We pre-registered a prediction in our own favor. The data said no. We published it.
A pre-registered study of 2,600 synthetic respondents across eight markets, sealed by hash before we saw a single data point. It confirmed, with sealed evidence, what we actually sell — that fixing a persona's profile changes its behavior controllably and traceably — and it falsified what we would have loved to claim: that the same layer is what makes markets differ. We publish both.
Synthetic Respondents vs Real Participants: When to Use Which (An Honest Guide)
The question is not whether synthetic respondents are real people. It is whether they fit the decision in front of you. Here is when each one earns its place, and when using the wrong one costs you.
How to Test Your Discussion Guide Before Fieldwork (Without Burning Your Recruit Budget)
Pilot interviews cost almost as much as the study, so most teams skip them and walk into fieldwork with an untested guide. Here is how to pressure-test the guide, the framing and the segments against synthetic respondents first.
Favorite Brand Is Not Refrigerator Brand
Ask someone their favourite juice and you learn who they want to be. Ask what is in their fridge and you learn who they are. Across Spain, the US and the UK, synthetic respondents knew the difference.
When Synthetic Respondents Stop Choosing
What eight markets revealed when we stopped asking them to pick — and started asking them to decide.
Beyond Preferences: How Synthetic Respondents Reveal Decision Processes Under Uncertainty
When a question has an obvious answer, synthetic respondents converge. But when two trusted authorities disagree and both admit they could be wrong, respondents stop choosing — and start designing a process.
You Don't Need More Data — You Need Better Questions
Most teams don't suffer from lack of data. They suffer from starting in the wrong place. And better data won't fix a bad question.
The Problem With AI That Always Sounds Right
Fluency is not validity. The most dangerous failure in AI-driven research isn't being wrong — it's being wrong while sounding right, because confident prose is exactly what stops anyone from checking. Here's what we do about it.
The Surprising Boundary Between Psychology and Culture
We benchmarked synthetic respondents against real World Values Survey populations in the US and GB. They carry real, structured signal — but the variance collapses, and one finding redrew where we think the technology's edge actually lies.
When Consumers Contradict Themselves — That's the Insight
Most research tries to remove inconsistency. Clean the data, align responses, find the pattern. But inconsistency is not noise. It's the signal.
Why Most Qualitative Research Feels Right — and Still Misses the Point
A good interview feels convincing. The respondent is articulate. The story flows. The insights sound clear. And that's exactly the problem.
Synthetic Research Is Not About Speed — It's About Simulating Decisions
Most tools compete on speed. But speed is not the real shift. The real shift is being able to simulate how a decision forms before it happens in the real world.
Consumers Don't Know Why They Buy — They Just Explain It Later
Ask someone why they bought something and you'll get an answer. It will sound reasonable. Coherent. Even confident. And it will probably be wrong.
Decision Simulation: A Cross-Market Study on Sustainability (2026)
652 validated respondents. 3 markets. Under 2 hours. What this study set out to test — and what the data actually showed.
The Biggest Risk in Research Isn't Speed — It's Starting Wrong
Most research problems don't fail in the field. They fail before the first question is even asked — because the starting point is wrong.
When Synthetic and Human Responses Align — and When They Don't
The question isn't whether you can trust synthetic respondents. It's when different sources tell the same story — and when they don't.
Why Most AI Evaluation Fails at Conversation
Most systems are good at generating answers. Very few are good at sustaining reasoning. And almost none can tell you when a conversation actually holds up.
Persona engine
QualiSynth synthetic respondents are powered by StrataSynth. The StrataSynth blog covers persona construction, segment modelling, and the methodology behind synthetic conversation.
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