Research Topics:

Focus Group-Moderating | Psychological/Emotion Research | Qualitative Research

Industry/Market Focus:

Consumers

Content Type:

Glossary

Best Light Phenomenon Definition

When respondents bias their answers in a market research project so that they can then appear in the best possible way to those who are looking at the responses.

Best light phenomenon occurs when respondents in market research projects like survey studies, interviews and focus groups distort their answers so they appear in what they consider to be the best possible light to those viewing and analyzing them. Answers presented by respondents may be idealized or exaggerated to protect their reputation or to make them appear more valuable to researchers. Respondents may know their responses could be shared outside the study, so they want to put themselves in a positive light. The phenomenon can happen in any type of data collection method used for marketing research. This presents an issue for researchers, who must remain aware that this phenomenon may create a bias in the study.

Why should I care about best light phenomenon?

The concept of best light phenomenon looms large in studies, so researchers must be active in reducing the phenomenon. If researchers aren’t cognizant of the potential bias of respondents, questions about the market research’s accuracy and reliability may be raised. Steps they can take include reducing or eliminating leading questions from surveys, providing incentives to respondents for participation and having study materials reviewed by colleagues beforehand for bias.