The question before the question
Every research project begins with a brief — an articulation of what a brand needs to know. But the brief is rarely the right starting point for the actual research questions.
The brief describes the business problem. The research needs to address the human truth behind it.
Why most research questions underperform
The questions that get asked in research projects are usually too close to the business question to reach the human level. They ask about the category, the brand, the decision — not about the person making the decision.
Common underperforming question types:
What better questions look like
Better questions are indirect. They approach the topic through the person rather than through the category.
Instead of: "What do you look for when choosing a skincare product?"
Try: "Walk me through the last time you tried something new in your skincare routine. What was going on at that point in your life?"
The first question asks for an evaluation framework. The second question opens a story — and stories contain the emotional, contextual, and behavioural truth that strategy is built on.
The principle
The best research question is the one that makes the respondent think about something they have never articulated before. That moment of articulation — when someone says "I've never really thought about it that way, but..." — is where the most valuable insight lives.
Research that asks better questions does not get better answers. It gets different answers — and those differences are everything.