Category Awareness Survey Template

The demo uses meal-kit delivery as a category, not a particular company. First, respondents describe how they would get ingredients and instructions for a weeknight dinner. Only then does the survey introduce “meal-kit delivery.” That order separates unaided solution routes from aided term recognition. In two category-structure studies, Nedungadi, Chattopadhyay and Muthukrishnan (2001) found that supplying structure affected recall and memory-based choice; their abstract says “provision of structure increases brand recall.” Read the university abstract . The studies did not validate this SurveyLegend questionnaire or show that a seven-item category survey predicts demand. Their result is a reason to record the respondent's unprompted view before supplying a category label.

Use this when a team needs to decide whether to explain a product category from first principles or can assume the audience already understands it. The decision is about the category and need, not recognition of an individual company. SurveyLegend's brand awareness survey serves the latter task. Recruitment should include people who face the need, including nonusers; surveying only current category customers will distort the picture.

These seven optional questions use one concrete dinner-planning example. Show Q1 before naming meal-kit delivery. Keep Q3 before the answer options in Q4 so respondents can explain the term in their own words. Every field is always visible; select one answer where options appear.

Choose one category and a specific need the audience can recognize without industry jargon. Replace “weeknight dinner,” “meal-kit delivery” and the Q4 description together; test that the alternatives are plausible but not misleading. Avoid including your brand in the first question. For a broader profile of who experiences the need, SurveyLegend's target market survey covers a different planning task. Pilot the category wording with a few people and record recruitment source and field dates before comparing groups.

Copy the exact example to prepare a draft, then adapt the scenario and category together. Review the order carefully: the first answer must come before the label is shown.

Code the unprompted solution routes in Q1 before reading Q2–Q4. Some respondents may recognize the term yet describe a different service; that suggests a definition or positioning problem, not merely low reach. Compare interpretations with recent use (Q5), situations (Q6) and first information route (Q7). Do not treat Q6 as purchase intent or multiply these percentages into a market-size estimate. Note sampling and wording differences before tracking change. If the next decision is whether people know your specific company, switch to the brand awareness template.