About the Sequential Monadic Concept Test Survey

The Sequential Monadic Concept Test is a survey type designed to evaluate multiple concepts, such as product ideas, positioning statements, or packaging designs. Unlike a traditional Monadic Concept Test where each panelist evaluates only one concept, a Sequential Monadic Concept Test allows each panelist to evaluate multiple concepts, one at a time, in a randomized order.

Each concept is evaluated using the same set of questions, making it easier to compare how the same shoppers respond to different ideas. The order in which the concepts are shown is randomized, which helps reduce potential order bias.

When to use a Sequential Monadic Concept Test

Sequential Monadic Concept Tests are especially useful when you want to:

Evaluate multiple concepts with the same group of shoppers
Compare reactions to a short list of potential ideas
Gather consistent feedback on appeal, uniqueness, purchase intent, or other measures across concepts
Make efficient use of a smaller sample by having each panelist evaluate multiple concepts.

Good to Know: In Sequential Monadic surveys, each panelist answers the same evaluation questions for every concept, so survey length and question count can add up quickly. We recommend focusing on a smaller set of concepts and prioritizing the questions most important to your research objectives to stay within the survey question limit and help minimize respondent fatigue.

Monadic vs. Sequential Monadic Concept Tests

Both survey types allow you to evaluate multiple concepts, but the key difference is how many concepts each panelist sees.

	Monadic Concept Test	Sequential Monadic Concept Test
Panelist Experience	Each panelist evaluates one concept independently	Each panelist evaluates multiple concepts, one at a time, in a randomized order
Sample Considerations	Requires separate quota groups for each concept, which can make testing multiple concepts or audiences more challenging	Can be feasible with smaller or niche audiences since the same panelists evaluate all concepts
Depth of Feedback	Allows more questions to be dedicated to evaluating each concept.	Fewer questions can be asked about each concept to stay within the survey question limit
Things to Consider	Testing more concepts or audiences can require more quota groups and a larger total sample	Evaluating multiple concepts can make surveys longer, and seeing one concept may influence reactions to the next

Which should you use?

Monadic: Best when you want to evaluate concepts independently, without panelists being influenced by exposure to other concepts, or when you need more detailed feedback on each idea. Learn more here.
Sequential Monadic: Best when you want the same shoppers to evaluate multiple concepts, especially when sample is limited or you’ve narrowed your ideas to a smaller set of finalists.

Quick Tips: How to Set Up Your Survey

Step 1: Select Panelists

Begin by selecting Sequential Monadic Concept Test from the Specialty Surveys menu. Then, define the sample group(s) you’d like to hear from using the prompts in the Main Prompt and People Options madlib.

Like the traditional Monadic Concept Test, Sequential Monadic surveys use the Test Panel. Unlike the traditional Monadic Concept Test, however, you don’t need to create a separate quota group for each concept, since every panelist evaluates all concepts in the survey.

Good to Know: Unlike a traditional Monadic Concept Test, you do not need to create separate quota groups for each concept. The same panelists will evaluate all of the concepts included in your questionnaire.

Example: To evaluate three positioning ideas for a new trail bar, you might target shoppers who have purchased from the Nutrition & Wholesome Bars category within the latest 26 weeks.

Step 2: Create Questionnaire

Begin building your questionnaire by adding any questions you’d like panelists to answer outside of the concept evaluations.

Create a Monadic Section

To add a concept evaluation to your questionnaire:

Step 1: Under Create Question, select Create Monadic Section. A new Monadic Section will appear in the Questionnaire Builder.

Step 2: Within the Monadic Section, click Add Concept to enter your Concept Name and upload your Concept Image. Repeat this process to add the remaining concepts you’d like evaluated.

Step 3: Add the questions you would like panelists to answer about each concept.

You only need to build your evaluation questions once. The platform automatically presents the same questions for each concept, with the order of concepts randomized across panelists.

Example: Testing Trail Bar Positioning Concepts

Imagine you want to evaluate three positioning concepts for a new trail bar: Protein Powered, Simply Nutritious, and Fuel Every Adventure. Using one Monadic Section, shoppers will evaluate each concept by answering the same three questions about overall appeal, uniqueness, and purchase intent. The concept order will automatically be randomized. This Monadic Section is 9 questions in total.

Questionnaire Considerations & Best Practices

Be mindful of survey length: Each question is repeated for every concept in the Monadic Section. Keep this in mind when planning your questionnaire and survey length.
Supported Question Types: Monadic Sections support single select, multiple select, grid, and open end questions. Other question types can be added outside of the Monadic Section.
Questionnaire Logic: Questionnaire logic is not supported within Monadic Sections
Consider the panelist experience: Evaluating multiple concepts can make a survey longer and more repetitive. Focus on the questions that matter most to your research objectives.
Add instructional text: Consider introducing the exercise before the Monadic Section so panelists know they'll be reviewing multiple concepts and answering questions about each one.
Organize your questionnaire: You can include multiple Monadic Sections alongside standard questions and instructional text. Use drag-and-drop to rearrange questions and sections as needed.
Preview before launch: Test your survey more than once to check that each concept displays correctly, the questions repeat as intended, and the concept order is randomized

Step 3: Review Survey

Before launching, review your panelist group, questionnaire, and survey setup.

Use Survey Preview to review the full experience from the panelist’s point of view, paying special attention to your Monadic Sections.

As you preview, check that:

Each concept displays the correct name and image
The same evaluation questions appear for each concept
Concepts appear in a randomized order
Any questions or instructional text outside of the Monadic Section(s) appear in the intended order.
The overall survey flow and length makes sense

Pro Tip: Preview your survey multiple times to test different concept orders. Since each preview shows one possible sequence, restarting and running through the survey more than once helps confirms everything works as intended.

Survey Results

Once your survey results are available, you can review how panelists responded to each concept directly in your Survey Report.

For questions within a Monadic Section, results are organized by concept, making it easy to compare how each concept performed across the same evaluation questions.You can also select which answer options to display to focus your analysis.

Learn more about In-Platform Survey Results [link].

Sequential Monadic Survey Watchouts

Question Types: Only single-select, multiple-select, grid, and open-ended questions are supported within Monadic Sections.
Questionnaire Logic: Questionnaire logic cannot be applied to questions within a Monadic Section.
Question Count: Questions within a Monadic Section are repeated for each concept and count toward the survey's total question limit.
Survey Length: Because each panelist evaluates multiple concepts, keep the number of concepts and evaluation questions manageable to avoid respondent fatigue.
Order Effects: Randomizing concept order helps reduce order bias, but exposure to earlier concepts may still influence responses to later ones.
Test Panel Targeting: Like traditional Monadic Concept Tests, Sequential Monadic surveys use the Test Panel. Because the Test Panel is not longitudinal, targeting options based on non-purchase behavior are not supported

In-Platform Survey Types: About the Sequential Monadic Concept Test Survey