Importance of Good Questionnaires for Market Research

Printed questionnaire is nothing but hard copy of objective type questions whose answers have to be filled in by the respondent by shading the bubble or ticking against the choice they find most suitable. The technique is most accurate as it is precisely able to distinguish a mark from erasure .Apart from being user friendly it is also the fastest and the most efficient data collection technology

They are vastly used in market research to collect data about those aspects of business venture that are critical in nature. The result obtained through questionnaires is very important for the success of any business as the data collected is very specific. Of course, questionnaires gather and provide such information that cannot be availed from other sources like, books, newspapers and Internet resources. The information obtained from questionnaire is unique, fresh, crisp and too the point.

Businesses questionnaires are very important tools as they are representative of the opinions of the customers about the existing and/or proposed products or services which can be analyzed to estimate likely performance of a product/service pre-emptively.

The questionnaires are very successful in estimating the following points:

The buying behaviour of prospective consumers.

The attitude of consumer towards existing or proposed products

The awareness amongst consumers about the product/service/business

Owing to above reasons questionnaires can be called the cornerstone for market research. The quality as well as the structure of the questionnaire determines the effectiveness of the questions contained therein. If a questionnaire is improperly structured, the results so obtained may be irrelevant, inaccurate and even inconclusive.

Following points should be kept in mind while structuring a questionnaire.

The data in the questionnaires should be randomized.

The questions should not try to force out answers from the participants but should rather seek natural answers from them

Length of a questionnaire should not be more than ten questions, so that participant’s interest and enthusiasm lasts till the very last question.

The venue of conducting a questionnaire should be properly chosen. For example the survey for a washing powder should be conducted in a residential society and not in a football play ground.

In order to attract the participants and make them participate, it is important that they are approached nicely and feel comfortable about it. The participants should be thanked in the end and a proper explanation should be given to them regarding the outcome of the questionnaire.