‘Appeal’ is a very controversial measure.

A consumer today reminded me to BEWARE OF THE APPEAL QUESTION. Consumer asked whether she should base her choice on the option that appealed to her most or the one that would make her purchase the product.  Honestly, this is something that I always consider when phrasing an appeal-type question.  Appeal is so broad a ‘concept’ that it can be confusing and it is difficult to define how exactly the consumer is interpreting the question. Think of all the times when something appeals but might not necessarily be the choice behavior.

This chocolate cake appeals to me (but I dare not eat it).

This man really appeals to me (but I wouldn’t want to marry him).

Better to ask whether the stimuli (package, advertising, logo, image etc) makes you interested in the product – because interest is closer to purchase intent, while still including the notion of appeal.   But apparently I dropped the appeal word  in there some place.  Good thing is I was reminded to beware.