ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Vision Council has released a new report featuring key insights into U.S. consumers’ optical frames preferences and purchasing habits. The report, "Focused inSights 2023 Frames," examines consumer behavior and trends, including U.S. adults’ brand preferences, frame purchasing frequency, generational differences in the selection of eyewear, the role of managed vision care in paying for eye exams and frames, and the average list prices that patients pay. “With hundreds of brands and frames at every price point, discerning consumers’ preferences can be a challenge,” said Alysse Henkel, senior director of market research and analytics at The Vision Council.

“This report provides valuable demographic insights into what brands consumers prefer, how much they are paying, and the role of managed care in their purchasing decisions.”

Among The Vision Council inSights report's highlights:

  • 1 in 10 consumers indicated they made a recent frames purchase.

  • 51 percent of consumers reported spending $0 out-of-pocket for value priced frames.

  • Frames purchasers were nearly evenly split between the younger and older generations, with 50 percent Millennials and Gen Z, and 48 percent Gen X and Baby Boomers.

  • Those who purchased frames listed at less than $150 were more likely to be Gen Z than any other generation of frames purchasers.

This report sources data from The Vision Council's 2022 Consumer inSights survey which asked more than 60,000 consumers about their optical retail habits, and reflects millions of records from 2022 of de-identified patient level purchase data from ABB Analyze, The Vision Council said, adding in its summary that it fielded the Consumer inSights survey through a third-party consumer sample provider, Full Circle Research. Data collection for the 2022 waves of the survey occurred between January 10 and December 18, 2022.

A one-page summary, along with the full research report, is available in The Vision Council’s Research Download Center here  as a complimentary download for members of The Vision Council, with a paid option for non-members.