Brand Switching Survey in India: Who Moves, From What, To What and Why
Run a brand switching survey: the from-to matrix, reasons and triggers, recent-purchaser screener, a question bank and how it differs from a churn survey.
In shortA brand switching survey asks recent category buyers what they bought last time, what they bought before, why they changed and what would bring them back. Build a from-to matrix: rows are the previous brand, columns the current one. Ask about the trigger (price, availability, quality, promotion) as well as the reason. A churn survey asks your own lapsed customers. Hercules Works can run switching studies among category buyers on its Indian panel.
Contents
Switching Is Measured Between Brands, Not Inside One
A churn survey asks your own lapsed customers why they left. A brand switching survey asks category buyers about all the brands they move between, including competitors. It shows where customers come from and go to, and what triggers the move.
This guide gives the design, the matrix, a question bank and how to read it. The numbers in the matrix are illustrative, and the question bank is a starting point.
Design: Last Purchase, Previous Purchase, Trigger
- Audience. Recent category buyers, screened by purchase in a set period, from a list that includes other categories.
- Last purchase. Which brand did you buy most recently?
- Previous purchase. Which brand did you buy before that?
- Same or different. If different, that is a switch.
- Reason and trigger. Why did you change, and what happened just before? Reasons are what people say, triggers are the event.
- Return. What would bring you back?
Switching in a repertoire is normal in many categories, so also ask which brands they use regularly, not only the last one. See the Vim and Beco switching study for a worked case.
The From-To Matrix
Rows are the brand bought before, columns are the brand bought last. The diagonal is repeat purchase. The illustrative matrix shows counts of 100 buyers.
| Before \ Last | Brand A | Brand B | Brand C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand A | 40 | 6 | 4 |
| Brand B | 10 | 20 | 5 |
| Brand C | 3 | 2 | 10 |
Read it by row for retention (Brand A kept 40 of 50, which is 80%) and by column for gain (Brand A gained 10 + 3 = 13 from others). Net gain is gained minus lost: Brand A lost 6 + 4 = 10 and gained 13, so net +3. These are arithmetic from the example, not benchmarks.
Question Bank
| # | Block | Question | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Screener | Which of these have you bought in the last 3 months? | Multi-select with decoys |
| 2 | Last | Which brand did you buy most recently? | Single choice |
| 3 | Previous | Which brand did you buy before that? | Single choice |
| 4 | Repertoire | Which brands do you buy regularly? | Multi-select |
| 5 | Reason | Why did you choose the brand you bought last? | Multi-select |
| 6 | Trigger | What happened just before you changed? | Single choice with other |
| 7 | Return | What would make you go back to your earlier brand? | Open text |
| 8 | Loyalty | How likely are you to buy it again? | 5-point scale |
| 9 | Profile | City, age band, gender | Single choice |
Reading the Result
Look at net gain and loss for your brand by segment, and compare reasons between people who left you and people who joined you. Sample sizes drop fast when you split by brand pairs, so plan for it. A matrix with many cells needs several hundred responses to be read reliably; check each cell's count before you quote it. Combine with brand tracking and the churn survey.
Running This Study on Hercules
If your job is a switching study among category buyers in India, this is the pilot and main study at list price. For your own lapsed customers, use a churn survey sent to your list.
| Step | Plan | Responses | Price per response | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test the questionnaire | Free | 30 | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| Small pilot | Plus | 100 | ₹150 | ₹15,000 |
| Main study | Pro | 400 | ₹120 | ₹48,000 |
Pro is sold in bundles of 400 to 1,000 responses and costs 20% less per response than Plus. Enterprise plans come with a dedicated research team and are priced on request.
The SuperJ network has a 25M+ consumer footprint. The survey-eligible panel is a subset, and availability depends on your targeting. Members complete Aadhaar-based KYC once, and each study receives a zero-knowledge proof of verification. Surveys run in as many Indian languages as the study needs. Quality checks flag speeders, straight-lining and inconsistent answers. Read /panel-methodology and pricing.
The limit: the app reaches smartphone users only, so offline households need face-to-face fieldwork.
Frequently asked questions
What is a brand switching survey?
A survey of category buyers about the brands they bought last and before, why they changed and what triggered it.
What is the difference between brand switching and churn?
Churn is customers leaving your product, asked of your own lapsed customers. Switching covers movement between all brands in a category, asked of category buyers.
How do I build a brand switching matrix?
Ask the previous brand and the last brand for each buyer, then count them in a table with previous brands as rows and last brands as columns.
How many responses do I need?
More than most surveys. Splitting by brand pairs shrinks the cells, so check each cell's count. For overall shares, 400 responses give about ±4.9 points near 50%.
Why do customers switch brands?
Common reasons include price, availability, quality and promotion, but ask your own audience and separate the reason from the trigger.
Ready to get real consumer insights?
25M+ consumer footprint. Free to start.