June 22, 2022
The Vision Council has released the Focused inSights 2022: Consumer Choices report. The report is the first of the Focused inSights reports—in-depth special interest reports on rotating topics—to be released as part of The Vision Council’s new inSights Research Program, according to reporting by Vision Monday.
The Focused inSights 2022: Consumer Choices report includes information on the consumer decision-making process relating to selecting an eyecare provider and purchasing vision care products and services. Morning Consult conducted the poll on behalf of The Vision Council in May 2022 among a sample of 2,200 adults.
“We are excited to launch our first in a series of Focused inSights reports that provide a deep dive into topics important to the industry,” said Alysse Henkel, director of Research Data and Analytics at The Vision Council. “From this first report on how consumers make choices about their eyewear products and eyecare, we found that consumers want to see a healthy mix of professional knowledge, convenience and style—all at a good value. The survey results indicate that consumers will return to locations and products that provide this for them.”
Key takeaways from Focused inSights 2022: Consumer Choices include:
Eye Exam Takeaways:
- Of the tested options, adults are most likely to have gotten their most recent eye exam to maintain healthy vision (34 percent) or because they needed new glasses (30 percent).
- Adults believe it was very or somewhat easy (92 percent) to make their most recent eye exam appointment.
- More than two in five adults say the practice being in their insurance network (46 percent) and the practice’s cleanliness and organization (45 percent) were very important when researching where to get their most recent eye exam. Comparatively, half say the ethnicity/race (50 percent) and gender (49 percent) of the staff at the practice were not at all important to them when researching where to get their most recent eye exam.
- Prior experience and knowledge are important factors that influence adults to request specific eye doctors. Among the tested options, adults who requested a specific eye doctor at their most recent appointment within the past year say they did so because of previous experience with the eye doctor (54 percent), or because the eye doctor was knowledgeable (42 percent).
Eyewear Takeaways:
- Across all eyewear categories, adults choose price/affordability as the factor most likely to influence their purchase. Factors such as style, fit/comfort, and how it looked on the purchaser, are also commonly selected as influencing their most recent purchase. Asking about pricing considerations specifically, one quarter or more adults say budget considerations and perceptions of value influenced how much they spent on their eyewear.
- Half of online prescription contact lens (52 percent) and non-prescription sunglass (50 percent) purchasers say they preferred the convenience of online shopping, and 56 percent of prescription glasses buyers say they found better deals/prices online.
- Distance to home and previous experience with a location are two of the more commonly cited reasons for making purchases in-person.
- A higher percentage of prescription glasses (28 percent) and sunglasses (29 percent) purchasers also point to the location’s inclusion in their insurance network as a reason for shopping in-person.
The Vision Council’s Focused inSights reports are in-depth special interest reports on rotating topics, chosen with input from members of The Vision Council. In 2022, additional Focused inSights report topics will include: digital habits; frames; and lenses. Data sources for these reports will include ad-hoc consumer surveys and transaction data, when applicable.
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In addition to the Focused inSights 2022: Consumer Choices report, The Vision Council has also released the Focused inSights+ 2022: Consumer Choices reports, a series of detailed demographic data tables that provide an in-depth view of the consumer survey results. The Focused inSights+ data tables include age, gender, race/ethnicity, region and household income, and are available for purchase.
The Focused inSights 2022: Consumer Choices report is available in The Vision Council’s Research Download Center as a complimentary download for members of The Vision Council and a paid report for non-members. In addition to complimentary access to the full report, which is available in PowerPoint format, members of The Vision Council also have access to a complimentary one-page summary of the report in PDF format.
Click HERE to access the one-page summary of the findings and click HERE for the full report.
The Vision Council announced its new inSights Research Program in May 2022. Since then, The Consumer inSights Q1 2022 report and the Provider inSights Q1 2022 report have been released and are also available in the Research Download Center.
