Wording the answers

There are many variations of wording the answers in a Kano survey. Different researchers have used different wordings (and as you can see, Chen 2020 even used different wordings for the functional and dysfunctional questions).

	Martin Löfgren & Lars Witell (2008)	Matzler (1998)	Chen (2020) Functional responses	Chen (2020) Dysfunctional responses
Like	I like it that way	I like it that way	I like it	I like it very much
Expect	I am expecting it to be that way	It must be that way	I take it for granted	I take it for granted
Neutral	I am neutral	I am neutral	I have no feeling about it	I have no feeling about it
Accept	I can accept it to be that way	I can live with it that way	I reluctantly accept it	I barely accept it
Dislike	I dislike it that way	I dislike it that way	I don’t like it	I don’t like it

The wording of the answers is crucial to your Kano study. One paper has shown that switching from one version of answers to another reduced the amount of Questionable responses (i.e. responses that make no sense, such as answering "I like it" for a feature's absence and presence) from 6% to 2% (Nilsson-Witell and Fundin, 2005).

This does not mean that there is one perfect set of answers. Instead, it means that customers must fully understand the idea behind the answers they can give. How you word your answers is therefore dependent on your study. Proper, clear and understandable wording leads to reliable results.

When wording your answers, make sure that customers:

• understand the relation between the question and the possible answers;

• are not confused about the meaning of the answers;

• clearly understand the difference between the answers.

From good questions come good answers

Answers are related to your questions. First work on your questions, then on the wording of your answers.

Clear, specific questions that are on the same hierarchical level and within the same category are fundamental to getting the customer choose her answer confidently.

Finding the right wording for your answers is a lot easier when your questions are sound to begin with.

Answers are not part of a scale

To find the right wording for your answers, you must understand that the answers to a Kano survey are not on a scale of “very satisfied,” “satisfied,” “no feeling,” “dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied.”

The typical format of a Kano survey – 5 types of answers in a row or column – gives the impression of a scale. People are also used to scales in surveys. That's one of the reasons why one-on-one interviews is the best way of administering a Kano survey. Customers must be made aware that they are not awarding points on a scale.

Kano survey answers are two sets of opposites, with neutral in the middle. An answer from the Like-Dislike set means that the customer believes that you have agency over the performance of a feature. The other set (Expect and Accept) indicates that the customer considers presence or sufficiency outside of your control.

Try to convey this meaning in the answers that customers can give.

The possible answers are all very distinct from each other. Your wording should make it clear that each option is not part of a continuous scale (even within its own set, such as Expect-Accept), but really a reflection of a separate, distinct feeling about a feature. This means you should never number the default answers on the Kano questionnaire.

Also, eliminate comparative words in your answers. Don’t use things like “I like that best” or “This seems worse”. The possible answers must be unrelated to each other.

Understand the meaning of the answers

To create a good wording for the answers, you must understand what the different answer options actually mean.

These are the options you’ll encounter in most articles on the Kano model:

• I like it that way

• It must be that way

• I am neutral

• I can live with it that way

• I dislike it that way

This list is from a 1993 translation (Berger et al, 1993) of Kano’s original 1984 paper.

But the list is not entirely correct, specifically for the Must-Be and Acceptable answers. Knowing the true origins of the default answers will help you write better answers and get better results from your Kano studies.

Like

The idea behind Like as an answer is that the customer has a positive feeling about a feature’s presence or sufficiency (or absence and insufficiency, in case it's an answer to the dysfunctional version of the feature). This answer supposes agency from your part: the customer likes that you would (not) do this for them. They feel as if you have control over the feature's performance.

Common, good wordings are “I like it that way” or “I like it”. Just remember to make sure that the wording of the “Like” answer makes sense in relation to your questions.

Must-Be

Researchers and Kano practitioners are confused about the Must-Be response option. They ask themselves why Must-Be is the second option in the row of possible answers. Why is it not the first? Is “must” not a stronger feeling than “like”?

Published Kano studies use wordings for the Must-Be type of answer that range between “It must be that way” over “I expect it to be that way” to “I need this”. You’ll encounter answers where the “Must-be”-meaning is changed into an “expect”-meaning in an attempt to solve this confusion. But that doesn’t take away all of the confusion.

There are two reasons for this confusion. One is the common misconception that the answers are on a scale. Another reason is the historical mistranslation of the original Kano wording.

The original Japanese paper from 1984 used the term 当り前, which is transliterated as “atarimae”. Atarimae can be translated as “natural”, “obvious”, “taken for granted”, “usual” and “the norm” (Horton & Goers, 2019). This strokes with the origins of Kano’s method. Kano based his theory on Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory that there are two types of factors that influence employee satisfaction: Motivating and Hygiene factors. The “Must-Be” answer option is analogous to the “Hygiene” concept: it’s expected in as much that it is considered the norm.

This means that “I expect this” is already a better wording than “It must be that way”. So in any case, never use “must” in wording the “Must-Be” option. The response should indicate that what is being asked is common, expected and sometimes even unremarkable.

