What the latest Better Sleep Council survey reveals about sustainability in mattress choices.
Does sustainability play a significant role in consumers’ mattress-buying decisions? Are consumers and retailers on the same page when it comes to sustainability? The Better Sleep Council has the answers.
Over the summer, the BSC surveyed 1,006 U.S. adult consumers and 139 U.S. retailers about their understanding of and attitudes toward sustainability in mattresses and other sleep products. Here are five key takeaways from the online survey:
Consumers and retailers surveyed agree that everyone should be concerned about our planet’s future. Both groups believe individuals have a responsibility to care for the
environment.
For many mattress consumers, durability is sustainability. Buying a long-lasting product even outweighs concerns about potentially harmful chemicals. Also, free delivery and pickup motivate buyers more than sustainability concerns.
Consumers are skeptical when it comes to sustainability claims. Less than a third trust what companies report about their commitment to environmental sustainability.
Sustainability has little or no influence on the specific mattresses most retailers choose to sell. Retailers are more focused on product quality, brand reputation and supply chain logistics.
While most mattress retailers expect demand for sustainable mattresses to increase over the next five years, they don’t feel adequately prepared to discuss sustainability with their customers. Most say they would benefit from more sustainability education and training by manufacturers.
Read on for a more detailed breakdown of the survey findings.
Do we have a responsibility to care for the environment?
Survey says … yes. About seven in 10 U.S. consumers and retailers surveyed agree that individuals have a responsibility to care for the environment. The responses from both groups are almost identical.
Almost three-quarters of consumers (66%)
and retailers (74%) say the statement “I believe individuals have a responsibility to take care of the environment” describes them “completely or a great deal.”
More than half of consumers (53%)
and retailers (57%) say the statement “I feel a personal responsibility for taking care of the environment” describes them “completely or a great deal.”
What about recycling trends and attitudes toward recycling?
Most retailers surveyed recycle or donate the old mattresses they remove. More than 80% of consumers surveyed consider mattress recycling to be at least “somewhat important.”
About three-quarters of retailers (74%)
recycle or donate the old mattresses they remove. Slightly under half (46%) say they recycle them. Just under a third (28%) say they donate old mattresses to charities or nonprofits.
More than half of consumers (55%)
say it is “very important or absolutely essential” to recycle a mattress. Another third (31%) say recycling a mattress is “somewhat important.”
How much does sustainability influence purchase decisions?
Results differ along generational lines. Younger consumers surveyed say they are more likely to choose products made with environmentally sustainable methods and materials. They also say they are more willing to pay higher prices for those products. (These survey questions did not specify mattresses or sleep products but rather referred to products in general.)
Almost half of Gen Z consumers (43%)
and millennials (47%) say they “often or always” choose products made sustainably compared with less than a third of Gen Xers (28%) and boomers (25%).
More than a third of Gen Z consumers (36%)
and almost half of millennials (47%) say they “often or always” pay more for products made sustainably. By contrast, 27% of Gen Xers and only 17% of boomers say they “often or always” pay more for sustainably made products.
The numbers are almost identical when respondents answered broader questions about whether they buy products — or stop buying products — based on a company’s ethical practices and values.
More than a third of Gen Z consumers (36%) and almost half of millennials (47%) say they “often or always” make purchases based on a company’s ethical practices and values. The numbers are lower for older generations, with Gen Xers (32%) and boomers (28%) less likely to buy products because of a company’s ethics and values.
Additionally, more than a third of Gen Z consumers (34%) and millennials (39%) say they “often or always” stop buying specific brands or products when they have ethical or sustainability concerns about those products. However, Gen Xers (20%) and boomers (18%) are considerably less likely to stop buying products because of ethics or sustainability concerns.
Is sustainability the principal factor motivating mattress buyers?
Most retailers surveyed say no. Consumers say that, when they buy a mattress, one sustainability factor — durability — overrides all others.
Based on their sales experiences
over the past year, most mattress retailers (61%) say they “never or hardly ever” discussed sustainability with customers. When sustainability did come up in conversations, most retailers (61%) say they initiated the discussion, not the customer.
Only one in five retailers (18%)
say sustainability plays a “very or extremely important” role in consumer purchase decisions.
Almost half of consumers (43%)
say durability is important to them when they consider buying a mattress. But only 28% say it is important to them to buy a mattress free of harmful chemicals and 28% say it is important to them to buy a mattress made from recycled or repurposed materials.
How much does sustainability influence retailers’ decisions to carry specific mattresses?
According to the survey … not much. Most retailers surveyed (66%) say they have at least some influence on the company’s mattress selection decisions. Of those retailers involved in product selection, most say sustainability plays little or no role in their decision to sell a particular mattress — they are much more concerned with product quality and brand reputation.
When asked to what extent sustainable
manufacturing influences which mattresses they sell, 15% say sustainability influences their decisions “a lot or a great deal.”
The vast majority (95%) say product
quality influences their decisions about what mattresses they sell “a lot or a great deal.”
A large majority (80%) say brand
reputation influences their decisions about what mattresses to sell “a lot or a great deal.”
Almost three-quarters (72%) say supply chain-related factors influence their decisions about what mattresses to sell “a lot or a great deal.”
Although sustainability isn’t a large motivator for retailers to sell specific mattresses, most retailers surveyed (77%) say their companies offer at least “some” mattresses manufactured sustainably. About a quarter (24%) say “most or all” of the mattresses they stock are sustainable.
Do retailers expect demand for sustainable mattresses to increase?
Do they want more information and training about the sustainability of the mattresses they sell? Yes and yes.
Most retailers surveyed (66%) expect demand for sustainable mattresses to increase over the next five years.
Almost one in five (18%) say they expect demand for sustainable mattresses to increase “a lot” over the next five years. Almost half (48%) say they expect demand to increase “a little” over the next five years.
Yet most retailers surveyed also feel unprepared to talk to customers about mattress sustainability.
Only a third (31%) consider
themselves “very or extremely” prepared to talk to customers about the sustainable aspects of the mattresses they sell. Another 45% say they are “somewhat” prepared. Almost a quarter (24%) say they are “not at all or not too” prepared.
Almost three-quarters (71%)
say educational materials from the manufacturer would help them feel more prepared to discuss sustainability with customers. A majority (60%) say they would also benefit from more sustainability instruction in retail sales associate training and from point-of-sale consumer education materials and signage.
“As the research shows, sustainability matters to many of today’s mattress shoppers and can influence their buying decisions,” said Mary Helen Rogers, vice president of marketing and communications for the International Sleep Products Association. “The sustainability factor is likely to continue its trajectory of being a top influencer for shoppers of all generations. However, we have work to do. Brands need to better equip RSAs to tell their sustainability story and help shoppers understand how our industry is making today’s mattresses with sustainability in mind. This is an opportunity to better connect with consumers.”
The BSC leads consumer research and education for the ISPA. Since 1996, it has conducted research to understand and track changes in consumers’ attitudes toward sleep and health, and their mattress purchase decision-making. The overarching objective of the research is to inform the communication strategy of the industry and to educate consumers about the health benefits of sleeping on a quality mattress.
