QuestionPunkQuestionPunk
Start free
All templates
Market Research

Category Entry Points & Brand Choice Survey

Measures when and why shoppers enter a product category, the decision drivers behind brand selection, and the path to purchase—providing actionable insights for brand positioning, retail activation, and category growth strategy.

Use this templateBrowse more templates

Sample questions

A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.

25 questions · ~11 min
Q01
Message

Welcome to this research survey about your shopping experiences with [CATEGORY] products. This survey takes approximately 6–8 minutes to complete. Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may stop at any time. There are no right or wrong answers—we are simply interested in your honest opinions and experiences. Your responses are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate. No individual responses will be shared. By continuing, you agree to participate in this study.

Q02
Message

<p>The following questions are about <strong>[CATEGORY]</strong> products. Please keep this category in mind as you answer.</p>

Q03
Multiple Choice

In the past 30 days, have you personally purchased or used any [CATEGORY] products?

  • Purchased it myself
  • Used/consumed but someone else purchased
  • Neither purchased nor used
Q04
Multiple Choice

What are the main reasons you have not purchased or used [CATEGORY] products recently? Select all that apply.

  • I don't need this category right now
  • Too expensive
  • Not available where I shop
  • I forget to buy it
  • Unsure which brand to choose
  • Another person buys it for my household
  • I make it myself or use alternatives
  • Other (please specify)
Q05
Multiple Choice

Who typically decides which brand to buy for [CATEGORY] products in your household?

  • I choose the brand
  • Someone else chooses
  • We decide together
  • Not sure / it varies
Q06
AI Interview

We'd like to explore your thoughts on how you decide when to buy [CATEGORY] products and what drives your brand choices. Please share openly—there are no right or wrong answers.

Q07
Multiple Choice

Where did you most recently purchase [CATEGORY] products?

  • Supermarket / grocery store
  • Convenience store
  • Pharmacy / drugstore
  • Mass retailer (e.g., Walmart, Target)
  • Warehouse club (e.g., Costco, Sam's Club)
  • Specialty store
  • Quick-service restaurant / café
  • Online retailer or app
  • Brand's own website
  • Other (please specify)
Q08
Long Text

Based on your responses in this survey, please share any additional thoughts or feelings about when you buy [CATEGORY] products or how you choose a brand.

Q09
Dropdown

What is your age?

  • Under 18
  • 18–24
  • 25–34
  • 35–44
  • 45–54
  • 55–64
  • 65 or older
  • Prefer not to say
Q10
Message

Thank you for completing this survey. Your responses will help us better understand shopping decisions and brand preferences in [CATEGORY]. Your answers are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate.

Q11
Ranking

Which of the following would most motivate you to buy [CATEGORY] products in the next 30 days? Please rank your top 5 from most to least motivating.

  1. A good discount or coupon
  2. Free sample or trial
  3. Recommendation from someone I trust
  4. Seeing it prominently in-store
  5. An online ad or social post
  6. Running low at home
  7. A new flavor, variant, or product launch
Drag to rank
Q12
Long Text

Which brand did you most recently buy or use in [CATEGORY]? If you don't recall, type "not sure."

Q13
Opinion Scale

For your most recent [CATEGORY] purchase, how important was the convenience of getting the product (e.g., delivery speed, pickup options)?

Scale: 1 – 5
Min:Not at all importantMax:Extremely important
Q14
Multiple Choice

How do you describe your gender?

  • Woman / girl
  • Man / boy
  • Non-binary
  • Prefer not to say
Q15
Opinion Scale

How likely are you to purchase [CATEGORY] products in the next 30 days?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Very unlikelyMax:Very likely
Q16
Ranking

When choosing a brand in [CATEGORY], which attributes matter most to you? Rank the following from most to least important.

  1. Price or value
  2. Quality / performance
  3. Taste / scent / functional benefits
  4. Brand familiarity / trust
  5. Availability where I shop
  6. Recommendations / reviews
  7. Promotions / discounts
  8. Packaging / size options
Drag to rank
Q17
Opinion Scale

For your most recent [CATEGORY] purchase, how much did in-store signage or product displays influence your decision?

Scale: 1 – 5
Min:No influence at allMax:Very strong influence
Q18
Dropdown

Where do you primarily live?

  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
  • Australia
  • European Union
  • India
  • Other (please specify)
Q19
Dropdown

How many brands do you typically consider before choosing one in [CATEGORY]?

  • 1 (I go straight to one brand)
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5 or more
  • I don't really compare brands
Q20
Multiple Choice

Which of the following sources do you use when deciding on a [CATEGORY] brand? Select all that apply.

