“Does anyone remember laughter?” said one Robert Plant in the immortal song Stairway to Heaven. Does laughter (once described as the "best medicine") have a place in survey research? Some might argue we should follow the route of the dismal science, but I heartedly disagree.
As a construct humor has been used countless times to convey messages in both consumer and B2B marketing. No doubt many of those advertising campaigns were tested before they were launched, while in market, and after conclusion to see if they effectively moved the needle of consumer sentiment toward the brands in question.
So if humor can be leveraged as an arrow in the advertising quiver, should it be brought into the world of survey research? Why not! Maybe it’s the early Spring or the fact that I just completed a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis that made me chuckle. Although research is serious business, and even in the DIY-world resources such as time and money are spent cautiously, humor and its good friend laughter do have a place.
The aforementioned website satisfaction survey from the not-so-jolly bankers was concise and made good use of humor to increase engagement with the survey. Placing a well crafted funny in the midst of a question, as a category, or as part of a closing ‘thank you for responding’ message can improve the overall survey experience.
If you are the worrisome type then you might craft two versions of your next brand awareness or employee satisfaction survey, one with a bit of humor and one more sedate and test the differences in response patterns. Make sure to randomly assign prospects to their survey in order to minimize potential selection bias. Just for fun, include an open-end asking respondents what they thought of the survey. This alone should make for interesting reading.
↧
Have a Laugh: Where does Humor Belong in Survey Design?
↧