--- title: "What Questions Should I Ask in Market Research | Minds" canonical_url: "https://getminds.ai/faq/what-questions-should-i-ask-in-market-research" last_updated: "2026-05-26T01:49:47.470Z" meta: description: "The 10 best market research questions in 2026, with examples for AI panels, surveys, and customer interviews. Open-ended, non-leading, and answer-distribution friendly." "og:description": "The 10 best market research questions in 2026, with examples for AI panels, surveys, and customer interviews. Open-ended, non-leading, and answer-distribution friendly." "og:title": "What Questions Should I Ask in Market Research | Minds" "twitter:description": "The 10 best market research questions in 2026, with examples for AI panels, surveys, and customer interviews. Open-ended, non-leading, and answer-distribution friendly." "twitter:title": "What Questions Should I Ask in Market Research | Minds" --- May 21, 2026·Faq·Minds Team # **What Questions Should I Ask in Market Research** The 10 best market research questions in 2026, with examples for AI panels, surveys, and customer interviews. Open-ended, non-leading, and answer-distribution friendly. # What Questions Should I Ask in Market Research The right question produces a real pattern. The wrong question produces noise that gets dressed up as insight. Here are the 10 best market research questions in 2026, with examples for each. ## The 10 core questions 1. What problem are you trying to solve? 2. What did you try before? 3. What is the most important factor in choosing a solution? 4. What is the strongest objection to switching? 5. What would make you advocate for change? 6. What does success look like? 7. What is missing from existing options? 8. How would you describe this category in one sentence? 9. What would you pay? 10. When is the right moment to buy? These 10 work for AI panels, surveys, and customer interviews. The output format changes (response distribution for panels, scored rating for surveys, narrative quote for interviews) but the question intent stays the same. ## Open-ended vs leading The single biggest research mistake is leading questions. Avoid: - "Do you agree that X is the best solution?" (agreement framing biases positive) - "Why is X better than Y?" (presupposes the answer) - "Would you buy X if we built it?" (predicts the polite yes, not the real purchase) Replace with open questions: - "How do you decide between options?" - "What factors matter most when you compare?" - "What would have to be true for you to actually buy?" ## Pricing questions For directional pricing input, use the Van Westendorp four-question method: 1. At what price would this seem so expensive you would not consider it? 2. At what price would this seem so cheap you would question the quality? 3. At what price would this seem expensive but you would still consider it? 4. At what price would this be a bargain? Run through an AI panel for a same-day price-sensitivity curve. Pair with a 200-respondent paid survey for numerical validation if the pricing decision is high-stakes. ## Ad concept testing questions Five questions to run through an AI panel for any new ad: 1. What is the strongest objection to this ad? 2. What do you trust about it? 3. What is missing? 4. Would you click? 5. Is the value proposition clear in 5 seconds? The response distribution across 15 to 100 personas tells you what to fix before paid spend. See [How to test an ad before spending money](https://getminds.ai/faq/how-to-test-an-ad-before-spending-money). ## Positioning research questions Five questions: 1. How would you describe our category in one sentence? 2. Who is our typical customer? 3. What is the main benefit our category delivers? 4. What is the strongest objection to our category? 5. Who is our biggest competitor and why? The pattern of language used by the AI panel is the actual market language. Compare to the language on your website. Where they differ, you have a positioning gap to fix. ## Customer interview questions For 30-minute interviews, 6 open-ended questions: 1. Tell me about the last time you bought X. 2. What were you trying to accomplish? 3. What did you try first? 4. What made you decide? 5. What almost stopped you? 6. If you could change one thing about this category, what would it be? Open questions. Listen more than you talk. Let the customer pause for 5 to 10 seconds without rescuing them. ## How many questions per session AI panel: 5 to 10 questions per session. Sharper than 5 misses depth. More than 10 produces fatigue patterns. Real customer interview: 6 to 8 questions in 30 minutes. Leave room for follow-up probes. Survey: 8 to 12 questions in under 10 minutes to maintain response rates. ## Three rules to sharpen vague questions 1. Replace nouns with verbs. "What do you think about pricing" becomes "describe how you compare pricing." 2. Anchor in time. "What is the biggest challenge" becomes "what is the biggest challenge this week." 3. Anchor in role. "Describe the buying process" becomes "as a marketing manager, describe how you evaluate." Sharper questions equal sharper answers, regardless of method. ## Related FAQ - [AI Customer Simulation FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/ai-customer-simulation) - [Research Methods FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/research-methods) - [AI Panel Onboarding FAQ](https://getminds.ai/faq/ai-panel-onboarding-faq) [Ask better questions, free](https://getminds.ai/?register=true).