  • In-store displays / shelf
  • Retailer app or website
  • Brand website
  • Search engines
  • Friends or family
  • Social media
  • Email or SMS from brand/retailer
  • Review sites or forums
  • TV / streaming / radio ads
  • Other (please specify)
  • None of these
Q21
Multiple Choice

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

  • Less than high school
  • High school or equivalent
  • Some college / Associate degree
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Postgraduate degree
  • Prefer not to say
Q22
Opinion Scale

How likely are you to choose the same brand the next time you buy [CATEGORY] products?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Very unlikelyMax:Very likely
Q23
Opinion Scale

Thinking about your most recent [CATEGORY] purchase, was it planned or an impulse buy?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Completely plannedMax:Completely an impulse
Q24
Multiple Choice

What is your current employment status?

  • Full-time
  • Part-time
  • Self-employed
  • Student
  • Homemaker / caregiver
  • Unemployed
  • Retired
  • Prefer not to say
Q25
Dropdown

Which of the following best describes your approximate annual household income?

  • Under $25,000
  • $25,000–$49,999
  • $50,000–$74,999
  • $75,000–$99,999
  • $100,000–$149,999
  • $150,000 or more
  • Prefer not to say

What’s included

  • AI follow-ups

    Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.

  • Attention checks

    Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.

  • AI-drafted copy

    Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.

  • Auto report

    Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.

How it compares

We reviewed the closest templates from other survey tools. Here’s what they do well — and where this template goes further.

Why this template

  • Includes a dedicated AI follow-up interview module that adaptively probes shoppers on how and when they decide to enter the category, going beyond fixed-choice questions.
  • Combines ranked-choice exercises (purchase motivators and brand-choice attributes) with funnel questions on category entry, consideration set size, and brand switching likelihood.
  • Captures the full path-to-purchase context — purchase location, planned vs. impulse decision, in-store signage influence, and information sources used — for retail activation insights.
  • Auto-generates a report from responses and applies automated per-response quality scoring, with transparent prompts so researchers can audit exactly what was asked.

QuestionPro

Brand mindset IQ survey questions + sample questionnaire template

This is a sample questionnaire focused on brand mindset and perception, useful as a starting question bank rather than a fully built category-entry study. It overlaps with brand-choice research but doesn't specifically map category entry points or path-to-purchase behavior. Best used as a reference set to adapt rather than field as-is.

What it does well

  • Established survey template library with brand-perception focus
  • Provides a ready sample questionnaire researchers can reference or copy
  • Backed by a mature survey platform with broad question-type support

Where it falls short

  • No adaptive AI follow-up interviewing — questions are fixed and static
  • No automated per-response quality scoring
  • No transparent, published prompt/methodology layer for how questions were derived

SurveyMonkey

NPS And Brand Loyalty Survey Template

A ready-to-field template centered on NPS scoring and brand loyalty tracking, which is adjacent to but narrower than a full category entry points and brand choice study. It's well suited for ongoing loyalty benchmarking but doesn't cover category entry triggers, channel/path-to-purchase, or decision-driver ranking in depth.

What it does well

  • Fielding-ready template on a widely used survey platform
  • Built around the standardized NPS metric for easy benchmarking
  • Simple to deploy for loyalty tracking programs

Where it falls short

  • No adaptive AI-driven follow-up probing on purchase decisions
  • Lacks path-to-purchase detail (channel, signage, planned vs. impulse)
  • No automated quality scoring or auto-generated insight reporting

Ready to launch?

Open this template in the editor. Every part is yours to change before the first respondent sees it.

Use this templateStart free

Related templates

More studies from the same category.

See all
Market Research

Brand Health Tracker: Awareness, Consideration & Equity

Measures unaided and aided brand awareness, category usage, consideration sets, first-choice preference, and perceptual brand equity attributes. Designed for tracking brand health over time across competitive sets.

View template
Market Research

Fintech Ad Effectiveness: Brand Lift & Recall Study

Measures advertising recall, brand awareness (unaided and aided), consideration lift, and brand preference across major money and payment apps. Designed for market researchers evaluating fintech campaign ROI.

View template
Market Research

Brand Asset Recognition & Attribution Survey

Measures unaided recall and recognition accuracy of brand logos, color palettes, and taglines to benchmark brand asset attribution strength across audience segments.

View template
Market Research

Brand Recall & Aided Recognition Survey

Measures unaided brand recall, aided recognition, and consideration-set drivers within a product category to benchmark brand awareness, track advertising impact, and inform campaign strategy.

View template
Market Research

Team Meeting Icebreaker Quick Poll

A fast, fun icebreaker poll designed for teams, classes, or events. Collects lighthearted preferences and interests to spark conversation and boost meeting engagement in under 2 minutes.

View template
Market Research

Shopper Involvement & Decision-Making Study

Measures how personally invested, informed, and careful shoppers are when choosing products in a given category — from perceived risk and personal identity to time spent researching — with an AI follow-up interview that reconstructs the real story behind a recent purchase decision. Built for brand and category teams who need to know how much shoppers actually think before they buy.

View template