You're conducting a marketing research interview. What's the best way to get honest answers?

To get honest answers to your questions in a market research, DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS. Instead observe the respondent as the person is taking the particular decision you are studying. Have a conversation with the respondent, in the actual context of the decision making. When it is difficult to be physically present in the actual context of decision making, create that context artificially. Ideally add gamification to it all. The Ethnolab research technique developed by FinalMile Consulting is based on these principles.

The best way to get honest answers is to use projective techniques (collages, pictures etc.). Human beings are more honest while articulating feedback on behalf of others. A direct way of questioning leads to more rational and socially acceptable answers.

The right method depends on the construct to be measured. For example, testing for the drivers of purchase can be best with an implicit method so that automatic, intuitive responses are elicited. These circumvent the 'control' that reflective mental processes can exert with explicit methods. This is why the so-called 'say do' gap exists; self-reporting bias can result in misleading responses. For example, sustainability ranks high as a driver in explicit surveys of purchase drivers; however, when tested implicitly, it ranks very low.

To get honest answers in your marketing research interview, create a relaxed atmosphere with a friendly tone and guaranteed confidentiality. Actively listen with open-ended questions and follow-ups, avoid judgment, and encourage specific examples. This builds trust and lets participants know their unique perspective is valued, leading to more genuine and insightful responses.

Make it a chat about them and their experiences and not about the possibilities with others. Keep the chat to being in 1st person. If it is projective, into the future, try to place it out of an experience in their past. So planning to bring out the conversation to such points and moments is the art of quali research. It begins with being earnest and genuine in knowing them not just your research outcome!

In my experience of 10+ years in research, the best way to ask for answers is to ask for… Advice! If you shift the focus from the person answering it - let them breathe and go into guiding gear. Here’s where the real stuff comes out. When we “advise” people we talk about our own experiences, often tough ones, and what we learned from them. There’s really no substitute for that!

Dan Ariely (Cognitive Psychology Expert) says - "Individuals are honest only to the extent that suits them; including their desire to please others". In my experience, projective techniques could help overcome this barrier and get better truths out of the consumers you are interviewing. These techniques facilitate the articulation of otherwise withheld thoughts by allowing the respondent to ‘project’ their own thoughts onto someone or something other than themselves. They make the consumers a little more open to sharing their honest views. The projective technique I prefer most is a third-person projection where respondent is asked to act out the behaviour or express the feelings of a third-person using the product being researched.

An interview guide is always a good-to-have to ensure you stick to your checklist. However, at the end of the day it is still just a guide and not a Bible. Depending on how the research or interview goes you may always need to stray away from the guide if the need arises. There might be situations where the guide cannot assist you. In that regard, it is important to be open to diverse conversations and opinions, while ensuring you gain valuable insights to reach your objectives.

In every survey or IDI I have ever conducted, I always include a question phrased something like: is there anything g else you would like to tell me re: insert topic at hand? Could be about a hospital closing an obstetric unit or an urgent care closing one location to open another. NEVER presume you know what your respondent may need to tell you regarding the subject at hand.

A well-prepared interview guide is crucial for market research interviews. It helps focus the conversation, reduces bias, encourages open-ended responses, and allows flexibility. To prepare, define research objectives, craft open-ended questions, avoid leading questions, use clear language, maintain a logical flow, include probes and follow-up questions, and pilot test the guide through practice interviews. This ensures a natural conversation, avoids jargon, and allows for richer insights.

One point not often cited, especially in diverse markets such as Asia, is the importance of considering the cultural and language barrier. It is often advantageous to work with local agencies who have facilitators in tune with cultural norms, colloquial terms and language. Much information is lost in translation and key insights may be missed.

Personalize the interview. No matter if you do it face-to-face or facilitated by tech (online, mobile, smartTech, etc.) keep the etiquette, address by name, refer and build on top of the information shared. Take and invite for breaks. Don't go through the script/questionnaire like a bullet-train. Always, always think if you would take the interview if you were to switch roles. And if not, ask yourself why, perhaps you've got the answer and you needed to just ask the question. Don't fall for the trap where you look at consumers as data banks.

