How to Ask Open-Ended Questions that Answer “the Why” (hint: ask a “What”)

Getting to “the why” is the panacea in research - and open-ends are a treasure trove of value meant to deliver this. But if you're struggling to get detailed customer feedback or rich verbatim responses, the challenge may be in how you phrase your questions.

"What" Works Better than "Why" to get Rich Responses from Open-Ended Questions

Market researchers often ask open-ended “why” questions to understand respondent sentiment and behaviour. Ironically, this can lead to vague, unhelpful responses.

Instead, switching to "what" prompts respondents to share specific experiences that drive their opinions—leading to richer insights, better customer sentiment analysis, and improved decision-making.

Here’s how and when to make this simple and powerful shift.

When to Use "What" Instead of "Why" for Survey Open-Ends

1. When "Why" Is Too Vague

If a basic "why" question after a rating or closed-ended response isn’t yielding detailed feedback, reframe it.

❌ Instead of: "Why would you rate your experience that way?"
✅ Ask: "What specific experience led to your rating?"

This approach leads to more detailed customer experience insights, helping you identify key pain points and areas for improvement.

2. To Get Specific Respondent or Customer Feedback

Asking "why" often results in generic justifications, while "what" encourages respondents to describe real experiences.

❌ Instead of: "Why did you dislike the message?"
✅ Ask: "What parts of the message did you disagree with?”  

By framing the question around the respondent’s detailed experience, you collect higher-quality open-ended survey responses.

3. To Identify Drivers of Customer Behavior

If you need to understand why customers are making certain decisions, replace "why" with "what" to uncover key drivers.

❌ Instead of: "Why are you unlikely to recommend our product?"
✅ Ask: "What specific experience made you less likely to recommend us?"

This shift helps in voice-of-customer (VoC) analysis by revealing the true factors behind customer behavior.

4. To Avoid Generic Open-Ended Responses

Simple "why" questions can lead to vague answers like “because it was bad.”

✅ Asking "what" encourages respondents to explain in detail, improving the accuracy of text analytics and sentiment analysis.

Benefits of Using "What" in Open-Ended Questions

• More Actionable Insights – “What” questions elicit specific examples, making it easier to identify customer pain points and improve customer experience or product design.

• Deeper Customer Understanding – Respondents share detailed accounts rather than surface-level reasoning, improving market research accuracy.

• Better Sentiment Analysis – Helps clarify the context behind customer opinions and emotions, making survey responses more useful.

• Better Respondent Experience: Asking "what" helps clarify the context and reasons behind the question. It feels tangible and actionable, driving high levels of respondent engagement.

Small Shifts, Big Impact

By strategically replacing generic "why" questions with well crafted "what" questions, you unlock deeper customer insights, richer survey responses, and more actionable feedback. Try this approach in your next survey and see the difference!

🔎 Want to analyze open-ended feedback with unmatched nuance, detail and accuracy? Book a demo of Fathom’s text analytics platform today!