120 effective market research questions to ask
Ask the right questions to gain actionable insights.
The right market research questions help you uncover what your customers want, how they think, and what influences their decisions, removing guesswork from critical business activities.
Whether launching a product, entering a new market, or evaluating brand perception, well-crafted questions ensure that your research delivers clear, actionable findings instead of vague or misleading data.
In this guide, we’ll explore 12 key categories of market research—each with example questions to help you gather relevant, targeted insights that support smarter strategies and measurable results.
Why do market research?
Market research helps you make informed, data-driven decisions that reduce risk and increase the likelihood of business success.
Market research questions help you understand your customers, evaluate demand, assess competition, and identify opportunities, ensuring that your products, messaging, and strategies align with your target market's needs.
Examples of market research questions
Market research questionnaires are an invaluable tool. However, you must ask the right market research questions that align with your business goals to gain valuable insights that will inform marketing strategies, improve customer retention, enhance customer experience, and bolster product quality.
Let's look at some market research survey questions.
1. Customer insights
Customer feedback market research questions can help you gather data about various customer touchpoints, including the purchase experience and customer service. Asking your loyal customers—and even new customers—about their experience interacting with your company can help you identify pain points and celebrate successes.
Add the following questions to your market research survey to gather information about your customer experience.
- How would you rate your overall purchase experience?
- How satisfied are you with the customer service you experienced?
- Which touchpoints did you interact with during your purchase experience? Select all that apply.
- How easy was it to find the information you needed during your purchase?
- Please describe any issues you encountered with the customer service.
- How well did customer support meet your needs?
- How much time did it take us to resolve your customer support needs?
- How likely are you to recommend our service to others?
- How did you first hear about our product or service?
- What improvements would you like to see in our customer touchpoints?
2. Market research questions for startups
Market research isn’t reserved for large corporations. In fact, market research surveys are an invaluable tool for startup business owners trying to carve out their market share. Like larger businesses, market research questions help owners assess industry trends, analyze competitors, and understand customer needs.
Use multiple-choice market research questions to measure market demand, develop your products or services, and optimize your brand positioning.
- How frequently do you purchase products or services in our industry?
- What factors are most important to you when choosing a product or service in our industry?
- What is your first reaction to the service?
- How innovative is the service?
- How would you rate your satisfaction with the current products or services available in our industry?
- What improvements or features would you like to see in products or services in our industry?
- How would you usually learn about new products or services in our industry?
- What do you like most about our brand?
- What areas do you think we need to improve on?
- What aspects of our brand messaging do you find most appealing? Select all that apply.
3. Product performance review
Product performance market research questions help you understand how well your product meets customer expectations and needs in real-world use. These insights help identify strengths to emphasize, weaknesses to fix, and opportunities to improve overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The following are key market research questions you should ask your target market.
- How satisfied are you with the overall performance of the product?
- How would you rate the quality of the product?
- How easy is it to use the product?
- How would you rate the value of the product?
- How likely are you to recommend this product to others?
- Which features of the product do you find most useful? Select all that apply.
- How would you rate the customer support for the product?
- What improvement would you suggest for the product?
- How long have you been using the product?
- Would you consider purchasing other products from this brand?
You may also use the pre-built SurveyMonkey Product Review Survey Template to get started now.
4. Market segmentation
Personalization makes marketing, products, and customer experience more relevant and effective, boosting customer satisfaction and engagement while reducing risk. Market segmentation questions give you the information to divide a broad audience into clusters, allowing for targeted personalization.
Add the following market research question to your next customer survey, or use our customizable U.S. Demographics Survey Template.
- What is your gender?
- What is your age?
- What is your highest level of education?
- What is your current employment status?
- What is your annual household income?
- Which of the following best describes your household?
- How did you hear about us?
- How often do you use our products or services?
- What is your primary reason for using our products or services?
- Which of the following products or services have you used? Select all that apply.
5. Competitor research
Competitive analysis is crucial for all businesses, big and small. It helps you understand the competitive landscape and respond to market trends, allowing you to gain a competitive advantage and increase your market share.
Include the following questions in your next competitive market research survey or use the expert-made SurveyMonkey Competitor Research Survey Template.
- How often do you use this product category?
- When you think of this product category, what brand comes to mind?
- Have you heard of our company?
- Have you ever purchased something from our company?
- Overall, how satisfied were you with your purchases from our company?
- In general, what comes to mind when you think of our company?
- Have you heard of competitor #1?
- Have you ever purchased something from competitor #1?
- Overall, how satisfied were you with your purchases from competitor #1?
- In general, what comes to mind when you think of competitor #1?
6. Market research questions for a new product
Market research questions for a new product reduce risk and improve the chances of success. They can help you validate product-market fit, inform product design, and shape your positioning and messaging.
Use the following market research questions or the pre-built SurveyMonkey Market Research Survey Template.
- In your own words, what are the things that you like most about this new product?
- How satisfied are you with the current products in this category?
- In your own words, what are the things that you would most like to improve in this new product?
- What changes would most improve competing products currently available from other companies?
- Which of the following are reasons that you might purchase this product? Select all that apply.
