200+ Market Research Survey Questions Interns Actually Use
If you're a marketing or business intern who just got handed a customer survey to write, with no template and a deadline that's already close, staring at a blank page is the hardest part. Coming up with fifteen or twenty sharp questions from scratch, ones that actually surface something useful and don't just repeat each other, takes longer than most internships leave room for.
This piece is a working question bank: 200+ market research survey questions organized into ten categories, from basic demographics to open-ended feedback. You won't use all of them in one survey. You'll pick the handful that fit your specific project, swap in your product or brand name where you see a placeholder, and build a survey that actually gets you something worth reporting back.
If you think a research internship would help you hone these skills, check out a list here! And if no-cost internships are what you’re looking for, you can find a list here!
This is a working question bank: 200+ market research survey questions organized into ten categories, from basic demographics to open-ended feedback, covering brand awareness, usage habits, satisfaction, pricing, purchase decisions, competitive comparison, feature feedback, and loyalty. A good survey mixes structured, easy-to-tally questions with a few open-ended ones that surface detail a multiple-choice answer can't. Pick 8 to 12 questions from two or three relevant categories rather than trying to use all 200+ in a single survey. It's useful for any intern handed a customer survey for the first time, with no existing template to work from.
Why is having a bank of survey questions actually useful?
Most of the time spent writing a survey isn't deciding what to ask, it's staring at a blank page trying to figure out how to phrase the question at all. Having a bank of already-tested phrasings removes that first hurdle entirely, so the actual thinking goes into which questions matter for this specific project, not how to word them.
This matters more during an internship than it might later in a career, once you've written dozens of surveys and have your own phrasing memorized. Programs like Ladder Internships put students on real market research tasks early, often within the first few weeks of an eight-week cohort, working alongside a company manager who expects a usable survey, not a rough draft. Having a reference like this to start from is the difference between spending your first week stuck on phrasing and spending it on the parts of the project that actually move the needle. More on that below.
How do you find the right questions for your survey?
To find the right questions, start with what this list is actually for: not using all 200+ in one survey. A customer survey with two hundred questions gets abandoned halfway through, and the data you'd get back would be unusable even if someone finished it. The point is coverage: whatever your specific project needs to learn, whether that's pricing feedback, feature prioritization, or basic brand awareness, there's already a set of tested questions here instead of a blank page.
Read through the category headers first and figure out which two or three actually match what your team is trying to learn. A pricing project doesn't need loyalty questions, and a brand awareness study doesn't need feature prioritization questions. Pull 8 to 12 questions total from the categories that fit, swap in your actual product or brand name wherever you see a placeholder, and cut or reword anything that doesn't quite match your situation.
What questions cover who your respondents actually are?
Demographic and background questions come first in almost every survey. They're quick to answer, easy to tally, and let you segment every other answer by who's actually giving it.
What is your age range?
What is your gender?
What is your current employment status?
What is your household income range?
What is your highest level of education completed?
What city or region do you live in?
What is your occupation or job title?
How many people live in your household?
Do you have children living at home?
What is your marital status?
What device are you using most often right now (phone, laptop, tablet)?
What industry do you work in?
How would you describe your living situation (own, rent, with family)?
What is your primary language?
How many hours a week do you typically spend online?
Which social media platforms do you use most often?
What is your typical monthly spending in this category?
Do you make most household purchasing decisions yourself or share them?
What best describes your current life stage (student, early career, parent, retired)?
How did you hear about this survey?
What questions reveal how someone first heard of you?
Awareness and discovery questions matter most for brand health studies, and for any company trying to figure out which channels are actually working.
Have you heard of [brand] before today?
Where did you first hear about [brand]?
How would you describe [brand] to a friend who's never heard of it?
What was your first impression of [brand]?
Which of these brands are you familiar with?
What comes to mind when you think of [brand]?
How long have you known about [brand]?
Did you discover [brand] through a friend, an ad, or on your own?
What made you notice [brand] in the first place?
Which social platform led you to [brand], if any?
Have you seen an ad for [brand] in the past month?
What do you think [brand] is best known for?
How would you rate your familiarity with [brand] on a scale of 1 to 5?
What other brands do you associate with [brand]?
Did anyone recommend [brand] to you directly?
What was the first product or service of [brand]'s you tried?
How does [brand] compare to what you expected before trying it?
What's one word you'd use to describe [brand]?
Have you visited [brand]'s website before today?
Would you say [brand] feels premium, mid-range, or budget?
What questions uncover how people actually use the product?
Usage questions tell you what's really happening day to day, which is often different from what a company assumes is happening.
How often do you use [product]?
When was the last time you used [product]?
What do you typically use [product] for?
Which feature of [product] do you use most often?
Which feature of [product] have you never used?
Do you use [product] alone or alongside other tools?
