Market Research: 6 Traits That Matter Most to Families

While doing market research, we look for insights we can glean from “consistently significant” data. We spend a lot of time identifying how segments of your audience differ and how to adapt based on an individual’s mindset at a moment in time. But there’s one question that—no matter the segment or phase of the admission cycle a family may be in—people universally agree on.

We ask: “What ONE word describes the most important trait you would like to see in your child as a graduate?”

With a resounding lead, it’s CONFIDENCE.

Then, vying for second, we hear:

1. Compassionate
2. Curious
3. Motivated
4. Resilient
5. Well-rounded

At StoryScape, we’re dedicating 2026 to these six fine words, brought to us through the schools and families we were honored to work with in 2025.

Here’s to a new year filled with confidence—the kind that’s rooted in compassion, fueled by curiosity, driven by motivation, strengthened by resilience, and expressed in all the well-rounded ways that make us fully human.