Check any question to see how likely people are to lie about it. In user research, customer feedback, and consumer polling, we often ask questions without questioning the most important thing. Do people know the answer and, if they do, will they share it? At Early Studies, we've used the latest developments in consumer psychology to measure our ability to know the answer to a question and how willing we are to share it if we do.
Brands spend billions on billions of lies.
The research industry dances a mesmerising waltz with every detail of a question, except the most important one. Can someone answer it honestly?
To many questions we fear giving the answer; it might not be socially acceptable, or be what makes us perceived as the people we aspire to be. Many times we don’t know the real answer, but make up stories after the fact to soothe our anxieties that maybe it wasn’t out of free will or of the complexity we wish life to have. And many times we might not want to confront the real truth, as it’s uncomfortable and not something we dig into for a few bucks. But most often, we just guess the “right” answer so we don’t have to think at all.
At Early Studies, we spend 90% of our time writing questions that we believe give people the best shot at sharing an honest answer. We’ve developed a 6th, 7th and 8th sense for questions that will trigger people’s range of defences.
Lie Predictor is based on all of our learnings to try and help people who genuinely want insights into human behaviour, to do effective and meaningful work, and to create interventions in people’s behaviours and attitudes to create a better everyday for all of us.
Enter any question, and the machine enters the labyrinth of the human psyche and comes out the other end, with the likelihood that different distortions stand in the way of the truth. Use it the next time you're doing your own research, reviewing a study guide or prepping for a focus group. Or to call out your friends talking out of their subconscious arse on WhatsApp.
What we’ve decided to share is only the beginning of our process, the questions that get to the truth we still charge for.
Let's put some pants on fire.
Anyone