07-01-2009: Separate Wants from Needs MEMPHIS, TN (WKNO) - Harvard Business Review had an article recently about the differences between research you can trust and research that can get companies into trouble: it revolves around making comparisons and leading respondents to set priorities. This concept forces consumer survey respondents to make trade-offs as attributes are matched against each other.
A recent food survey used this method effectively to discover that the one thing that was most important to most of the respondents was "hot food, served on time."
Of course, I could have told them that on the front end.

John Malmo is chairman emeritus of Archer/Malmo Advertising and an independent marketing consultant. To reach Mr. Malmo - or to buy a copy of his book When on the Mountain There is no Tiger, Monkey Is King - go to http://www.johnmalmo.com. © Copyright 2009, WKNO