s name) product?
  • Are you content with their product pricing?
  • Where do you think our brand stands compared to (competitor’s name)?
  • Do you like the way they market and advertise their products?
  • What sets (competitor’s name) apart? Is it their product, service, user experience, content, or anything else?
  • Which features or benefits of (competitor’s name) do you wish our product/service offered?
  • Have you ever experienced any issues or challenges with (competitor’s name) product/service?
  • How do you perceive the customer service or support provided by (competitor’s name)?
  • If you could change one thing about (competitor’s name) offering, what would it be?
  • How often do you consider switching from (competitor’s name) to another brand or solution? What would motivate that switch?

When you and your teams are working on a new product or service or want to bring changes to the existing ones, it’s always best to know your customer’s opinions about it because you want to deliver what they want and the changes that’ll take their satisfaction levels with your brand to the next level.

Check out these research questions for your customers.

  • What changes would improve our product for you?
  • Are you facing any consistent issues where you think we can help?
  • Do you think our services can improve? If so, we would love to know how.
  • Would you buy our products/services at a higher price if we added additional features to them?
  • How can we improve our products to enhance your overall experience?
  • How would you rate your overall satisfaction with our product/service on a scale from 1-10?
  • If you’ve contacted our customer support, how was your experience, and what can we do better?
  • Are there other products or services you wish we offered?
  • How frequently do you use our product/service, and are there any challenges during its use?
  • What’s the one thing you love the most about our product/service and one thing you dislike?

If you thought market research and market research questions were only about new products, new business opportunities, insights from existing customers, and competitor analysis, think again!

Market research has always been about improving according to your customers, target audience, and employee insights. Your customer experience always needs review and timely improvements, and a market research survey backed with the right market research questions would help you big time here.

So, let’s look at some examples of research questions that you can ask about your customer service.

  • After raising your query, how much time did our customer service representative take to reply?
  • Did our customer service representative directly give you the solution or explain why the issue occurred in the first place?
  • How convenient is it for you to reach our customer representative and head?
  • Do you wish our customer service team to be available on any other channels apart from the ones they are?
  • Do you get consistent customer experience on all channels from our service team?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your overall experience with our customer service team?
  • Were our customer service representatives friendly and empathetic to your concerns?
  • Did you feel like our team valued your time and was efficient in their assistance?
  • Would you say that the solution provided was satisfactory and met your expectations?
  • How likely are you to contact our customer service again for future queries or concerns?

Now that you are familiar with market research questions, why not design a survey seamlessly using our ready-to-use templates?

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The digital world has opened up possibilities for new products and services, thereby giving inceptions to startups. However, in order for any startup to survive in this cutthroat market, it has to provide something unique…something the customers are willing to pay. 

How can you know that? Well, try including the following questions in your market research and understand what your customers’ pain points are

  • What is the one pain point that really gets you frustrated?
  • Is anyone offering solutions to tackle your challenges?
  • If we were to provide you with a solution, what’s the specific feature you want to see?
  • What’s your primary source for finding new products/services?
  • How likely are you to switch from your current provider to ours if we provide better solutions?
  • What are your main concerns when purchasing from a startup?
  • What are the factors that influence you to try new products/services?
  • How can we improve/optimize our offerings for a greater customer experience?

These questions are more tailored to understand exactly what your potential customers' preferences and expectations are. Understanding this would help you improve your offerings and attract more customers. 

Here are some questions you can ask. 

  • What are the factors that influence your purchase decisions?
  • How did you first hear about us?
  • What motivated you to try out our products/services?
  • How satisfied are you with our products/services?
  • Do you follow us on any of our social media accounts?
  • What additional features do you want to see in our products/services?
  • How would you rate your interactions with our customer service representatives?
  • What motivated you to switch brands?
  • On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to purchase from us again?
  • How do you perceive our pricing compared to others? 

This questionnaire delves into the cosmetics industry, exploring why customers choose one product or brand over another. It can also offer insight into consumer behavior and new ideas for products.

