Tips for customer survey answer options
The answer options in a customer survey are just as important as the wording of the questions. Answer options influence responses. They should therefore be clear, neutral and exhaustive. It is frustrating when a customer encounters a required question but none of the answer options applies to them. Always consider offering an open “Other” or comment field as well.
Tip: when defining answer options, also consider how many to provide. Participants often tend to select the middle option.
The number of answer options influences responses
If you ask how much money a household spends on average each week and offer options a), b) and c), most participants will tend to select b) because they consider it the average. If you add more answer options, however, you will generally receive more differentiated responses.
Yes/no answer options
You can also use answer options to make participants choose. If you offer only “Yes” and “No”, nobody can select “Maybe” and everyone must take a position. However, this may also be a disadvantage: questions about expected purchasing behaviour, for example (“Are you likely to buy product XY next year?”), would fail to capture undecided participants.
Make sure that each answer option is always clear and sufficiently detailed. (Poor: “Yes” – better: “Yes, I have bought product XY before.”)
Answer options must be unambiguous
Answer options should always be clear and easy to understand. If you ask about frequency, for example, options such as “1” and “2” are not sufficient.
