Small children are notorious for asking “Why?”

“Why is the sky blue?”

“Why is the grass green?”

“Why does Mr. Phillips yell when I play in his yard?”

Why questions often send parents scrambling to the library or the internet.

Who, what, where and when questions are fine for measuring behavior. Who bought your product? What product? When and where did they buy it? Important to know. Fairly easy to answer.

But in order to influence behavior, marketers must know why customers bought. Or why they didn’t.

In a recent post, “It’s not a strategy unless there’s a trick,” I pointed out that marketing strategy often involves out-maneuvering the competition. In order to conduct a surprise attack or a flanking move, one must have an insight. One must ask why. Call it reconnaissance. Call it intelligence. Call it market research.

Some sample why questions to ask:

• Why is the brand category expanding, shrinking or remaining static?
• Why is your market share expanding, shrinking or remaining static?
• Why do your customers buy your brand?
• Why do your competitors’ customers buy your competitors’ brands? And why don’t they buy yours?
• Why do they buy with the frequency they do?
• Why is your brand made the way it is?
• Why are your competitors’ brands made the way they are?
• Why is your brand priced the way it is?
• Why are your competitors’ brands priced the way they are?

There are several versions of a story about a piano, a Capo d’astro bar, and a copywriter who asked why. One of the least abridged tellings is at Lee Dunbar’s blog. It’s an inspiring reminder that asking why questions leads to finding insights which underpin successful strategies.

What questions do you ask?