  • How often do you buy cosmetics products?
  • Rank the following cosmetics products to your importance.
  • What are the factors that influence you when choosing a brand?
  • Is brand reputation important when choosing a product?
  • What are your top concerns when it comes to selecting a cosmetics product?
  • What packaging factors are important to you?
  • How likely are you to try out new cosmetics brands?
  • How do you feel about sustainability practices in cosmetics products?
  • What kind of promotions attract you?
  • Where do you typically purchase cosmetics products from?
  • How satisfied are you with the variety of cosmetic products currently available in the market?

As the heading indicates, this set of questions is tailored for restaurants. Restaurant owners can collect customer feedback on their preferences, dining habits, interests, and more. 

Here are some tailored questions for you. 

  • How do you dine out at restaurants?
  • What are the factors that influence your decision to choose restaurants?
  • What type of cuisine do you prefer when dining at a restaurant?
  • Does ambiance play a role when choosing a restaurant?
  • What prompts you to try out a new restaurant?
  • How do you find new restaurants to dine at?
  • Which restaurant you visited recently offered the best experience?
  • Does parking experience play a role when choosing a restaurant?
  • How would you rate the pricing at our restaurant compared to others?
  • How likely are you to recommend us to your family and friends?  

Market Survey Questionnaire Sample

These are general questions asked during market research to measure customer satisfaction, loyalty, and expectations. 

Some questions are - 

  • How satisfied are you with the current products/services we provide?
  • What do you value the most in our offerings?
  • What’s your major consideration when choosing a product/service?
  • How can we improve your experience with us?
  • How would you rate the quality of our customer service?
  • What prompted you to choose us over others?
  • How much are you willing to spend on this product/service?
  • How often do you use our product/service?
  • How do you prefer to learn about our new products/services?
  • What’s your perception of our brand compared to those of our competitors?
  • How likely are you to recommend us to your friends and family?

This questionnaire focuses on understanding business clients rather than general customers. As you can see, these will be very helpful for B2B companies in improving their offerings and attracting more clients. 

  • What are the challenges your business currently faces that need to be addressed immediately?
  • How satisfied are you with the solutions we provided?
  • What are the factors you look into when choosing a vendor?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the current vendors?
  • What’s your preferred channel of communication with vendors?
  • What additional products/services would you like to see from us?
  • What trends do you see impacting your industry in the coming years?
  • How do you measure your success with a particular vendor?

You can use this set of questions if you want insights into consumer preferences, diet habits, attitudes towards food products, and so on. 

Here are the questions you can ask. 

  • Are there any dietary habits or restrictions you currently follow?
  • How often do you purchase food products?
  • What kind of food products do you purchase often?
  • What are the factors that influence choosing a food product brand?
  • How likely are you to try out new food products?
  • How do you feel about the nutritional information provided on the packaging?
  • How do you find new food products to try out?

How to Write Market Research Questions

Here are ten tested tips to create a perfect market research survey that gets results. Make full use of it.To create the perfect market research survey:

  • Define the problem you’ll solve with it.  Don’t just conduct market research, hoping to get actionable data.
  • Select the right target group. You do not want to collect irrelevant data that’s of no use. So, for a particular problem, select the right people.
  • Know your sample size . Whether your method is cluster sampling , quotas , systematic sampling, or purposive sampling , figure out the number of survey responses you’ll need for reliable data and keep a safety margin for half-filled or not-responded surveys.
  • Select focused questions . Use these twenty-five questions the best you can. You can also check out our go-to guide on how to write better survey questions .
  • Use interactive question types – like voice notes, image choice, video backgrounds, and graphical sliders. This will massively increase your response rates.
  • Give incentives like free e-books gift cards. This can give respondents the extra encouragement they need to complete the survey.
  • Keep it conversational . Market research surveys work when they are treated with the same care and warmth as a conversation. So, build that trust with the tone of your questions.
  • Don’t send the survey to all the respondents at once . Send it to a small batch first. Analyze how they answer, make changes if needed, and then go for the full-scale market research.
  • Set times for reminders . You don’t want to speed up at the wrong time.
  • And last, give enough time for analysis. Specific survey tools can save time with auto-generated survey reports that you can customize.

