BASF, or Badische Anilin-und Soda-Fabrik, uses the tagline: “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.” We feel like them. They’re ingredient manufacturers and that’s what Quester does. Certainly, we make some interesting designs when you work with us directly – but we do a great deal of our work in standard, more heavily quantitative designs.
We collect and analyze comments – so when you’re doing a tracking project or ad test, you have a strong sense of the consumer voice. It may not be real “color” or “durability” in the research process, but it is the proverbial lifeblood of the research.
But one of the things that makes BASF so good, is that they really do in fact improve products because of their really high quality ingredients. And we’re hopeful to do the same. So here’s the first tip in we hope many. It’s the first “tip” our founder used to teach every moderator in training.
Asking a question is not as effective as presenting a topic. A question has an answer and in fact a definitive ending. A topic of conversation can go on indefinitely. And, as it relates to online qualitative – the longer the answer, the better.
So, we suggest – looking into your survey as an opportunity to present topics. What’s the difference?
What do you like about this idea? (This is the question.)
Tell me about what you think of this idea. (This is the topic.)
Or even better:
I’d like you to think about the idea we just presented. Tell me what you think your experience will be based upon what we reviewed.
You may think respondents won’t respond to this type of language. Fortune favors the bold. And let’s be honest – how much are people really typing with what you’re using now? Trust us, we know it works.
