What do participants really think of AI-moderated interviews? Turns out, they prefer them!

Every other month we will be giving you the opportunity to “ask Strella anything” about a certain topic. For whatever question gets the most upvotes, Strella will run the research and share the findings!

Last month’s topic was customer research. The winning question came from Kendall Young, a Consumer Insights Senior Analyst at MeUndies who asked: “Are there certain topics consumers are more comfortable discussing with AI vs a human moderator? (Especially curious as an underwear researcher!)”

We interviewed 13 recent Strella participants and we asked them:

• When you participated in an AI-moderated interview, what was the topic discussed?

• When participating in future research on this topic, would you prefer an AI-moderated interview, human-moderated interview, or a survey and why?

• In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of AI-moderated interviews compared to human-moderated interviews? To surveys?

The 13 participants were roughly evenly split between a B2C and B2B audience. Out of the 13, 7 said they prefer AI-moderated interviews, 2 said surveys, 1 said human-moderated interviews and 3 said it depends. For the 7 who prefer an AI-moderated interview, the overarching reason was that participants appreciate the convenient yet engaging experience that AI-moderated interviews provide: “It's easy to schedule at your convenience, and I think it's kind of cool, frankly, to be able to voice your opinion like this. And then it builds off of the answers that you give and then, you know, asks questions accordingly,” says Aneeta V. Watch the video below to hear each participant's selection and rationale:

When we break this down by audience type, AI-moderated interviews remained the top choice for both B2C and B2B participants. B2C participants showed an especially strong preference for AI moderated interviews, citing their ability to create a comfortable, judgment-free environment: "I actually really liked the AI moderated interview because it felt really more free to share my opinions. I really enjoyed knowing that there wasn't a human on the other end, so I felt less judged,” says Meagan M. The participants who chose human-moderated interviews or said it depends, mentioned that the specific topic and the length of the interview plays a role in their research preference: “Having more interaction or feedback from the human is helpful for longer topics. But the AI format is pretty good. Like I said, it's flexible and maybe even would be preferable for certain other topics,” says Michelle H.

We honed in on Kendall’s initial question, and heard B2C participants consistently note that they would be more willing to discuss sensitive and personal topics with an AI-moderator vs. a human “I feel like with AI led interviews, I would feel more comfortable divulging sensitive information- let's say it's a topic about sexual wellness, for instance. I might feel a bit uncomfortable speaking to a human led moderator for that, but AI, I would feel more forthcoming in my responses,” says Ruby V. Despite knowing that a human researcher will ultimately be reviewing the content, participants still feel more comfortable speaking with an AI-moderator: “I'm more open to divulging personal experiences to an AI moderator because although humans will ultimately be reviewing the content, I'm not having to communicate directly to a human and the emotions that my information may elicit from them in the moment.” says Adam S. Watch the video below to see how AI moderation helps create an environment where participants feel safe and encouraged to share openly:

For the B2B audience, AI-moderated interviews and surveys rose to the top. B2B participants highlighted the importance of convenient and flexible scheduling - noting it can be challenging to fit in research calls during the work day: “most studies tend to take place, at least the human moderated ones, tend to take place during business hours…and so being able to do it in my own time, like I mentioned with the survey, provides more flexibility,” says Connor O. When compared against each other, AI-moderated interviews and surveys both have their benefits and tradeoffs. AI-moderated interviews offers a more dynamic and personalized experience: “Sometimes it's very difficult to ask questions in a survey that's applicable across different jobs and different business sizes too. But in an AI interview it's like the AI is going to collect some basic information from you about your job and then adjust accordingly. And so I feel a little bit more comfortable that the conversation will go in a way that makes sense” says Nick C.  On the other hand, surveys offer further flexibility due to the type-based nature and the ability to take them at your own pace, “a survey can be done in my own time and so if some research were needed, then I could take the time to do that as opposed to an AI or live person interview when the answer needs to be more immediate,” says Adam S. 

Across the board, when asked “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend an AI-moderated interview to a friend or colleague,” on average the participants rated it a 9. Watch the video below to hear why, or try a sample interview to see it for yourself, and let us know what your experience was like!