8 Benefits of Market Research: What Makes it So Important?

While we were explaining market research and market research questions, we mentioned one of its biggest benefits too. The benefit that makes it absolutely important for any business is gunning for long-term and sustained growth.

Guessed it? Well, it’s the benefit of getting rich insights from your target audience. But that’s not the only benefit.

Yes, market research offers a lot more than you can think of. And it’s time we discuss them one by one.

#1. Know Your Business Better

When you get customer and target market feedback about a product or service, you see the difference between your and your customer’s opinions. Observing this difference allows you to bridge that down by aligning the new or existing product based on their wants.

So, when you use the right market research questions in your survey, you get to observe your company through the target audience’s lens, allowing you to better understand the business and its goals.

#2. Get More Business Opportunities

While conducting a market research survey, you often find or realize a new opportunity or avenue where the company can thrive. This realization comes when you analyze the collected survey data and see your target market’s interest in this new opportunity.

#3. Discover New Customer Segments To Target

“The product has come out well. I want to use it, and I think the Genz’s would like it too.”

If the answer to one of your market research questions is something like this, you and your teams know they have a new customer segment to target. That’s a powerful benefit of conducting a well-planned market research survey that contains the right questions.

#4. Massively Reduce The Risk Of Failing

With market research or market research surveys, you don’t just get to know the insights and opinions of your target audience on a certain product, you also come to understand areas where it’s severely lacking and can cause a failure if not duly addressed.

Also, with a few well-crafted market research questions, you get to know the areas where your business is lacking. And if you’re working on those, the chances of your business going under are reduced massively.

#5. Understand Where And How To Market

By using the right market research questions in your surveys, you understand where and how your customers and target group want your teams to market a product.

Give your survey respondents the freedom to express themselves, and you’ll get gold out of your market research. Believe us on that!

#6. Track Your Competition

While conducting market research, you can’t forget about your competitors. As a leader, you need to stay on top of proceedings regarding your competitors and their products. 

Your teams need to have answers to questions like what new they are bringing, what their new campaign is like, what they are focusing on at the moment, and many more.

What better way to do that than to ask these subtly by including the right market research questions? Trust us; you’ll get massive information about your competition with these surveys, allowing you to pivot and do better.

#7. Identify New Trends

Scanning the internet for new trends is an absolutely time-consuming process. You can replace that with market research and market research surveys to stay updated and well-informed on what your customers want. Analyzing new trends can be done successfully with  digital marketing training.  The process of obtaining information becomes effective.

If not anything, it’ll save your teams a lot of time, which they can use for other important tasks.

#8. Predict The Future

To sum up all the benefits we’ve mentioned, you’ll be able to predict the future of your products, services, and even your business after knowing your customer’s insights and opinions on it. That’ll give you the chance and the freedom to bring the right changes at the right time. Ain’t that impressive?

Reliable Tools for Conducting Market Research

You now know the twenty-five top market research questions to include. But how can you add these questions to a market research survey and send it? What are the different tools you could use for it?

If you have these questions, with no further ado, get your answers here.

A Full-Action Survey Software

There is nothing better than using survey software to conduct market research surveys. Period. But why? Well, survey software is the best way to gather reliable information quickly from your customers and employees about your existing or new products. 

These surveys would give clarity about your potential and target customers and buyer persona, and the solid feedback you’ll receive will help you strategize and do better eventually.

If you’re looking to use survey software for your research surveys, look no further than SurveySparrow. This Typeform alternative allows you to create engaging forms and surveys with no hassle. These surveys are conversational, easy to use, and completely secure. 

More importantly, it offers features like likert scale questions , interactive dashboards, customization, embedded surveys, recurring surveys, and so much more. And you can use all these features in the 14-Day free trial itself.

Our friendly suggestion: Don’t miss out on this!

Chatbots for the Website

Chatbots are the future of market research, no doubt on that. As per a study, by 2024, the global market for chatbots is projected to be over $994 million. That’s some number! Thousands of brands are implementing or have implemented chatbots in their everyday business task. 

