By: Natalie Lauder, Customer Success Director at Suzy

Me & my nosey psychology undergrad degree were obsessed with this story coming out of the 2024 U.S. presidential election: a mystery French trader bet – and won to the tune of $40 million USD – by asking an indirect question about how people would vote. Instead of directly inquiring “Who are you voting for?”, this trader leveraged a projective technique: “How do you think your neighbor is going to vote?” 

It turns out, people can be much more comfortable making predictions about others than revealing their own beliefs. And yet, in doing so, they often unknowingly reveal their true feelings too. This psychological trick not only helped the trader make a fortune but also highlights a powerful insight technique that consumer brands can use to uncover what people really think.

Consumers often shy away from sharing “unpopular truths.” Whether it’s hesitating to admit they’d choose convenience over sustainability or preferring an indulgent snack despite health goals, tapping into genuine thoughts can feel like an uphill battle. But with the right methods, it’s possible to coax out these hidden truths—turning them into actionable data nuggets that drive better product development, sharper branding, and winning marketing strategies. 

Here’s a roundup of innovative ways to gently peel back the layers of consumer thinking, with examples to inspire your approach. 

1. Projective Techniques: The Power of Indirect Questions

This is what started me down this indirect questioning rabbit hole: when asked directly, consumers might be hesitant to share their real thoughts, behavior or feelings for any number of reasons. Enter projective techniques – an indirect approach that helps reveal subconscious attitudes.

Projective techniques allow researchers to bypass consumers’ natural tendencies to filter their answers. By framing questions in an indirect way, we can uncover hidden attitudes and behaviors that might not surface in traditional surveys.

For example, instead of asking, “Would you buy this new high-calorie snack?” ask, “What kind of person would love this snack?” The shift encourages people to project their own opinions onto an external subject, often revealing deeper truths.

In consumer research, similar indirect questioning can uncover authentic consumer insights. For instance, a company seeking to understand perceptions of a new product might ask:

• “What features do you think your colleagues would appreciate in this product?”  
• “How do you believe your friends would react to this advertisement?”

By integrating indirect questioning into research methodologies, organizations can gain deeper, more accurate insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors.

2. Sentence Completion and Storytelling: Unlocking Deeper Insights

People love telling stories—it’s a natural way to express complex feelings and thoughts. Sentence completion exercises tap into this by starting a narrative and letting consumers finish it, revealing underlying emotions and priorities.

For example, if you’re a beauty brand, you might use prompts like:  

• “When I’m shopping for skincare, I always look for…”  
• “The last time I skipped buying a product, it was because…”  

Alternatively, ask consumers to craft a short story about their shopping journey. You might discover that the "villain" in their story is a poorly organized aisle or a lack of product transparency—giving you a clear roadmap for improvements.

A great tool for this would be Suzy’s AI moderated qual solution – Suzy Speaks! Asking respondents to complete a story via voice will elicit a much richer response than asking them to type it out.

3. “Pick Your Ideal Product” Scenarios

Presenting consumers with hypothetical scenarios helps reveal their preferences in a way that feels fun and engaging.

For example, a beverage company launching a new line of flavored waters might ask, “If you could design your dream flavor from these options, what would it be?” Combine this with visuals of flavors, colors, and branding to further encourage creativity.

By putting consumers in the driver's seat, you tap into their idealized expectations – insights that are often lost in traditional surveys.

4. Visual Prompts or Imagery: Gut Reactions in Real Time

Images are powerful tools for eliciting immediate, instinctual responses. By showing visual prompts, you can bypass overthinking and access gut-level ‘System1’ reactions.

As an example, you may ask participants to choose which image best represents a brand’s vibe from a set of diverse visuals: serene landscapes, bustling cities, quirky cartoons, or minimalist designs.

For a snack brand, a consumer might pick a lively festival image, signaling that the product resonates with themes of fun and celebration – a valuable insight for packaging and advertising.

