Are you a people pleaser? Turns out that since we live in a society with behavior standards and expectations most people want to act a certain way to “fit in”. Acquiescence bias occurs when people agree with sentiments or statements even when they may disagree with them. For example, when a survey is conducted many respondents will answer based on what they think the researchers want to hear instead of what they feel. When conducting market research for your brand it’s important to avoid this effect to obtain accurate responses that will be used for product and service improvements. There are a few things that cause this bias when conducting audience surveys for your brand.
1. Ideal self-perception: this occurs when people select answers based on their version of themselves that they believe is ideal rather than the reality of who they are. This is because they want to be seen a certain way instead of as they are.
2. Agreeability: again, what we touched on above. This is the fact that people want to be a certain way and provide feedback that they think is believed to be acceptable.
3. Social influence: people tend to answer questions of social behavior in a way that portrays them favorably in the community, whether or not they exhibit these said behaviors.
4. Perceived authority: this is what we touched on above where respondents answer the way they think the researchers want to see. This happens often when the study group is aware of the study’s objectives.
5. Unengaged respondents: this occurs when people don’t read the questions to provide thoughtful answers. It can happen when a survey is too long and they become uninterested.
Now that we know the reasons for motivating this bias, it’s easier to come up with ways to avoid it. Here are a few ways to avoid acquiescence bias.
1. Make it short and sweet: it’s less overwhelming when the surveys are quicker and easier to complete. This will reduce the number of unengaged respondents.
2. Be clear & use intentional language: it’s important to phrase your questions and answers. You don’t want to make your respondents feel as if they’re being judged for their answers and avoid questions that may make people feel negatively.
3. Open-ended questions: add a text box to fit their exact experiences. Even if the answer explains a negative experience they’re still likely to describe it positively.
4. Avoid leading questions: leading questions are no good. If they are compelled to respond in a certain way, they will. You want honesty, not bias.
It’s great to see positive reviews about your brand but they mean nothing if they’re affected by a cognitive bias and will likely lead you down the wrong path to improvement. Doing everything in your power to avoid acquiescence bias is crucial to collecting accurate data sets. We work in user-generated content advertising to create organic connections between brand and audience so we value genuine business relationships. When the responses aren’t genuine then it’s essentially a waste of your brand’s time and money. Following proper steps to avoid cognitive bias, such as this one will allow your brand to flourish naturally to the correct audience.