From doing market research to tracking and answering customer’s queries, chatbots are everywhere.

Do you know what’s the best thing about a chatbot? It’s that it makes a customer’s or employee’s journey more enjoyable, as the conversations are natural and human-like. 

In addition, a chatbot will always ask a follow-up question to your customers just like a human mostly does. And this helps in market research. 

How? By making sure you and your teams are always up to date about what your customers want and what their expectations are from your products, services, and support.

SurveySparrow’s no-code Feedbot is made to gather insightful market data with no programming knowledge. Deloitte Digital , a San Francisco-based marketing and advertising company, de-cluttered its data collection process using SurveySparrow’s Feedlot.  

The company was facing challenges while collecting market data with the paper questionnaire format. However, the chat-like experience and interactive UI of Feedbot helped them gather 804 survey responses out of 1200 surveyed people. That’s a 67% completion rate. Market research conducted most profitably, isn’t it?

360 Degree Feedback Software

You can spend all your dollars on your customers to make them stay, but without your employees’ efforts, it just won’t happen. When we talk about market research, the first thing that comes in our mind is the customers. 

We want to conduct market research to gain knowledge about customer preferences, insights, and opinions. But, what about employee research to find their satisfaction levels?

In recent times, employee satisfaction and experience have both become popular and crucial topics. Because, no matter the industry, people like to do business with other people. And satisfied employees are the most real, and simple people to attract customers and keep them engaged.

That’s why it’s important to use a 360-degree feedback tool like SurveySparrow’s 360-degree feedback solution . With this, you can conduct an employee assessment (research) to increase their satisfaction levels and drive growth. 

Trust us, you need to conduct such assessments, especially in this new normal.

Let’s Begin!

There you have it, then. You now know the benefits of market research, twenty-five different questions to include in the market research survey, tools to conduct these surveys, and, as a bonus, highly effective tips to create the perfect market research survey.

The only thing that’s left now is for you to use these questions and start conducting market research surveys. SurveySparrow and its marketing experience solution can make this process a lot easier, effective, and the least time-consuming for you and your teams. 

So, check it out, and we’re just this click away if you need help. Waiting to hear from you. Au revoir!

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Product Marketing Manager at SurveySparrow

Excels in empowering visionary companies through storytelling and strategic go-to-market planning. With extensive experience in product marketing and customer experience management, she is an accomplished author, podcast host, and mentor, sharing her expertise across diverse platforms and audiences.

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What market research questions should you be asking: With examples

  • October 19, 2019
  • 10 min read
  • Market research

Primary market research question examples

Secondary market research question examples, first things first: who is our customer, good market research questions: what is important to ask, 1. who is our ideal customer, 2. what is the biggest challenge for customers, 3. what do customers really want, 4. what sets us apart from the competition, 5. what price is right, write the best market research questions with surveyplanet.

Before launching your next product or business, it’s important to take time to complete some marketing research, which will provide information about what competitors are doing and if your ideas are profitable.

An essential part of market research is refining the target audience, which will help in creating an effective marketing strategy. While there are many different market research components, the most important is asking the right questions.

SurveyPlanet is here to help with examples of good market research questions. Read through our market research 101 guides and discover the best market research questions to ask your target market.

Primary market research

Before diving into specifics, it’s important to grasp the main concepts of market research. There are two basic categories: primary research and secondary research.

Primary research is gathering firsthand information about a market, customers, and competition. It is generally completed with focus groups, interviews, and online surveys that provide information about specific challenges customers face. Such research also helps gather details about the brand awareness of a company. Conducting primary research is a way to establish buyer personas and segment the market.

Here are some examples of primary market research questions that will gather valuable insights about a target market:

Demographics and background

  • What is your age range?
  • What is your gender?
  • What is your educational background?
  • What is your household income level?
  • What is your occupation?

Product or service perception

  • What is your familiarity with our product/service?
  • What do you perceive as the primary benefits of our product/service?
  • How would you rate the quality of our product/service?
  • How likely are you to recommend our product/service to others?

