Build an audience research questionnaire around a decision

Start with a clear brief

We want to understand what influences grocery-store choice among U.S. adults who take part in their household's grocery shopping. Explore shopping frequency, store-choice priorities and barriers before deciding which aspect of a proposed grocery offer to investigate. Choose relevant audience comparisons before reviewing results.

Questions you can adapt

Download this questionnaire (editable Markdown). The download contains the same questions and answer options shown below.

1. How often do you usually shop for groceries?

   Single choice · Several times a week; About once a week; Every two weeks; Less often

   Defines a behavior context. Use a period that makes sense for the category.

2. Which best describes your usual grocery-shopping approach?

   Single choice · Mostly one main store; Several stores for different needs; Mostly online; No consistent approach

   Provides a useful context for interpreting store-choice priorities without assuming one routine.

3. Which one factor matters most when choosing where to buy groceries?

   Single choice · Total price; Product quality; Convenience or distance; Product selection; Delivery or pickup; None of these

   Asking for one priority forces a tradeoff among the offered options. It does not mean other factors are unimportant.

4. Which two factors are most likely to make you try another grocery store?

   Multiple choice; select up to two · Better prices; Better quality; More convenient location; Products unavailable elsewhere; Better delivery or pickup; None of these

   Use none of these alone. Check the selection limit in the final questionnaire; switch to a main factor if the required rule cannot be enforced.

5. How satisfied are you with your current grocery-shopping options?

   Five-point satisfaction · Very dissatisfied; Somewhat dissatisfied; Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; Somewhat satisfied; Very satisfied

   A broad satisfaction measure adds context; it is not a customer-satisfaction score collected from your own actual customers.

6. What is the main difficulty in your grocery-shopping routine?

   Single choice · Keeping spending predictable; Finding products I need; Travel or delivery time; Judging product quality; Planning meals; No main difficulty from this list

   Predefined barriers are useful for a focused decision, but can miss a problem that is absent from the list.

7. Which change would be most useful to your household?

   Single choice · More predictable total cost; Easier pickup or delivery; Better fresh-food selection; More suitable package sizes; Simpler meal planning; None of these

   Connects the explored need to a possible direction for a follow-up concept study.

Describe the population and the decision separately

“Everyone who might buy from us” is too vague to guide question design. Specify the location and relevant category behavior, then explain what decision you will make. Grocery-shopping responsibility matters to this example; age alone does not establish that someone makes the choice.

In a simulated study, audience targeting describes the population the model is asked to represent. It is not recruitment or verification of individual people. Inspect the proposed setup and supported audience fields before assuming every condition in the brief will be represented.

Choose comparisons before looking at results

Write down why a particular comparison would change your next step. Comparing shopping priorities across an available age grouping may help investigate different needs; slicing every answer into every possible group invites a story about noise. Check the actual group definitions and counts in the output.

Example plan written before results: compare ages 25–34 and 35–44 if those groupings are available in the proposed setup. For question 3, inspect the share choosing total price; for question 6, inspect the share choosing keeping spending predictable. Record the valid response count for each question and group. If both measures point toward a spending concern, prepare a fixed-price concept for further investigation. If the measures disagree or the group bases do not support a useful comparison, keep the broader question open instead of declaring an age-based target market. This is a planning example, not a claim that those differences were observed.

Do not call two demographic groups a complete segmentation model. A segment intended for targeting in practice needs a useful definition, evidence that it behaves differently and a way to reach it. This questionnaire provides a starting investigation, not all of those things.

Turn a finding into a follow-up question

If predictable spending appears important, the next question might concern a clearly specified fixed-price offer. If product selection is the barrier, investigate what an alternative range would provide. Keep the original question and response options with each conclusion so colleagues can see exactly what was asked.

Because the answers are structured and simulated, do not present them as verbatim customer testimony. Use interviews, customer records or observed behavior when the decision needs first-hand explanations or evidence about existing customers. Read how to judge the findings.

Before you run the study

Check every question and option against your decision. These are editable starting points, not validated instruments. A standard InstaSights study supports up to ten questions; repetitions for alternatives count separately. Confirm the proposed audience and available comparisons in the app. Individual open-ended comments are not included. Simulated responses do not establish what real customers will do.