Measuring brand awareness of an organization, product, or service can be tricky. It is one of those instances where it is better to overthink and overanalyze the choice of methodology.
This is often why our market research company is commonly asked, “Is it better to measure aided or unaided awareness?” by our clients.
So much so, we decided to dedicate a blog to answering just that. In this post, we’ll share the definition of both aided and unaided awareness, as well as explain which type of awareness question is best.
Is it better to include aided or unaided questions when measuring brand awareness in market research? Drive Research shares their insider tips to help you decide.
What is aided awareness?
Aided awareness in market research refers to a question that provides a list of brands and asks participants to select which they are aware of. Below is an example of an aided awareness question in market research.
Q: Which of the following organizations are you aware of? Select all that apply.
- Example Company 1
- Example Company 2
- Example Company 3
- Example Company 4
- Example Company 5
- None of the above
The question above measures aided awareness because participants are given a list of organizations rather than asking participants to recall brands from memory.
It’s important to note the order the answer options/organizations should be randomized. This prevents sequence bias, which leads to participants selecting the top answer first simply because it’s listed first.
Learn more about sequence bias and how to prevent it.
What is unaided awareness?
Now that we have a better understanding of aided awareness, unaided awareness is similar but does not provide participants with a list of organizations. Below is an example of an unaided awareness question in market research.
Q: When you think about [insert industry], what brands come to mind first? List up to 5.
- [Text box #1]
- [Text box #2]
- [Text box #3]
- [Text box #4]
- [Text box #5]
The wording of this question will vary based on the organization and goals of the research. Some brands may want to focus on competitors within a specific geography. Other brands may have fewer competitors and only request participants to list the first brand that comes to mind.
When analyzing the results of this question, it’s important to also analyze the order which brands were named.
A market research company, like Drive Research, may choose to combine answers to this question together to break down the results, but they will also take a look at trends on which brands were named before others.
For example, suppose 80% of participants were aware of Example Company A and 79% were aware of Example Company B. A deeper level of meaning is added to the data knowing Example Company B was typically named first by respondents, while Example Company A was typically listed third.
Shh! The sponsor of the study should be a secret.
One thing is for sure - brand awareness research must be conducted strategically in a way where participants are not privy to who the sponsor of the study is. For this reason, when measuring brand awareness, the market research study should be blinded or results will be skewed before a respondent’s feedback is even collected.
Think of it like this. A random sample of people are asked to participate in a survey about Frank’s Tire Shop. The first question of the survey asks, “How aware are you of Frank’s Tire Shop?” Respondents are more likely to answer with a higher rating for awareness because they were just made aware of Frank’s Tire Shop - even if they had never heard of this store before.
Should you blind or reveal the sponsor of a typical market research survey? Find out here.
Which is Better - Aided or Unaided Awareness Questions?
If deciding to measure aided versus unaided awareness, brands may want to consider asking both. Remember, however, it’s important to ask unaided awareness before aided awareness.
If measuring both, brands will also want to consider making the list of organizations in the aided awareness question limited to key competitors. It’s easy for participants to get overwhelmed, particularly if they already named one of the brands listed in the unaided question.
This type of error is something that can be corrected through the data cleaning process, but it’s always important to make sure it’s as easy as possible for participants to fully complete the survey.
It’s also important to note measuring aided and unaided awareness is not limited to surveys. These questions can be easily adapted to qualitative research like in-depth interviews and focus groups.
Through conversation, the moderator can ask what brands come to mind first. After this, the moderator can inquire about key competitors.
Drive Research is a national market research company located in Upstate NY. Our team has the knowledge and tools to design a market research study best fit for measuring both aided and unaided awareness.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
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