Consumer behavior

  • How frequently do you purchase similar products/services?
  • What factors influence your purchasing decisions?
  • Where do you typically do research or seek information before making a purchase?
  • What channels do you use for purchasing products/services?

Brand awareness and perception

  • Are you familiar with our brand?
  • How would you describe our brand personality?
  • What do you associate our brand with?
  • How likely are you to consider our brand over competitors?

Pricing and value perception

  • How do you perceive the value-for-price equation of our product/service?
  • What price range would you consider reasonable for our product/service?
  • Would you be willing to pay a premium for additional features or benefits?

Customer satisfaction and feedback

  • How satisfied are you with our product/service?
  • What improvements or changes would you like to see in our product/service?
  • How likely are you to repurchase our product/service in the future?
  • Would you recommend our product/service to others? Why or why not?

Market trends and competitor analysis

  • Are there any emerging trends or innovations in the market that you find appealing?
  • How familiar are you with our competitors?
  • What do you perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors’ offerings?
  • What factors would make you switch from our product/service to a competitor?

Remember to tailor questions to your specific industry, target audience, and research objectives. The answers to these questions will provide valuable insights about the market, customer preferences, and areas for improvement, enabling informed decision-making and refined marketing strategies.

Secondary market research

The main purpose of secondary market research is to analyze data that is already published and draw conclusions from it. This involves analyzing public records, industry content, market statistics, and sales data. Secondary research is especially helpful for analyzing competitors. Most secondary research is done using a combination of public, commercial, or internal sources.

Public sources include government statistics such as data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Commercial sources usually come in the form of a market report compiled by research agencies. Finally, internal sources include customer retention rates, average revenue, and data from both old and new accounts. Together, all this data may help determine what buyers want right now and help develop market research questions to ask clients.

Here are some examples of secondary market research questions that can help guide the search for existing information and data.

Market size and growth

  • What is the current market size for [industry or product category]?
  • What is the projected growth rate for the [industry or product category] in the next few years?
  • Are there any specific regions or demographics driving the market growth?

Target market segmentation

  • How is the target market segmented within the [industry or product category]?
  • What are the key characteristics or demographics of each market segment?
  • Are there any emerging or untapped market segments within the industry?

Competitive landscape

  • Who are the major competitors in the [industry or product category]?
  • What is their market share and positioning?
  • What are their strengths and weaknesses compared to each other?

Consumer behavior and preferences

  • What are the current consumer trends and preferences within the [industry or product category]?
  • What factors influence consumer purchasing decisions?
  • Are there any notable shifts in consumer behavior in recent years?

Industry regulations and compliance

  • What are the regulatory requirements and compliance standards for the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any upcoming regulatory changes or potential impacts on the industry?
  • How do these regulations affect product development and marketing strategies?

Pricing and revenue models

  • What are the typical pricing structures and models within the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any pricing trends or changes affecting the industry?
  • What are the revenue models commonly used by businesses in the industry?

Technological innovations and disruptions

  • What are the emerging technologies or innovations relevant to the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any disruptive technologies that could impact the industry?
  • How are businesses adopting or integrating technology within the industry?

Consumer feedback and reviews

  • What are consumers saying about products or services within the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any common issues or concerns raised by consumers?
  • What are the key factors influencing consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction?

Marketing and advertising strategies

  • What are the prevailing marketing and advertising strategies used in the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any successful or noteworthy campaigns that have garnered attention?
  • How are businesses utilizing digital platforms and social media for marketing purposes?

Industry publications and reports

  • What industry publications or reports provide insights into the [industry or product category]?
  • Are there any reputable market research firms or organizations that publish relevant data?
  • What recent studies or reports offer valuable information about the industry?

Remember to search for reliable and up-to-date sources of information like industry reports, market research publications, government data, and reputable news outlets. Secondary market research can provide a foundation of knowledge about the industry, market trends, and consumer behavior, allowing you to make informed decisions and develop effective strategies.

Once you have collected primary market research, it’s time to sit down and define buyer personas and focus groups. Ask who the ideal customer is. What is their age? Where do they live? What do they do for a living? Defining buyer personas helps form a better understanding of your audience.