- Which of the following are reasons that you might not purchase this product? Select all that apply.
- How much are you willing to spend on a product like this?
- How likely are you to try a new product in this category?
- Where do you usually purchase products in this category?
- If this product were available today, how likely would you be to purchase it instead of competing products currently available from other companies?
7. Brand awareness study
Are your marketing efforts reaching your target audience? Does your marketing have the desired impact? Brand awareness surveys can help you measure the impact of your marketing to build more impactful marketing campaigns.
Track your brand health with the following brand market research questions, or use our pre-built Brand Awareness Survey Template.
- When was the last time you used this product category?
- When you think of this product type, what brand comes to mind?
- Which of the following brands have you heard of? Select all that apply.
- When did you first hear about our brand?
- In the past 3 months, where have you seen or heard about our brand? Select all that apply.
- How familiar are you with our brand?
- In the past 3 months, how often did you hear people talking about our brand?
- How would you describe your overall opinion of our brand?
- How has your perception of our brand changed in the past 3 months?
- How likely is it that you would recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?
8. Pricing research
Product pricing is a delicate strategy. Customers want the best deal for the quality, while businesses want to maximize profits. Price testing survey questions allow you to assess customers’ willingness to pay for your products and how to optimize your pricing structure to satisfy customers' and business demands.
Gather insight from potential customers with the following questions, or conduct a price analysis with our Price Testing Survey Template.
- How often do you purchase products in this product category?
- How would you rate the value for money of our products?
- Which of the following brand(s) do you typically buy? Select all that apply.
- How much do you typically pay for this product category?
- Which factors influence your decision to purchase our products? Select all that apply.
- How much are you willing to pay for our basic product?
- How much are you willing to pay for our premium product?
- How would a price increase of 10% affect your purchasing decision?
- How do you feel about the current pricing of our products?
- How likely are you to recommend our products to others based on their pricing?
9. Concept testing
Concept testing survey questions allow you to analyze customer perceptions of various aspects of your business, including your logo, website design, naming, pricing, and packaging.
Use the following questions to test your brand before you launch to a wider audience.
- What first comes to mind when you look at the logo?
- Thinking about the logo overall, which of the following describes your feelings about it?
- Overall, how well does our website meet your needs?
- How easy was it to find what you were looking for on our website?
- Thinking about the name overall, which of the following best describes your feelings about it?
- How easy is it to pronounce the name?
- How different is the name from existing names?
- How much do you typically pay for this product category?
- How visually appealing is the packaging?
- How would you rate the quality of the packaging?
10. Online presence analysis
Analyzing and monitoring your online presence helps you understand how your brand is perceived, identify engagement trends, and respond quickly to feedback or reputation risks. It also reveals what content and channels drive the most value, allowing you to optimize your digital strategy for better visibility and impact.
Consider the following brand perception questions, or use our expert-written Brand Perception Survey Template.
- How did you first learn about our business?
- Which social media platforms do you follow our business on? Select all that apply.
- How often do you visit our website?
- How would you rate the overall user experience on our website?
- How likely are you to recommend our website to others?
- What do you like most about our online presence?
- What improvements would you suggest for our online presence?
- How would you rate our response time to inquiries made through our online channels?
- How satisfied are you with the information available on our website?
- How easy is it to find the information you need on our website?
11. Reputation tracking
Reputation tracking questions help you understand how your brand is perceived over time, on and offline, and identify trust, credibility, and customer sentiment shifts. Tracking brand perception enables you to manage risks, respond to public perception issues early, and build a stronger, more resilient brand.
Consider the following market research questions, or review our expert-written brand tracking surveys.
- How familiar are you with this brand?
- When did you first hear about our brand?
- In the past 3 months, where have you seen or heard about our brand? Select all that apply.
- In the past 3 months, how often did you hear people talking about our brand?
- Which of the following brands have you heard of?
- How would you describe your overall opinion of this brand?
- How likely are you to purchase a product from this brand?
- When you think of this brand, what first comes to mind?
- How has your perception of our brand changed in the past 3 months?
- How likely is it that you would recommend this brand to a friend or colleague?
12. Ad & messaging testing
Messaging testing allows you to assess how potential customers respond to your messaging claims and advertisements before they go live. They are a good way to test their believability and resonance.
Check out the following market research questions, or our Ad/Copy Testing Survey Template and Messaging/Claims Testing Survey Template.
- Thinking about the ad overall, which of the following best describes your feelings about it?
- Thinking about the claim overall, which of the following best describes your feelings about it?
- How believable is the ad?
- How relevant is the ad to your wants and needs?
- How unique is the ad?
- How different is the ad from existing ads?
- How well does the ad communicate the main message?
- If the product were available today, how likely would you be to buy the product based on the ad?
- In your own words, what is the main message of the ad?
- Does the claim provide too much information, too little information, or the right amount of information?
Get started with your research questions
Market research questions can gather meaningful insights that drive smarter business decisions. Whether you're a marketer investigating customer perceptions of your latest ad campaign or a customer experience executive investigating your customer journey, the right questions can inform your work.
When you’re ready to begin your study, let us help you create your survey questions and find your target audience quickly and easily.