Market research is one of the most crucial business tools if you want to be in a competitive market. It allows you to dive into the insights of a business, industry, and audience, which are important for taking necessary actions and decisions. If we specifically talk about customers, it plays an important role in understanding their needs and preferences.
Moreover, it lets you keep yourself updated with current market trends. However, there are many other reasons you may need market research. In totality, It is a must for businesses, but you should know that there are multiple types of market research questions and their categories. The different MR questions help you gauge insights into different business aspects. In this blog, we will learn about multiple types of questions and their different categories.
Types of Market Research Questions
- Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions are questions where the respondents are free to answer in their own words. As a result, they can provide you with more details and in-depth information. They are also helpful in understanding the reason behind certain behaviors or opinions.
Example: “What do you like most about our product?”
- Close-ended Questions
As its name refers, the close-ended questions are the questions to which the respondents can’t openly describe their views. Instead, they have to choose the relevant response from the given options. Through these questions, you will give your respondents a set of predefined answers from which to choose. So, close-ended questions are ideal when you have to gather quantitative data. It is important when you simply have to analyze and compare this data.
Example: “Do you prefer online shopping or in-store shopping?” (Options: Online, In-store)
- Scale Questions
When you ask your respondent to rate something on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, it is called scale questioning. Such questions help you to measure attitudes, opinions, and perceptions. As a result, scale questions offer a way to quantify qualitative aspects of customer experience.
Example: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with our customer service?”
- Ranking Questions
Using ranking questions, you can ask respondents to rank items in order of preference. Hence, ranking questions help you to understand priorities and preferences among different options.
Example: “Please rank the following features in order of importance: price, quality, brand reputation, customer service.”
Research Categories and Sample Questions
Now that you have learned about the types of market research questions, let’s explore the research categories and questions used to research in these categories.
- For Customer Research
- What factors influence your decision to purchase a product from our brand?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your recent purchase from us?
- Which of the following features do you find most valuable when using our product?
Select all that apply: Durability, Design, Ease of use, Customer support, Price
- Please rank the following customer service aspects in order of importance: Responsiveness, Friendliness, Knowledgeability, Problem resolution, and Follow-up.
- How likely are you to recommend our products to a friend or colleague?
Options: Very likely, Likely, Neutral, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- For Startups
- What problem does our product solve for you, and how effectively does it address this issue?
- How did you first hear about our product or service?
Options: Social media, Friends/Family, Online search, Advertisement, Other
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the ease of use of our product?
- Please rank the following aspects of our product in order of importance: Price, Quality, Features, Customer Support, and Brand Trust.
- How likely are you to continue using our product over the next six months?
Options: Very likely, Likely, Neutral, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- For New Product Launch
- What features do you find most appealing about our new product?
- How likely are you to purchase our new product?
Options: Very likely, Likely, Neutral, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the design and functionality of our new product?
- Please rank the following factors in order of importance when considering purchasing our new product: Price, Quality, Brand Reputation, Features, and Customer Support.
- Where do you typically learn about new products like ours?
Options: Social media, Friends/Family, Online reviews, Advertisements, In-store displays, Other
- For Competitive Analysis
- What do you find most appealing about our competitor’s product?
- How does our product compare to our competitor’s product in terms of quality?
Options: Much better, Slightly better, About the same, Slightly worse, Much worse
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with the customer service provided by our competitor?
- Please rank the following aspects of our competitor’s product in order of importance: Price, Features, Brand Trust, Availability, and Customer Support.
- How likely are you to switch to our product from our competitor’s product?
Options: Very likely, Likely, Neutral, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- For Reputation Management
- What is your overall perception of our brand?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?
- Which of the following words best describes our brand?
Options: Trustworthy, Innovative, Reliable, Expensive, Friendly, Other
- How satisfied are you with the way our brand handles customer complaints and feedback?
Options: Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied
- Please rank the following sources of information in terms of how they influence your perception of our brand: Social media, Online reviews, Word of mouth, Advertising, and Company website.
Conclusion
To sum up, market research is one of the best tools for businesses to become a competitive contender in their markets. Moreover, the variety of questions in market research plays an important role in diverting the research in a particular direction, such as customer research, new product launches, etc. With these questions, you can get insights that will make it easier to make informed decisions.
