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Press Release from Primary Research Group, Inc.
Nearly half of all Americans aged fifty or over say that they wake up more than once per
night, according to the THE SLEEP AIDS AND REMEDIES MARKET FOR AMERICANS AGED 50 and OVER,
published by Primary Research Group, Inc.
The Americans in the sample spent an average of $47.80 on sleep control products such
as medications or herbs to induce sleep, snore control drugs and devices, and specialized
beds, pillows and other items to induce or deepen sleep. The exact wording of the
question in this case was: About how much did you and your sleep partner spend in the
past year on products to help you to sleep or to control the effects of snoring? The
resulting data would come close to approximating total household spending on such
items; however, it would exclude spending by or on other parties living in the home, such
as children, relatives or roommates, unless they were roommates defined as “sleep
partners.” Nonetheless, for our target audience, Americans aged 50 and over, the
wording of the question probably captures at least 80% and probably closer to 90% of
total household spending on such items.
Spending was relatively closely related to income, with those with household income
levels below $35,000 spending only about $16 per year on average while those with
incomes of $65,000 or more spending about $60.00 per year. Those in major cities spent
far more than anyone else, averaging close to $100. Spending in rural areas was also
high and may be accounted for by snore control products, which appear to sell better
there for reasons not completely understood by us. It may also be that the wording of this
question, which actually singles out snore control products, may have contributed to the
high reported spending from rural areas. Interestingly, married people spent more by a
considerable margin, though only a bit more per capita. People who were not really
religious spent considerably more than people who consider themselves religious,
perhaps suggesting that religious people either sleep better or consider sleep control
products to be in some way socially unacceptable. Another interesting finding is that
political centrists or those who consider themselves independents, spent much more on
sleep aid products than those who are affiliated with an extreme position or affiliated with
a political party, though mainstream Republicans spent considerably more than
mainstream Democrats. A relatively clear picture of high spenders on sleep control
products among the 50 and over age group emerges – iconoclastic “go you own way”
types of individuals, relatively affluent, living mostly in large cities, usually married,
centrist or right leaning but not extreme.
Nearly half of the respondents in the sample (46.76%) say that they wake up more than
once per night, and only a small percentage (14.63%) sleep soundly, defined in this case
as generally not waking up during the night at all. People in their fifties are somewhat
less prone to waking up several times at night. The religious and the non-religious do not
wake up at appreciably different rates, and political conviction does not dramatically
explain differences in sleep patterns. People living in suburbs seem to wake up less at
night, while widows and widowers are frequently up at night. Age is a significant factor
in the frequency of waking up at night, with the percentage of those who sleep soundly
steadily falling from more than 19% of those in their fifties to a shade more than 4% of
those greater than 85 years of age.
The complete study is available from Primary Research Group Inc.
Primary Research Group also sells the study "by the slice." A series of 12-13 tables
relating to a single question or datapoint can be purchased for $80.00. PDF delivery
guaranteed within 2 hours or receipt of sale.
Phone: 212-736-216
Fax: 212-412-9097
Web Site: WWW.PRIMARYRESEARCH.COM
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