Key characteristics of a buyer persona include:

  • Job Title(s)
  • Family Size

Companies may have more than one buyer persona; that’s completely fine. The reason to create buyer personas is to know exactly who your potential audience is. Buyer personas will help optimize campaigns and content to spark their interests.

Conducting a market research survey

Market research surveys are an efficient way to gain data based on insights from real customers. Companies can send surveys to existing and/or potential customers. Surveys give valuable insight into opinions about products, the company, and its customers. Companies use market research questions to make changes to products and improve or enhance features. Surveys may also answer whether the business idea is a good one. Find below some examples of market research questions to ask in a survey.

Explore and use our market research survey templates to get the data you need to make the right decisions.

Market research questions are extremely important for everyone—from small businesses to corporations.

Market research can help better understand customers and, maybe even more importantly, nourish relationships with them by making them feel influential and special. In this way, the goal is not just satisfied customers, but loyal ones too. Examining people’s needs can improve business decisions and help with product development.

Market research questions can also ask clients and associates their thoughts about your cooperation so far.

Online surveys are one of the simplest research methods—they are flexible, dependable, and cost-effective. Read here our tips for creating an engaging survey. But what are good market research questions to ask a target market?

We prepared a few examples of market research questions—with detailed explanations.

Market research surveys should include questions about customers, including gender, age, income level, job title, location, and education level. This is an especially important step for start-up companies new to the market that have yet to nail down their target audience. It’s one thing to create buyer personas; it’s another to verify they are correct based on actual customers.

Don’t hesitate to ask for details in order to learn more about the ideal customer. A pet shop needs to know what kinds of animals customers own. How many? In what type of home do they live? The more information you can learn about customers, the better.

Market research involves learning about customers’ pain points, which will help create better solutions. For example, if an online textbook store sent out a survey to students and asked about pain points, they might find that “textbook prices are too high.” The company could take this information and compare prices to a competitor’s. If their prices are too high, they can lower them or offer discounts to combat this challenge.

Ask customers about their top five to seven problems regarding a service or product. If there are enough similar responses, business owners may need to improve or create a new product to counteract these frustrations.

It doesn’t hurt to ask customers exactly what they want. Asking open-ended market research questions like this will provide answers that you might not have realized were needed. If people show reluctance to answer this question, give them the option to rate certain products or services. This will at least provide guidance about which ones they like or dislike.

For example, a shoe store might send a survey with an email asking about this season’s sandals. Customers have the option to rate the sandal and answer specific questions about it. The company can use this information to learn more about what their customers like and what to provide in the future.

Learning the difference between quantitative and qualitative research can help you choose market research methods and questions.

Ask this question to find out what customers really think about you. Choose open-ended questions and encourage respondents to describe everything in detail. One way to do this is by asking specific questions related to what you offer that competitors don’t.

For example, a bakery might offer gluten-free and vegan options, but they’re unsure if their customers care. The bakery could ask in the survey, “How important is it to you to have gluten-free or vegan options at a bakery?” The responses are rated on a scale from not important to very important. The answers will tell you if what sets you apart matters to the customer.

The survey should also include sections that allow a customer to agree or disagree with statements. For example, “I can count on Phil’s Auto Shop to offer competitive pricing.” Such questions provide insight into the emotional benefits customers perceive from your business.

New businesses benefit from including pricing questions since it can be difficult to pinpoint the right price to charge, especially if you don’t have a true competitor. Pricing products or services fairly can generate the right balance of revenue and customer satisfaction. Pricing products too high can result in a lack of customers. Pricing them too low can result in a profit loss. So how to price just right? Figure out a comfortable profit margin and then ask customers their opinions on prices. Realize that there will always be businesses that charge more or less. Pricing fairly is a matter of creating brand loyalty and excellent customer experience.

While conducting a market research survey, ask customers if they find the prices too low, fair, or too high. Display different products and services with prices and have customers rate them. For example, a marketing agency might wonder if their website design price is appealing. In their survey, they can include an example of a website design, what it includes, and their current price. Customers will have the option to decide if it’s fair or not. To gain more insight, they might also include their other services in the survey.

