The Question Behind the Question: Are We Asking the Right Questions?

Research does not begin with a questionnaire. It begins with curiosity about what is happening.

Too often, when marketers feel they need research, the instinct is to start building an information list: awareness, usage, brand perceptions, purchase drivers, media habits, satisfaction, competitor usage – and before long, the list becomes very long.

But an information list is not the same as a business question.

Before deciding what we want to ask consumers, we need to step back and ask: What is happening that made us feel we need research in the first place? Maybe sales have slowed. Perhaps a competitor is gaining ground. A campaign is generating attention but not conversion. Younger consumers may not be responding to the brand in the same way. Or the business may be doing well, but there are signs that consumer preferences, category behavior or the market itself are beginning to change.

This is where the marketer’s homework matters.

Look first at what is already available. What are sales trends telling us? Where are we strong, and where do we need help? Which SKUs are doing well? What are we hearing from customers, the trade or our sales team? What are competitors doing differently from us? What does previous research tell us?

Add to this – look beyond the category itself. What broader forces may be changing the way consumers think and choose? Are inflation, tighter household budgets, employment conditions, technology, demographic shifts, changing lifestyles or new social attitudes affecting what people value, postpone, trade down on, or continue to spend on?

Then start connecting the dots: If sales among younger consumers are softening, competitor activity is increasing, and previous studies suggest weakening relevance among the same group, these are not just three separate pieces of information. Together, they begin to point to a more useful business question: Are we losing relevance among younger consumers – and if so, why?

Once that question is clear, the information we need becomes easier to define. We may need to understand, for example:

• how do younger consumers currently see the brand
• what do they value in the category
• which competitors do they consider and why
• what barriers may deter them from choosing us
• what could make the brand more meaningful or compelling to them

This is where the distinction matters:

An information list asks: What do we want to find out?

A business question asks: What do we need to understand about what is happening so we know what to find out and what to do next?

Marketers do not have to design the research themselves. Their role is to understand the business and market situation well enough to explain what is happening, what is already known, what may only be assumed, and what still needs to be understood.

The researcher can then help determine how best to answer that question – what needs to be explored, who needs to be asked, and what kind of research will provide the most useful evidence.

So before writing the questionnaire – or even the research brief – ask a few questions first:

• What is really happening?
• What do we already know?
• What are we only assuming?
• What signals seem to connect?
• And what decisions do we eventually need to make?

Because better research does not start by asking more questions. It starts by asking the right one.

The more the market changes, the more important it becomes to keep asking whether our assumptions still hold, what new signals are emerging, and what these changes may mean for the business.

Are we asking the right business questions today to help shape tomorrow’s strategies and plans?