Annual Questionnaire

The Consumer Reports Annual Questionnaire (AQ) is an opportunity for subscribers to tell Consumer Reports about the products, services, retail experiences, and health-care issues that matter to them.

Every year, the Consumer Reports National Research Center sends the Annual Questionnaire to all qualified, paid Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org subscribers. It is one of the largest and most complex consumer surveys in the world. In fact, other then the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, the number of AQ respondents may be larger then the sample of any other survey conducted in the U.S. The file is segmented and over 50 different versions of the questionnaire are prepared and distributed. We received responses from more than one million subscribers, who provided information about many products and services, including about 1.3 million vehicles.

Most Consumer Reports Ratings based on survey data require the large samples available only through the Annual Questionnaire. One of the primary types of information we obtain is reliability data.

Our Annual Auto Survey, which is a component of the Annual Questionnaire, provides the most comprehensive reliability information available, offering detailed information on about 300 models each year. From the survey a reliability history is created for each model for the last 10 years. Consumer Reports uses the reliability data, in part, to help readers determine which used cars to buy or avoid. Consumer Reports also uses the reliability data to forecast how the coming year's models will hold up.

Examples of other product-reliability Ratings reported annually include brand-repair histories for computers, TVs, digital cameras, digital camcorders, washers, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, cooktops, microwaves, stoves, vacuum cleaners, and mowers. In total, the questionnaire provides data for calculating the brand repair index for approximately 30 product categories, which is a major complement to the technical Ratings on model performance.

The AQ also collects auto owner satisfaction experiences. We ask subscribers whether they would buy their particular vehicle again. We provide overall Ratings and seven different Ratings factors for about 300 car models.

In addition, the AQ provides the data for the periodic Consumer Reports articles containing subscriber Ratings of service providers. These include hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, chain restaurants, auto/home insurance, telecommunications, home improvement, electronics, and appliance retailers.

And the AQ collects health-care information, with the large samples allowing us to look at the data in complex ways. Some recent reports include hospital visits, mental health experiences, and Ratings of drugstore pharmacies.

One measure of the value of the Annual Questionnaire is that about half of the 50 highest-read Consumer Reports articles in 2009 used Annual Questionnaire data, including 15 that were primarily based on the AQ.