ASKING OPEN-ENDED CONSUMER QUESTIONS TO AID PROGRAM-PLANNING - VARIATIONS IN QUESTION FORMAT AND LENGTH

The effects of question length and explicitness of directions (format) were examined for open-ended consumer satisfaction questions at nine health promotion workshops presented on a college campus. Expert judge s rated 271 answers written by 97 program participants. Rating dimensi ons included usefulness for program planning, number of complimentary comments, and number of critical comments. Question format, but not qu estion length, was related to the usefulness of answers. More explicit response directions elicited more useful answers. This relationship w as mediated by the ability of explicit directions to elicit critical c omments. Implications for the use and the wording of open-ended questi ons in consumer research are discussed.