THE WHO, WHAT AND WEAR ON CONTACTS
03-2008
 Over the past two years contact lens
wear has been increasingly
embraced by respondents. From
the 12-month period ending in September
2005 (12 ME Sept ’05) to the 12 month period
ending in September 2007 (12 ME Sept
’07), the percentage of wearers rose from
18.2 to 20.0, according to VisionWatch. And
while the overall wear of contact lenses is on
the rise, they have especially been making a
hit with females. Over the past three years,
the amount of women respondents reporting
they wear contacts has crept up from
22.2 percent in 12 ME ’05 to 24.1 in 12 ME
’06 to 26.5 percent in 12 ME ’07. Men have
been less consistently dedicated to wearing
contacts; their usage in the 12 ME ’07 was
slightly lower than it has been over the previous
two years, wavering between 14.1 percent
and 14.4 percent in ’05 and ’06, respectively,
and then dropping down to 12.9
percent in the 12 ME in ’07. Fun for all ages,
contact lens wear increased for every age
group in 12 ME Sept ’07, although the 18 to
34 group showed the biggest interest in contact
lenses—32.1 percent said they were currently
wearing in the 12 ME Sept ’07. The
older the age group, the more contact lens
use tapers off with the 55-plus group wearing
contacts less than the others
WHICH PHRASE BEST DESCRIBES
HOW YOU CURRENTLY WEAR
CONTACT LENSES?
For more than half of respondents, there is a
whole lot more contact with their pillows at
night than with their lenses. According to the
2007 Contact Lens Wearers Insight Sight
Survey, 52 percent of respondents give their
eyes a break by taking out their contact lenses
before going to sleep after wearing the lenses
all day long. 13.6 percent have separation
anxiety and can’t bear to part with their contacts,
wearing them all of the time, usually
including while sleeping. On the other hand,
a comparable amount of respondents are
having contact lens commitment issues—
11.8 percent said they only occasionally wear
their contact lenses.
WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY BUY
YOUR CONTACT LENSES?
Over half of respondents have declared
their independents as the place of choice to
purchase contact lenses—59.2 percent
bought at an independent optical practitioner
or optical chain in 2007, according to the
2007 Contact Lens Wearers Insight Survey.
Over a fifth went to the masses for their
lenses—21.8 percent flocked to a mass
merchandiser such as Wal*Mart or Costco.
Mail and phone orders such as Lens Express
or 1-800- CONTACT and orders from
Internet web sites were slightly less popular
sources for buying lenses with business from
8.3 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.
Get in contact with contact lens buying trends with Jobson Research’s Contact Lens Wearers Insight Survey.These stats give a
peek into the behaviors and attitudes of consumers buying contact lenses. The cost is $125 and you can order it online at
www.jobsonresearch.com/Publ.htm or by contacting Beth Briggs at
bbriggs@jobson.com or (212) 219-7825. Just in time for
Vision Expo East, the survey will be available at Vision Expo East at the research table at the Jobson Booth.
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