5. Randomized Response Technique (RRT): Building Trust with Anonymity

Consumers may hesitate to disclose socially sensitive behaviors, like their thoughts on sustainability or price sensitivity. The randomized response technique (RRT) solves this by providing anonymity.

When researching opinions on eco-friendly packaging, use RRT to ask, “Have you ever chosen convenience over sustainability?” With this method, consumers feel comfortable being honest, as their individual response is masked in a larger dataset.

In an online survey, RRT can be implemented by providing respondents with a randomizing device - such as an on-screen spinner or a virtual dice roll - that determines how they should answer a specific question. For example, if the spinner lands on "Option A," they should truthfully answer whether they have chosen convenience over sustainability. If it lands on "Option B," they should answer "Yes" regardless of their actual behavior. This process ensures individual answers cannot be linked to specific participants, but aggregated data provides an accurate picture of overall trends.

The result? More reliable data on behaviors that consumers might otherwise conceal.

RRT can be a bit abstract or confusing at first, so let’s practice with a Coin Flip example. You can do it with a real coin or provide respondents with a link to a virtual coin flip tool. You flip the coin. If it's heads, you should answer ‘Yes.’ If it’s tails, answer truthfully. 

The question is: Have you ever re-gifted a present? Since the researcher doesn't know how your coin landed, we can’t tell if your 'Yes' is because you have re-gifted a present or just because of the coin. This way, respondent privacy is protected at an individual level, but when lots of people answer, we can still figure out statistically how common a behavior really is.

6. Analogies and Metaphors: Simplifying Complexity

Sometimes, the best way to uncover insights is by getting creative. Asking consumers to describe your product or brand using analogies and metaphors lets them articulate feelings in a unique, vivid way.

For a snack brand, ask, “If this product were a type of party, what kind would it be?” Answers like “a cozy family dinner” or “a wild karaoke night” give you a glimpse into how consumers perceive the product’s personality and usage occasions.

Analogies make abstract ideas tangible, helping brands understand their emotional connection with consumers.

7. Anchoring with Extreme Options: Nudging Honest Opinions

Providing extreme options can encourage honesty by forcing respondents to reflect on their true preferences.

If you’re testing a new indulgent product, ask consumers to rate their likelihood of purchase on a scale from “never buy” to “stock up monthly.” This approach helps you identify enthusiasts versus skeptics - essential information for targeting and messaging.

By anchoring responses at the extremes, you make it harder for consumers to sit on the fence, prompting more thoughtful and authentic feedback.

A Note on Methodology

Some of these methodologies work well – or only work – within a quantitative survey, while others thrive in a more open-ended, qualitative setting. For instance, techniques like RRT and anchoring with extreme options are ideal for structured, large-scale surveys where anonymity and statistical reliability matter. Meanwhile, projective techniques, storytelling, and analogies may be better suited for video open-ends, where respondents can more freely express themselves.

Additionally, the choice of moderation can impact the quality of insights. For sensitive topics, an AI moderator can help limit interviewer bias and encourage respondents to be more candid. On the other hand, a skilled live moderator can build a personal connection with respondents, yielding more authentic and emotionally rich insights. The key is to consider the topic and the business objective, then match the right methodology to ensure the most meaningful and actionable insights.

Suzy can help with that!

Turning Truths into Strategy

Uncovering unpopular truths might feel daunting, but it’s also an opportunity. By using these techniques – projective questions, storytelling, visual prompts, and more – you can delve into the minds of your consumers and emerge with insights that truly matter. And maybe $40M overnight?!*

*this is the author's joke, not a Suzy guarantee. Sorry.

At Suzy, we specialize in making these advanced methodologies accessible and actionable. Ready to transform your consumer research strategy? Book a demo today and see how our platform can unlock the truths that drive your brand forward.

Your next big consumer insight might be just one honest conversation away –  let’s start uncovering it together.