The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) has published a report examining US consumers’ most valued goods and services in the context of inflationary pressures, with contact lenses (CLs) and glasses coming out on top.
The organisation’s analysis affirms the value patients place on their vision and contact lenses, correlated with strong category purchasing power. It also reveals several contact lens-related behaviours may change with personal financial challenges and advises the eyecare community to proactively address these potential shifts.
Respondents ranked their contact lenses (84%) and glasses (75%) as extremely or very important—the highest scores among 26 categories of goods and services. When asked about how inflationary pressures had altered household spending, contact lenses (8%) and glasses (7%) exhibited the least change.
Authors advised eyecare professionals to be alert to financially triggered behaviour changes that could put eye health at risk, with about one in four people saying they may seek less expensive options in the face of financial pressure, whether online (27%) or through their eyecare professional (26%). Risky behaviours included wearing their lenses for more days than approved (24%), ‘topping off’ cleaning solution (12%) and using less cleaning solution when rinsing and storing lenses (11%).