With these suggestions, you might now be wondering how to use them. SurveyPlanet is a great place to start. We offer a free plan that allows for the creation of unlimited surveys that can be sent to customers. And if you don’t want to write market research material, we have over 90 pre-written surveys and plenty of examples to choose from. All you have to do is press send.

For companies that would prefer to customize their surveys, we offer a Pro plan that allows the creation of custom themes, branch questions , export results, and so much more. Whether you need something basic or more extensive, both our free and paid versions can help get the job done. Start conducting market research by signing up for SurveyPlanet today.

  • Market Research

How to write effective market research questions

Anmol Sachdeva

  • October 31, 2022

what are some market research questions

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. 

what are some market research questions

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: 

what are some market research questions

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. 

what are some market research questions

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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How to write market research questions for humans—not respondents

Need some help writing market research questions for your survey? Don't fret—with these market research question tips you'll be getting the best completion rates you've ever seen.

We’ve got a little secret for you—respondents and target markets don’t exist. But people do.

Imagine you’re on a hot date. You’re sitting across the table from someone who means a lot to you—someone who could be in it for the long haul. You want to impress them with your excellent communication skills, you want to get to know them and you want to understand how they think. Do you:

A. Ask a series of tick-box, closed-ended questions in robotic language? B. Gear open-ended questions around what you’ve already learned about one another?

Opt for A, and the relationship ends there.

But if you go for B, it could be the start of something beautiful.

At the risk of sounding slightly crazy, we’re going to leave that metaphor there. But the message is simple—when someone responds to a market research survey, they want to be treated with the same conversational care and respect that they’d expect from any other human being.

Examples of market research questions

Demographic questions e.g. How old are you? Where do you live?

How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?

Did you consider any of our competitors? Who and why?

What do you wish our product could do?

How would you rate your most recent experience with us?

How long have you been a customer?

How much money do usually spend on X products?

What’s the maximum you’d pay for X?

How to write market research questions

If you’ve struggled with writing questions on market research, or you simply think you have a little room for improvement, bookmark this page.

It’s going to be your go-to guide for how to write marketing research questions that get people talking and tweet-ing. So next time you’re launching a new product, researching a value proposition, or working on a marketing strategy—come back here and get clued up.

With any big project, it’s easy to lose sight of the end goal and accidentally go off on a tangent. Whether your end product lacks continuity or you’re kicking yourself for wasting time, it’s definitely something you’re going to want to avoid.

Luckily, the solution is simple. Before you start, set yourself a SMART goal. It must be:

• Measurable

• Attainable

For instance, you might decide that your goal is—in two weeks time, I need to know which websites my customers go to on a daily basis, so I can help the marketing department distribute its advertising spend most effectively.

As long as it’s SMART, it’ll keep you on track. Write it somewhere visible in your office so you and anyone else involved in the project are constantly referring back to it when making decisions about the market research project.

Keeping surveys short and sweet is key to a high response rate. When it comes to the final draft, you’ll need to be brutal—chopping out any questions that are even slightly unnecessary. You can call yourself Edward Surveyhands.

Defining what you do know is as important as what you don’t know.

By getting lots of different people in a room to brainstorm, you can pool your knowledge about your ideal customers. Having people from different departments will give you a more rounded, true representation of who you’re talking to when you’re communicating via a market research survey .

Here are the questions you’ll need to answer before you begin writing your market research questions:

• Who is our ideal customer (and is it your current customer)?

• What do they struggle with?

• What do they really want?

• What sets us apart from our competitors?

• What benefits do our customers think we can give them?

Some people call this buyer persona development.

We just call it getting to know people.

Once you’ve written down what you do know, it’ll spark off lots of thoughts about the gaps in your knowledge.

Because of this, it’s likely that you’ll come out of the brainstorm with a list of questions as long as your arm.

But as your final survey should be as short as possible, now is the time to get brutal. Splitting your questions into topics will help you decipher which questions essentially provide you with the same information, while also helping you get as much information from as few questions as possible.

