Moderated chat question

Think of it as a moderator who sits inside your survey. When a reply is vague, like “too expensive,” it asks what the respondent meant, guided by the learning objectives you wrote. You control the opening question, the moderator’s tone, and how many follow-ups it can ask. The result is a conversational survey that turns closed answers into reasons from every respondent who reaches the question. It runs automatically inside the same survey your respondents are already taking, so no human moderator is needed.

How moderated chat works

You set the brief, the moderator asks the questions, and the respondent does the talking.

• Pick the moment: Place the question right after the answer you want explained, or wherever you want to open a new conversation.

• Choose a mode: Follow-up mode starts from an answer the respondent already gave, such as a score or a preferred brand. Independent mode starts from an opening question you write, which suits concept reactions and exploratory topics.

• Brief your moderator: Set your key learning objectives, moderator instructions, and the maximum number of follow-ups.

• Let QuestionPro AI drive the conversation: It asks a follow-up when a reply is vague and wraps up once the objective is met. The respondent then continues your survey.

Example of moderated chat in your surveys

Consider a national telecom provider in the US running a quarterly NPS survey. Detractor comments keep coming back as “bad service,” which is too thin to route to the network, billing, or support teams. So the CX team adds a moderated chat question right after the NPS question, in follow-up mode. The opening question repeats each respondent’s score. Within two or three follow-ups, “bad service” becomes an evening outage that started two months ago. The network team can act on that, and it arrives with the score.

The same approach works across other studies:

• Insurance claims: A US auto insurer follows up on low CSAT scores after closed claims and learns customers are waiting on repair estimates, not adjusters.

• Brand tracking: A global beverage brand asks every respondent who switched to a competitor what drove the switch, right beside its brand tracking metrics.

• Product discovery: A mid-size SaaS company uses independent mode to hear how customers describe the job they use its product for.

• Pricing research: A consultancy adds a chat after a Van Westendorp price sensitivity question to learn what would make the higher price feel worth it.

The uses of moderated chat

The uses of moderated chat are:

• Explaining scores and ratings: Add AI follow-up questions after an NPS, CSAT, or purchase intent score and capture the reason while the experience is still fresh.

• Clarifying vague open-ended answers: When someone writes “it was fine,” QuestionPro AI probes for detail instead of leaving you to guess.

• Probing brand and competitor choices: Ask why a respondent picked a brand, or moved away from yours, by referencing the choice they just made.

• Testing concepts, ads, and pricing: Learn what landed and what would change their mind, beyond the rating.

• Exploring open topics: Use independent mode to start a conversation from an opening question you write.

• Running hybrid qual and quant studies: Collect qualitative depth and survey data from one audience, in one survey and one project.

The advantages of moderated chat

The advantages of moderated chat are:

• The why behind every answer: Every respondent who reaches the question can explain their answer, so you report reasons next to results.

• Richer data than an open text box: Adaptive follow-up questions clarify short replies, so you spend less time on one-word responses.

• Control over every conversation: Learning objectives, moderator instructions, and a follow-up cap keep each interview on your brief.

• Short, respectful interviews: QuestionPro AI stops once the objective is met, which helps protect completion rates.

• Qualitative insight without a second study: Skip recruiting, scheduling, and transcription. Findings arrive with your survey data.

• Built into the QuestionPro platform: It runs on QuestionPro AI within the QuestionPro survey platform, with no extra tool, vendor, or data hand-off.

Moderated chat replaces the deep dive question type

The deep dive question type proved that respondents explain themselves when you ask the right next question. Moderated chat takes that further as a dedicated question type where you set the objective, the moderator’s style, and each conversation's length. Chat is the first format of the interview question type, with voice and video formats planned for upcoming releases.

How to use moderated chat in QuestionPro

To use moderated chat in your research studies, read our help file on how to set up moderated chat.