What time of day do you usually use [product]?
How long is a typical session using [product]?
Do you use [product] on mobile, desktop, or both?
What's the main reason you keep using [product]?
Has your usage of [product] increased or decreased over the past few months?
Do you use [product] for personal or professional purposes?
What would make you use [product] more often?
Have you ever paused or stopped using [product]? Why?
Which part of using [product] feels the most repetitive?
Do you use any workarounds because a feature is missing?
How do you usually access [product] (app, browser, in person)?
Do you use [product] daily, weekly, or occasionally?
What's the first thing you do when you open [product]?
Have you customized any settings in [product]?
Do you use [product] to replace something you used before?
What's one task you wish [product] handled better?
Do you use [product] with a team or by yourself?
Have you ever recommended a specific feature of [product] to someone else?
What would you miss most if you stopped using [product] tomorrow?
What questions measure overall satisfaction?
Satisfaction questions are the backbone of most customer surveys, and usually the ones a company manager will look at first.
How satisfied are you with [product] overall?
How well does [product] meet your expectations?
How easy was it to get started with [product]?
How would you rate the quality of customer support you received?
How quickly was your last issue resolved?
How satisfied are you with the value you get for the price?
What's one thing that consistently frustrates you?
What's one thing that consistently works well?
How would you rate the reliability of [product]?
Has anything about [product] disappointed you?
How satisfied are you with the onboarding process?
How well does [product] fit into your existing routine?
What would make your experience noticeably better?
How would you rate the design and ease of use?
Have you experienced any technical issues recently?
How satisfied are you with how quickly [product] loads or responds?
Do you feel your feedback is heard when you report a problem?
How would you rate the clarity of instructions or documentation?
What's missing that would make this a 10 out of 10 experience?
Would you say your satisfaction has improved or declined over time?
What questions test pricing and perceived value?
Pricing questions need to be handled carefully, since people rarely answer them with full honesty when asked directly, but they're still worth asking as a baseline.
How would you describe the current price: too low, fair, or too high?
What would you expect to pay for [product]?
How does the price compare to similar products you've used?
Would you pay more for an upgraded version?
What feature would justify a higher price for you?
Have you ever considered canceling because of the price?
What discount or offer would make you more likely to buy?
Do you feel like you're getting your money's worth?
Would a monthly or annual pricing plan work better for you?
What's the maximum you'd pay before looking elsewhere?
Have you compared prices with a competitor before deciding?
Would a free trial have changed your decision to buy?
Do you think the pricing is transparent and easy to understand?
Would you prefer a one-time payment or a subscription?
What would make a price increase feel fair to you?
Have hidden fees or unexpected charges affected your opinion?
Would bundling this with another product change your interest?
How important is price compared to quality in your decision?
Would you choose a cheaper option with fewer features?
What's one thing you'd pay extra for right now?
What questions get at why someone decided to buy?
Purchase decision questions dig into the moment someone actually converted, which is usually more revealing than asking how they feel in general.
What finally convinced you to buy?
What almost stopped you from buying?
How long did you consider your decision before purchasing?
Did you compare other options before choosing this one?
Who else was involved in your decision, if anyone?
What was the single most important factor in your decision?
Did a review or recommendation influence your choice?
What problem were you trying to solve when you found this?
Was there a specific moment that triggered your search?
Did you use a free trial or demo before deciding?
What almost made you choose a competitor instead?
How did you first search for a solution like this?
Did the checkout or signup process affect your decision?
What would have made your decision easier?
Did you research this on your own or ask someone for advice?
Was the timing of your purchase tied to a specific event or need?
What convinced you this was worth trying, even briefly?
Did you read reviews before making your decision?
What made this option stand out from the alternatives?
Would you make the same decision again today?
What questions compare you to competitors?
Competitive questions only work if you frame them honestly, people can tell when a survey is fishing for a compliment rather than real feedback.
Which other brands or products did you consider?
What does [competitor] do better than [brand]?
What does [brand] do better than [competitor]?
Have you switched from a competitor to [brand]? Why?
Have you ever switched from [brand] to a competitor? Why?
How does the customer support compare to competitors you've used?
Which brand would you recommend to a friend, and why?
What would make you switch to a competitor tomorrow?
How does the pricing compare to alternatives you've tried?
Which features do competitors offer that you wish [brand] had?
Do you use [brand] alongside a competitor's product?
What first made you choose [brand] over an alternative?
How would you rank [brand] against its top three competitors?
Is there a competitor you trust more, and why?
What's one thing competitors do that annoys you?
Would you describe [brand] as a leader or a follower in its space?
Have you seen an ad comparing [brand] to a competitor?
What would it take for a competitor to win you over completely?
How loyal do you feel to [brand] compared to other options?
Which brand do you think has better long-term potential?