This also fits with the “Must-Be” category: features in that category are often unexpressed because they are considered to be the norm. Mind that these features are a must-be feature from your point of view. From the customer’s perspective, they are just obvious and common.

So a customer that gives the Must-Be or Expect answer does not impose a demand. She expresses what she considers the norm.

There is another important nuance to this notion of expectation. Expectation can be used anticipatory (“I expect the sun will rise tomorrow”) or as a requirement (“I expect you to bring back the book tomorrow”).

Your wording of the “Expect” answer should not imply that the customer requires something (i.e. that you bring back the book), but that she simply believes the feature in question is obvious (i.e. that the sun will rise tomorrow). She believes you have little or no control over the feature's performance, but expects it to be present.

If you were to survey customers about the addition of a mobile banking service, you’d want your Expect answer to be worded something like “That's only natural” or “I find that obvious”.

Neutral

The “Neutral” answer is easier to rephrase. It simply means that the customer has no feelings about the question.

Some surveys use “I don’t care” for this answer. It’s okay to use "I don't care", but in some cases, you’d be better off emphasizing that the answer actually means that the customer has no feelings at all about the question. “I don’t care” can carry a meaning sense of dismissal, dislike even. That is not the intent of this answer.

If you look at the standard Kano lookup table, you'll see for instance that a functional Neutral answer and dysfunctional Dislike answer categorizes a feature as a Must-Be feature. So the customer is not satisfied or unsatisfied about a feature's presence, but she would be unsatisfied if it were absent. This means the feature is expected, considered the norm. So while the customer is has no feelings about the feature's presence, she would consider its absence unnerving.

Emphasize the lack of feeling while wording your neutral answers, and avoid terms that hint towards positive or negative feelings. “I have no feelings about this” is better than “I don’t care about this”.

Acceptable

A customer who answers Acceptable means she begrudgingly agrees.

This type of answer also means that the customer knows there’s not a lot she (or you) can do about the feature’s presence or absence (or its performance). She puts up with it. The original Japanese term for this fourth option is しかたない (“shikatanai”), which translates to “there is no choice” or “it cannot be helped”. (Horton & Goers, 1999).

This answer is the opposite of the Expect answer. The feature’s presence (it's there, and I don't like it, but there's nothing to be done about it) or absence (it's absence irks me, but there's nothing to be done about it) is considered natural, and although we’re not too fond of it, it’s something that we’ll just have to accept. Sometimes the wording “It must be that way” that is erroneously used for a Must-Be answer is more fitting for Accept answers.

Wordings like “I can accept that” are therefore not completely adequate. Depending on your question, make sure the answer customers can give implies the sense of naturalness.

For instance, to the question of “when applying for a loan, how would you feel if you had to give the bank your three last payslips?”, wording the Accept answer a “I can live with it” is better than “I can accept that”. It means the customer's not fond it but also that she acknowledges there's nothing that can be done about it. In this case, it's a legal requirement, and the customer knows it's outside of her and your control.

Dislike

The Dislike answer is again easier. Your wording should express aversion and disapproval. What the customer indicates is that she thinks the feature should not exist (or perform) and that its existence or performance is not natural.

Notice the control element: here, the customer believes someone (herself or you) has agency over this feature’s existence or performance, and that that someone should exert that power.

Phrases like “I don’t like that” or “I dislike it” are okay for this type of answer. If you want to, you can word it a bit stronger too. For instance, “I would hate that” is a valid phrasing to the dysfunctional “when opening a new bank account, how would you feel if you were not provided with a mobile banking service?

Check with the original lookup table

If you’re unsure about the wording of your answers, go back to the classic Kano lookup table for categorising answers.

Feature presence ↓	Feature absence →
	Like	Expect	Neutral	Accept	Dislike
Like	Q	A	A	A	O
Expect	R	I	I	I	M
Neutral	R	I	I	I	M
Accept	R	I	I	I	M
Dislike	R	R	R	R	Q

Knowing what category the combination of answers to a functional and dysfunctional feature leads to (and what that category actually means) can help you better with the wording of your answers.

Using different labels for functional and dysfunctional questions

Although it is not very common, you can use different labels for the answers to functional and dysfunctional answers. As long as you keep the spirit of the answers intact, you’ll be fine.

Using "Other" as a sixth possible answer

Particularly if you're you're not able to talk to the survey participants, consider leaving "Other" as a choice for your questions.

The number of "Other" answers serves as a good measure of confidence for your survey. If the number of "Other" responses does not exceed 1% for every survey item, it can be certified that the survey results are extremely confident (Kano, 2001).

Think about your answers' wordings

The wordings you use for your answers should reflect their meaning in relation to the questions you’re asking. Don’t settle too fast for standard response labels.

Make sure your answers reflect the original intent. Be very strict about that. Be especially attentive to how you label the Expect and Accept answers.

When in doubt, refer back to the classic lookup table. Check whether the combination of your question and its answers (i.e. the category the customer’s answer would point to) makes absolute sense. If it doesn’t, first make sure your questions are sound. Your answers may seem off because your questions aren’t phrased very well.