A general rule of thumb in market research is to start general and get more specific later on. Cover the biggest, broadest question first, before zooming in on more detailed questions.

You could also consider doing multiple  surveys  in this way. If you still had a long list of questions that needed answering, you could send out weekly or monthly surveys.

If you do this, make the first one as broad as possible. After that, you can pick and choose who to send which detailed question to.

Think of your survey as a one-to-one dialogue.

Once you’ve got your final draft, read it out loud to another person.

Do the questions seem self-serving? Have you used conversational language? If someone asked you this question in real life, how would you feel?

To get the most valuable information, you’ll need to avoid any kind of leading language. At the same time, to inspire the most thoughtful responses, you’ll want to give them an emotive reason to answer the question.

This can be a tricky balance—but working with another person helps to ensure that your survey is just part of the bigger conversation you’re having with your customers.

A lot of the time, people assume that all of their customers would ideally take part in their market research survey. That’s certainly not the case.

It may sound counterproductive, but you should actually send your survey to as few people as possible. That way, you’ll end up with the most hyper-focused think-group possible—allowing for some truly insightful information from key questions that have the power to drive effective change in your organization.

If a customer hasn’t purchased your product or interacted with product features in a long time, they’re ideal for a survey that aims to re-engage previous customers in order to increase customer satisfaction. They won’t be quite so suited to a survey that looks to get feedback from a recent tweak in the product.

Similarly, think outside your immediate audience. If you’re hoping to get insight on how to reach a new demographic, there’s not a whole lot you can gain from sending a customer survey that targets your existing demographic—you want potential customers, not existing ones.

Get SMART with your market research survey questions

There are lots of ways to come up with truly SMART market research questions.

One thing they all have in common? They’re the right questions for the right people.

Forget the respondent, and start thinking about the person. Consider them as important as any other human being in your life and it really could be the start of something beautiful.

How you ask is everything.

29 Market Research Questions to Improve Your Marketing Strategy

You are currently viewing 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

Post author avatar

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  11. 80+ Market Research Questions to Ask your Target Audiences

    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 ...

  12. 50+ Market Research Questions For Business Success

    Here are some segmentations where you can direct your market research questions: 1. Current Customers: Directly surveying current customers helps you understand their needs, satisfaction levels, and feedback on your products or services.

  13. What are the top market research questions?

    Market research questions for demographics ‍ Market research survey questions for demographics are all about understanding the basic who, what, and where of your target audience. They help you understand who you're talking to, based on factors like age, location, and income. ‍ Some market research question examples for demographics include: ‍

  14. 98 Quantitative Market Research Questions & Examples

    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 ...

  15. 50+ Must-ask questions for your market research surveys

    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 ...

  16. The Most Insightful Market Research Questions You Can Ask

    This type of approach to market research questions involves the feelings, interests, and attitudes your customer base holds. It allows brands to understand their customers at a more intimate level, specifically, their views on any topic. You can tailor these to focus on your product/service or the desired act of making purchases.

  17. 75+ Market Research Questions for Success

    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!

  18. 100+ Market Research Questions You Should Ask

    There are three main types of survey questions that are used in market research to acquire relevant and precise data. They are as follows. Demographic - These gather all the basic information about the customers. Behavioral - These questions explore how customers interact with products/services.

  19. What questions to ask for market research?

    Such research also helps gather details about the brand awareness of a company. Conducting primary research is a way to establish buyer personas and segment the market. Primary market research question examples. Here are some examples of primary market research questions that will gather valuable insights about a target market:

  20. How to Write Effective Market Research Questions

    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.

  21. How To Write Market Research Questions For Humans

    4. Think big—at first. A general rule of thumb in market research is to start general and get more specific later on. Cover the biggest, broadest question first, before zooming in on more detailed questions. You could also consider doing multiple surveys in this way.

  22. 29 Market Research Questions to Improve Your Marketing Strategy

    Get Better Answers to Your Market Research Questions. 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 ...

  23. Marketing Research Questions and How to Craft Them Effectively

    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 ...