Ten Research Methods You've Probably Never Tried (and When to Use Them)

Oct 8

Matching the research method to the question

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Customer research extends well beyond personas. Ten established methods cover most of what a company needs to learn. Conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, Likert scales, and the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter surface preferences and pricing thresholds. Usability testing, A/B testing, Customer Effort Score, and Customer Satisfaction Score measure the experience itself, while Net Promoter Score and brand tracking studies monitor loyalty and brand health over time. Most companies don’t need all ten at once, but knowing what each one does determines which to reach for when a specific question arrives.

Most companies have one research move, and it's a survey. That works for some things, like gathering the input behind the segments and personas we covered in last week’s article. But different questions need different tools, and these ten research methods are worth having in your arsenal. The goal is not to make you an expert in every method, but to show you what exists so you know which tool to reach for when the moment comes.

Ten Valuable Research Tools

Personas are one of the most powerful outputs of customer research, and they will remain a foundation of your strategy. Yet personas are only part of the picture. Customer research can also provide practical tools for shaping products, refining pricing, guiding marketing, and measuring brand health.

The following ten methods are some of the most valuable ways to uncover what your customers think, feel, and truly want. Each serves a different purpose, and the strongest brands combine them at different stages of their customer research journey.

Tools for preferences and pricing:

Conjoint analysis: A statistical method that breaks down a product into key features and assesses how customers value each one. This helps you understand trade-offs in purchasing decisions.
MaxDiff: Also known as Best-Worst Scaling, this asks respondents to pick the most and least important options from sets, ranking preferences clearly and minimizing biases.
Likert Scale Surveys: A specific response rating scale, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree, that measures attitudes, opinions, and perceptions across various topics.
Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter: A pricing tool that identifies customers’ perceived thresholds. What is too cheap? A bargain? Expensive? Too expensive? This helps you determine your product’s optimal price range.

Tools for customer experience and feedback:

Usability testing: Direct observation of how customers use your product, website, or service. By watching where they succeed or struggle, you uncover pain points and opportunities to improve the experience.
A/B testing (split testing): A controlled experiment where two versions of a web page, email, ad, or product feature are tested to see which performs better. A/B testing adds scientific rigor to marketing and product decisions.
Customer effort score (CES): A metric that asks customers how easy it was to complete a task, such as making a purchase or resolving an issue. High effort predicts churn, while low effort builds loyalty.
Customer satisfaction survey (CSAT): A simple measure that asks customers to rate their satisfaction with a product, service, or interaction. This often uses a 1-to-5 scale, such as 1 to 5 stars.

Tools for brand and loyalty:

Net Promoter Score (NPS): A specific metric and methodology, invented by Fred Reichheld, a partner at Bain & Company in 2003, that measures customer loyalty. The key question asked to calculate NPS is “How likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” Based on responses from a scale of 1 to 10, customers are grouped into Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
Brand tracking studies: A generic concept around the ongoing measurement of your brand-building efforts against key metrics, such as brand awareness and perception. There are various methodologies involved in brand tracking.

Customer research works. A joint study by Harvard Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business revealed that 4,600 startups adopting A/B testing technology on their websites saw 10% more weekly page views, launched 9% to 18% more products, and were 5% more likely to raise venture capital funding. The lesson is not simply that A/B testing is effective, but that prioritizing research gives a competitive edge. Whether it is testing product features, tracking brand perception, or listening to customer feedback, companies that take the time to measure and learn move faster and make smarter choices.

Wrapping It All Up

Each of these methods answers a different kind of question. Pick one that fits a question you already have, run it once, and see what comes back. What's one question about your customers you've currently been answering with a guess?

Interested in more?

This article’s content was adapted from the book Keeping People Interested: How Leaders Use Marketing to Capture and Sustain Attention, available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook today.