Make Consumers Say What You Want Them To Say

This one is too good to pass up:

Under the headline "How to get power users answering questions the way you want" a pro-smart-grid daily trade rag, Smart Grid Today, dispenses advice on how to get consumers to answer the way you want them to answer.

Pepco finds word choice makes all the difference:

" 'Utilities should use caution in phrasing questions to consumers about the smart grid since the choice of words strongly influences the answers,' Rick Morgan, a regulator with the Washington, DC, PSC, told us Wednesday," Smart Grid Today states in its August 27, 2010 issue.

The approach is of particular importance if you're trying to get government funding, as many smart grid firms are attempting as part of the greentech initiatives popular in Washington.

Maybe the headline on Smart Grid Today would better be stated:

"Leading questions? Of course we recommend using them! Listening to the consumer answer an open-ended question? No way!"