> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.zigpoll.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.zigpoll.com/guides/how-to-find-out-why-customers-buy.md). # How to Find Out Why Customers Buy Ask customers what convinced them and what they plan to do with the product, then put their words in your copy and their intent in your email Attribution tells you where a customer came from. It doesn't tell you why they bought, and "why" is the answer your product page, your ads and your welcome emails are all guessing at. Customers can tell you. Asked on the thank-you page, while the decision is seconds old, they will name the review that tipped them, the photo that sold them, the problem they're hoping the product solves. Those answers are copy you didn't have to write and segments you didn't have to infer. *** ## Building the survey ### Question 1 — The decider Add a **Single Choice** question: **"What most influenced your decision to buy today?"** This is the question to ask if you can only ask one. Offer options that correspond to levers you control: * It solves a specific problem I have * The price or a discount made it worth it * Reviews or ratings gave me confidence * A recommendation from someone I trust * A creator or social post convinced me * Shipping speed or the delivery promise * The return policy or guarantee reduced the risk * The quality looked better than the alternatives * A bundle, subscription or offer made it easier * I needed it now Enable **"Other"** with a write-in. Keep the list to motivations only; don't mix in channels, which belong in the [attribution question](/guides/how-to-measure-marketing-attribution.md). ### Question 2 — In their words Add a **Long Answer** question: **"In your own words, what's the biggest benefit of this product for you?"** This is the question that pays for the survey. The phrases customers use to describe the benefit are almost never the phrases on your product page, and theirs convert better, because they are the words the next customer is already thinking. Brands that lift this language straight into product descriptions routinely see add-to-cart rates move. ### Question 3 — Intent Add a **Single Choice** question: **"What do you plan to use it for?"** with your real use cases as options, or **"Who is this for?"** if the product is often a gift (see [How to Measure Gift Buying](/guides/how-to-measure-gift-buying.md)). Intent is the most useful personalization signal you can collect. A fitness brand that learns a buyer is a runner sends running content, not cycling content. A skincare brand that learns the buyer wants help with dryness skips the acne emails. It also surfaces use cases you didn't design for, which are new positioning and sometimes new products. ### Question 4 — The hesitation If you have room, add **"What almost stopped you from buying?"** as a **Long Answer**. It belongs in this survey because motivation and hesitation are two halves of the same decision. [How to Find Out Why Visitors Aren't Buying](/guides/how-to-find-out-why-visitors-arent-buying.md) covers it in depth. *** ## Where to run it * **Thank You page** — the default. The decision is seconds old and recall is perfect. Use the **Thank You & Order Status** delivery, or [layer it onto](/tutorials/layered-post-purchase-surveys.md) an existing post-purchase survey. * **First-time buyers only.** Target with the **New Customers** preset under **Settings → Targeting**. Repeat buyers have a different "why," covered in [How to Turn First-Time Buyers into Repeat Customers](/guides/how-to-turn-first-time-buyers-into-repeat-customers.md). * **Order Paid email** — if your thank-you page is already spoken for, an [Order Paid Survey](/tutorials/order-paid-survey.md) an hour after purchase still catches the decision while it's fresh. *** ## Reading the results ### Weight motivations by revenue Zigpoll shows the total and average order value behind each answer ([Order Stats](/tutorials/order-stats.md)). "The discount" may be the most-chosen motivation and also the one with the lowest average order value. "Quality looked better than the alternatives" is usually the opposite. The customers you want more of are the ones whose motivation you should lead with. ### Cross the decider with the channel If you run both this question and attribution on the same survey, break motivation down by channel. Customers from a podcast who bought because of "a recommendation from someone I trust" are telling you the host's endorsement is doing the work, not the discount code. Customers from paid social who bought because of "reviews" are telling you to put reviews in the ad. ### Mine the benefit write-ins for copy Export the **Long Answer** responses, or let Z-GPT Insights cluster them. Look for: * **Phrases that recur** — those are your new headline candidates. * **Benefits you don't mention** — customers who found a benefit you never advertise are describing an untapped angle. * **Benefits you lead with that nobody mentions** — those are headlines to demote. Then test the new language on the product page. [How to Test Your Messaging and Positioning](/guides/how-to-test-your-messaging-and-positioning.md) covers how to run that comparison. *** ## Turn intent into segments The intent answer is only valuable if it reaches your email platform. Use [Question Logic](/questions/question-logic.md) integration actions: * [**Klaviyo**](/integrations/klaviyo.md) — the answer lands as a profile property. Build one segment per intent and give each its own post-purchase flow. See [Klaviyo Segmentation](/tutorials/klaviyo-segmentation.md). * **Shopify** — **Add Customer Tag** with the intent, so the tag is available to every other app in your store and to [Shopify Flow](/shopify-app/shopify-flow.md). * **Lookalike audiences** — export the customers who bought for your highest-value motivation and seed an audience from them. *** ## Related {% content-ref url="/pages/kf9a6Ys5Y7CYvVupiXEi" %} [What Brands Have Learned with Zigpoll](/guides/what-brands-have-learned.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/jep3ZyGAGh7Un6jTVncW" %} [How to Build a Post-Purchase Survey Customers Actually Answer](/guides/how-to-build-a-post-purchase-survey.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/7ah7NOivpQ5byvqk41c2" %} [How to Build Your Ideal Customer Profile](/guides/how-to-build-your-ideal-customer-profile.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/uZzmwXRquTBAxLPBAgeA" %} [How to Test Your Messaging and Positioning](/guides/how-to-test-your-messaging-and-positioning.md) {% endcontent-ref %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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