What questions help you prioritize new features?
Feature questions are most useful when a product team is deciding what to build next and needs actual signal, not just requests from the loudest users.
Which feature would you like to see added next?
Which existing feature needs the most improvement?
Rank these potential new features in order of usefulness.
Which feature do you use the least, and why?
Is there a feature you didn't know existed until now?
Which feature would you be willing to pay extra for?
What's missing compared to a product you've used before?
Which feature causes the most confusion?
Would a mobile app version change how you use this?
What's one small change that would make a big difference?
Which feature feels outdated compared to competitors?
Would you use an integration with another tool you rely on?
What feature do you wish worked faster or smoother?
Which upcoming feature are you most excited about?
Would a customizable dashboard be useful to you?
Is there a feature you actively avoid using?
What would make onboarding to a new feature easier?
Which feature request have you made before, if any?
Would automating a specific repetitive task be valuable to you?
What features would make you use this product daily?
What questions measure loyalty and likelihood to recommend?
Loyalty questions, including the classic recommendation score, are the ones most likely to get tracked over time rather than used once.
How likely are you to recommend [brand] to a friend or colleague?
What's the main reason behind your recommendation score?
How likely are you to purchase from [brand] again?
What would make you a more loyal customer?
Have you ever recommended [brand] to someone, and what did you say?
What would cause you to stop being a customer?
How does your loyalty to [brand] compare to a year ago?
Would you describe yourself as a fan of [brand], or just a user?
What's one thing that would make you switch away permanently?
Have you left a public review or rating for [brand]?
Would you join a loyalty or referral program if offered one?
What keeps you coming back instead of trying something new?
How would you feel if [brand] discontinued tomorrow?
Have you followed [brand] on social media?
Would you attend an event hosted by [brand]?
What would make you an advocate rather than just a customer?
How often do you talk about [brand] with others?
Would you describe your relationship with [brand] as transactional or personal?
What's the one thing that has earned your trust the most?
If [brand] disappeared tomorrow, what would you switch to instead?
What open-ended questions get you the most honest detail?
Open-ended questions take longer to analyze, but they're where the specific phrasing, the exact frustration or the exact moment of delight, usually shows up.
What's the one thing you'd change about [product] if you could?
Describe your experience with [product] in your own words.
What almost made you stop using [product]?
What surprised you most about [product]?
If you were in charge of [product] for a day, what would you fix first?
What's a moment where [product] genuinely helped you?
What's a moment where [product] let you down?
How would you explain [product] to someone who's never heard of it?
What's one thing you wish the team behind [product] understood about you?
What would you tell a friend before they tried [product]?
What's the biggest misconception people have about [product]?
If [product] had a personality, how would you describe it?
What's one small detail that made a big impression on you?
What would your ideal version of [product] look like?
What's something you've never told us but wish we knew?
What made you choose to give feedback today?
What's one thing you'd tell the team directly if you could?
What's a feature you built a workaround for?
What's the story behind why you started using [product]?
What would make you tell ten friends about [product]?
What's one word you'd never use to describe [product]?
What's the gap between what you expected and what you got?
What's one thing a competitor does that makes you jealous?
What would make you a customer for life?
What's the honest, unfiltered version of your feedback?
How do you analyze the answers once they start coming in?
Once responses start coming in, the real work shifts from writing questions to actually making sense of them. Group closed-ended answers by category rather than reading them one at a time. A pattern across ten respondents saying the same thing about pricing is worth flagging immediately; a single outlier answer usually isn't.
Open-ended responses take longer to process but usually contain the most useful detail: the specific phrase a customer used to describe a frustration, the exact feature they mention wanting. If you're doing this as part of a structured internship like Ladder Internships, this is typically the part your company manager or Ladder Coach will want to see summarized clearly: not every raw answer, but the three or four patterns that actually showed up across responses, with a recommendation attached to each one.
Common questions about running a market research survey as an intern
1. How many questions should an actual survey include?
Somewhere between 8 and 15 questions is realistic for a survey people will actually finish. Longer surveys see sharply higher drop-off rates, especially once respondents get past the halfway point.
2. Should I use multiple-choice or open-ended questions?
Both, but not in equal amounts. Lead with two or three multiple-choice or scale questions to get quick, easy-to-tally data, then include one or two open-ended questions near the end to capture detail a scale can't.
3. What if my company doesn't have an existing customer list to survey?
Ask your manager whether there's a smaller list, past applicants, newsletter subscribers, or a beta user group, before assuming you need to build one from scratch. Most companies have some existing audience, even a small one, that's better than nothing.
4. How do I know if my questions are actually good before sending them out?
Send the draft survey to two or three people first, ideally people not on your team, and time how long it takes them and note where they hesitate. If someone asks what a question means, that question needs rewording before it goes out more widely.