Claim Testing Survey in India: How to Validate a Marketing Claim With Consumers
Test a marketing claim with consumers: comprehension, believability, relevance, preference, matched cells, a question bank, and why a survey is not proof.
In shortA claim test shows how consumers read a claim: what they take from it, whether they believe it, whether it matters and which wording they prefer. Show each claim to its own cell, ask the same questions of every cell and compare. A survey measures perception. It does not prove a claim is true, and the ASCI code requires objective claims to be capable of substantiation. Hercules Works runs claim tests on a verified Indian panel.
Contents
A Survey Tests What People Believe, Not What Is True
Marketing teams test claims like "clinically proven", "30% less sugar" or "made for Indian skin" before they print them. A claim test measures how people read the claim. It does not replace the evidence behind it.
This guide separates the two, gives a design with matched cells, and a question bank. The ASCI wording is quoted from the code's page. The question bank is illustrative.
Perception Is Not Substantiation
The ASCI Code says advertisements must be truthful, and that descriptions, claims and comparisons relating to matters of objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of substantiation. Advertisers and agencies are required to produce such substantiation when the Advertising Standards Council of India asks. A second clause says that if a claim is stated to be supported by independent research, the source and date should appear in the advertisement.
So the evidence for a factual claim (a lab test, a certificate, a data set) is separate from the consumer test. A consumer test tells you whether people understand and believe the wording. Keep both on file. For health products, read the supplement trust study and the health and wellness guide.
Four Measures for Every Claim
| Measure | Question | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehension | In your own words, what does this say? | Whether people take away what you meant |
| Believability | How believable is this statement? | Whether people trust it |
| Relevance | How important is this to you? | Whether it matters to the buyer |
| Preference | Which of these would you choose? | Which wording wins |
Code the comprehension answers by hand. Misreadings are the finding: a claim that 40% of readers misunderstand is a liability.
Design: One Claim per Cell
- Monadic cells. Each respondent sees one claim, so answers are not coloured by a rival claim. See the design chooser.
- A control cell with a plain description and no claim, to see what the claim adds.
- Matched cells. Same audience, same quotas, same questions in every cell.
- Order. Comprehension first, then believability, relevance and last, if you use a paired comparison, preference.
- Audience. Recent category buyers, screened without revealing the claim.
Question Bank
| # | Question | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Show one claim.) In your own words, what is this telling you? | Open text |
| 2 | How believable is this statement? | 5-point scale |
| 3 | How important is it to you in choosing a [category] product? | 5-point scale |
| 4 | What, if anything, makes you doubt it? | Open text |
| 5 | How likely would you be to buy a product that says this? | 5-point scale |
| 6 | (Paired option.) Which of these two would you choose, and why? | Single choice plus open text |
Compare cells with a significance test and report the sample size in each.
Limits
A panel survey records stated reactions. It cannot test whether a claim is true, legal or fit for a regulated category. Ask your legal team for regulated claims. For preference between products people have tried, use a product test.
Running This Study on Hercules
If your job is a claim or message test with Indian consumers, this is a three-cell design at list price. Use matched cells and the same quotas in each cell.
| 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
How do I validate a marketing claim with consumers?
Show each claim to its own matched cell and ask what it means, how believable it is, how important it is and which version people prefer. Code the open-ended comprehension answers.
Does a survey prove that a claim is true?
No. A survey measures perception. The ASCI Code says objective claims should be capable of substantiation, so keep the evidence separate.
What is claim testing?
Research that checks how consumers understand, believe and respond to a marketing claim before it is used.
How many people do I need per claim?
Enough that the margin suits the decision. A cell of 100 gives about ±9.8 points for a share near 50% in a simple random sample, and 400 gives about ±4.9 points.
Can I test taglines and messages the same way?
Yes. Use matched cells and the same four measures. See also ad testing.
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