Why most surveys get shallow answers — and how to fix it

The real reasons respondents give bland, short, predictable answers — and the simple ways to change it.

Most surveys don’t fail because respondents are “lazy” or “uninterested”.
They fail because the design makes it almost impossible for people to give anything deeper than surface-level reactions.

When marketers see short, shallow answers, they often assume:

  • people weren’t concentrating

  • the sample quality was poor

  • respondents didn’t care

But the truth is simpler:

People give shallow answers when the survey makes depth difficult.

Here are the four biggest reasons — and how to fix each one.

Too many questions kill concentration

Most surveys are far too long. Respondents start well, lose energy halfway through, and switch to “get me to the finish” mode.

When the survey demands:

  • effort

  • recall

  • rational judgement

  • long descriptions

for page after page, you get:

  • shorter answers

  • predictable phrases

  • generic language

  • the same answer copied three times

It’s not poor participant quality. It’s cognitive fatigue.

The fix
Ask fewer questions — and ask better ones.
Short, well-structured surveys often produce insight deeper than a focus group.

Direct questions trigger socially filtered answers

Questions like:

  • “What do you think of this idea?”

  • “Would you buy this?”

  • “Does this appeal to you?”

sound sensible, but they push respondents into a performance.
They give “good participant” answers instead of honest reactions.

This produces:

  • polite positivity

  • artificial logic

  • safe comments

and insight disappears.

The fix
Use indirect questions that reveal first impressions naturally.

For example:

  • “If a friend told you about this, how do you think they’d describe it?”

  • “What kind of person would this be right for?”

  • “What’s the very first thing that comes to mind?”

These questions stop people performing — and help them respond truthfully.

Respondents aren’t respected

Many surveys treat people like data-entry machines.

Common issues include:

  • repetitive grids

  • long concept descriptions

  • overly rational tasks

  • unclear wording

  • no natural flow

  • no room for emotion

When people don’t feel respected, they retreat into “minimum effort mode”.

The fix
Design surveys that feel good to answer:

  • simple wording

  • short pages

  • interesting prompts

  • a clear tone

  • questions that flow naturally

Respect creates effort.
Effort creates depth.

Cognititive load is too high

Long stimulus, multiple ideas in one question, excessive detail and rational complexity all raise cognitive load.

High cognitive load produces:

  • clichés

  • copied phrases

  • shallow answers

  • polite reactions

  • “sounds good” feedback

It’s not insight — it’s overload.

The fix
Reduce cognitive load:

  • shorten concepts

  • present one idea at a time

  • remove unnecessary detail

  • allow emotional reactions first, rational reflection second

This opens the door to clearer, more honest answers.

What better answers look like

When a survey is designed for human beings — not for internal stakeholders — everything changes.

You get:

  • longer, more thoughtful answers

  • natural emotional language

  • specific details

  • contradictions that reveal real thinking

  • unexpected reactions

  • grounded insight

This is what our Depth Surveys are built around:
shorter tasks, indirect prompts, human language — and deeper answers.

The takeaway

Shallow answers rarely come from shallow people.
They come from surveys designed in ways that block depth.

Make the survey shorter, simpler, more indirect and more human — and people naturally give deeper insight.

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