Before the interview commences or right at the start of the interview: 1. Be transparent about the purpose and use of the research: Explain why the research is being conducted and how the information will be used 2. Offer absolute anonymity & confidentiality: Assure the respondent that their individual responses will never be identified and emphasise data security measures in place 3. Recruit relevant participants: Ensure your respondents are part of the target audience you are researching. This increases the relevance and honesty of their responses 4. Ensure that the recruiter is honest and trustworthy

One way to elicit better response is to not ask Attitude related questions, but ask more behavior related questions. For eg. rather than asking What are the factors your consider while purchasing your car? Ask, Walk me through the process when you bought your last car.

Building rapport at the earliest stage is critical. It does ensure respondents are comfortable to share their opinion freely - and it gets more tricky during focus group discussion where respondents tend to gloat, reserved, or lose interest. Listening more to identify consistencies in each response towards the issue and try to probe on any interesting statement. Always learn not only from what respondents said but also from their voice tonality and body language to identify on responses, especially when the topic is more personal and sensitive - hence moderator would have a better judgment on how to get the honest opinion.

Validation and triangulation are essential steps in market research interviews to ensure honesty and accuracy. Validation involves checking for consistency, verifying information using secondary data, and identifying potential bias. Triangulation involves combining multiple data sources, such as surveys or focus groups, to provide a comprehensive understanding and increase credibility. Strategies for validation include member checking, data triangulation, method triangulation, and negative case analysis. These steps help to confirm the accuracy of the research and identify potential biases or limitations.

Any research study needs to present a complete and accurate picture regarding fulfilling the research objectives of the study. And while a sample survey may achieve a majority of the issues at hand purely as a validation exercise, in addition, the researcher must also study relevant secondary data sources, alternative study reports readily available plus also seek opinion from select industry experts - all to ensure that the complete picture is understood and accordingly then only can it presented back to the client.

Be confident in your interview style and adopt an assertive (but not aggressive!) tone/presentation as you harvest your learnings-challenge (appropriately) if you are in any way unsure as to the truthfulness of a response within the interview thread. Few participants (in my experience) deliberately mislead, so you may have asked a question in a style which confused them- ask the same question differently or ask the same question for a related category/brand. Observe and listen to more than what is simply said to you- how was it said, how focussed was the participant, what else in the environment is helping/hindering response. What semiotic cues can you use to help validation.

Ask questions in the form What did you do? Than What would you do? Ask the same question in two different sections, in the first section ask it straight as it and in the second part as a follow up that way you are able to see if they will remember what answer(s) they gave that link to the second section.

Most important is to get a good moderator/interviewer. It's like a discussion, you are able to share more with some people and less with some, depending upon how the other person is interacting with you. So more the interview becomes a discussion it will serve the purpose better.

Honesty is subjective. What we say (and hear / read) has multiple layers, and influenced by many factors. The point is not to try and get an “honest response”, but rather try and get data on whatever is the research / business objective. After that we need to both zoom in and zoom out to “see both the leaves and the forest”. Experience and collaboration will then help join the dots, and thereby ultimately help answer the only question that really matters in ALL market research study —> which is “so what (business) action should I take?”!

Every question is answered Honestly unless proven otherwise ??… there’s a lot of behavioural analysis & analytics done at the panel providers to have engaged panelist, and people use trick questions within the questionnaire to validate respondents & responses. All these are proactive & reactive approaches to manage the bottom line of quality of response.

It doesnt matter which field is one from, if one has the capability and talent to understand research, you can try anything and everything to draft questions. My advice would be to look beyond the lens of the usual.

There will be a certain degree of subjectivities in each of interview responses. since it is about what respondent 'claim' to be (except in case of ethnography or immersion). Thus it is important to take everything with a grain of salt. A moderator/interviewer must be able to identify many aspects of the interviews as it goes - from its logical consistency, engagement towards the topic, the voice tonality, body language, and else. There might even be moment where respondent is 'lecturing' you regarding the topic or just flatly responding to each question, or they talking in circles or just answering directly...and still it cannot just be taken literally as how honest the respondent is.

Be your self and really be there. Develop the questions based on your observations and empirical data. In my pov, this is the easiest.