New research suggests there are many challenges when encouraging different age groups into contact lenses. But for those practices willing to tailor their messaging, there are also good opportunities for practice and patient.
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, where on earth are young people from?
It’s a question that has troubled society for hundreds of years, with each generation seemingly befuddled by the practices and rituals of the others around them.
However, new research from the US-based Contact Lens Institute (CLI) suggests that as strange and foreign as those age-groups might be, there is good reason for optical practices to do what they can to bridge that generation gap.
Before we dive in, let’s establish a few numbers that will be key to understanding this article.
Gen Z, or Generation Z, refers to a cohort of people born between 1997 and 2012, meaning they will be the ones entering your practice aged between 13 and 28 years old.
They are the successors to Millennials, also known as Gen Y, who were born between 1981 and 1996, making them aged between 29 and 44.
Last, but certainly not least to many optical businesses because of their ongoing age-related vision issues, is Generation X.
Born between 1965 and 1980, they are the 45 to 60-year-olds moving a little less quickly through your practice doors.
The CLI survey and the report that has followed it – Shifting focus: Generational perspectives of contact lenses and eye care – found some similarities in the buying practices and attitudes among those three distinct age brackets.
But it also found plenty of differences among the 1308 people polled, and some significant opportunities for practices promoting contact lenses, including the often tricky subject of dual use – patients alternating between spectacles and contact lenses.
The trick appears to be about modifying the language and the narrative for different generations.
The data indicates that contact lens use is greater for Millennials, with 43% of that age bracket surveyed wearing them.
The youngest grou is just behind them on 35%, with the older cohort quite a way back on 22%.
The CLI says the Millennials’ figure “paints a picture of what may be possible with Gen Z”.
That gap, and the opportunity it represented, was similar when respondents were asked about dual use of spectacles and contact lenses, with 52% of contact lens-wearing Millennials favouring them over glasses, compared with 45% of Gen Z.
In a section of the report titled Gen Z Upside, the CLI said the eight-point gap (43% v 35%) represented “considerable unmet upside in patient volumes, practice revenue, and wearer lifestyle benefits”.
To offer some context, population data shows there are about 2.5 million people in Australia aged between 13 and 28; 8% of that would be about 200,000 potential patients.
The CLI report said three values ranked highest across all ages: affordability (85-89%), convenience of purchase (69-73%), and speed to obtain the product (66-71%).
Practices were encouraged to keep a tight focus on delivering in those key areas.
But the report goes a little further to demonstrate where those generations differ in their attitude and shopping priorities.
Gen Z and Millennials are influenced more than their older Gen X peers in four areas: brand authenticity (Z: 63%, M: 63%, X: 54%), individual expression and personalisation opportunities (Z: 58%, M: 55%, X: 45%), brand social responsibility (Z: 51%, M: 47%, X: 33%), and living for today (Z: 48%, M: 48%, X: 39%).
The report says practices that tailored their communications and marketing activities along and around those ‘values’ can better engage with younger patients.
One of the biggest drivers for younger clients is social responsibility, which was a strong influence for about half of the younger generations but only a third of the older population.
According to the research, a large number of Gen Z respondents were motivated by a brand’s inclusive culture (52%), its environmental responsibility (49%), and diversity (47%), with staff diversity, philanthropic initiatives, and community involvement ranking slightly lower (43%, 42%, and 42%, respectively).
Results were similar for Millennials, but not so much for Gen X, for whom responses hovered between the mid-20% and low 30% range.
When examining the reasons for contact lens wear, of the 443 contacts users in the survey, Gen Z respondents said personal appearance (52%), freedom from glasses (47%), and a lack of visual obstruction (40%) were their top three factors.
Millennials voted for personal appearance (50%), freedom from glasses (48%), and better comfort and ease of use (both 48%).
Gen X weighed in with freedom from glasses (54%), a lack of visual obstruction (53%), and better comfort (41%).
Of interest, optimal vision was ranked around the middle of the 12 “reasons to wear” (Z: 34%, M: 30%, X: 29%).
The CLI says this suggests that “highlighting contact lens lifestyle benefits while also reinforcing their optical advantages may promote uptake and retention”.
The two younger generations showed interest in other categories, including contact lens advancements, whereas the response of Gen X was more “muted”, with percentages lower by double digits.
Much of this comes as no surprise to three optometrists whose practices have a strong focus on contact lenses.
That expertise is what brings a lot of motivated patients into their businesses.
Mr Martin Robinson in Tasmania, Mr Daniel Moriarty in South Australia, and Mr Adam Barron in Queensland work in practices well known for fitting specialty lenses.
They see plenty of irregular corneas, keratoconus, myopia and dry eye, and patients referred to them for orthokeratology, scleral and rigid contact lenses.
But they also deal with plenty of patients for whom contact lenses are as confusing and scary as those different generations around them.
Motorola meets iPhone 14
Robinson is nodding sagely as we discuss the CLI research and the implications for his and other practices.
The president of the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia and man behind Martin’s Eyecare in Hobart sees plenty of X, Y and Z at his independent practice.
And he understands the need to modify his language, depending on which letter is sitting in front of him.
He knows he’s more likely to get a “hard no” from Gen Xers on contact lenses, which confirms their lowly status in the CLI research.
But he also believes an opportunity remains with that group.
“Gen X, that’s my generation,” says the 50-year-old.
“Many wore contact lenses when they were younger but stopped wearing them 20-30 years ago because they hurt their eyes or their eyes were dry or had irritation.”
To counter that, Robinson explains the technological advances in that time, and that there are now new contact lenses that will suit them and solve their problems.
“The comparison is like the difference between a Motorola handheld phone and an iPhone 14 – there’s a hell of a lot of technology between those two phones.”
He agrees that the motivations of younger generations are very different and need to be understood and addressed.
“I’ve got kids that are fearless, they’re happy as Larry and there’s no dramas with contact lenses.
“I’ve got other kids that are in their teenage years, that are so frightened of contact lenses they induce a vasovagal reflex (a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure) and they pass out in the fitting process.”
Often that’s a result of “nonsense, fake stories floating around” on the internet and in their social channels.
But there’s some real frights too.
“Did you see that story about that woman who had 24 contact lenses stuck up under a lid?” he says. “There’s almost a generation of people that have watched that, and they are really scared and don’t try contacts.”
So he addresses their “hidden fears”, and “if you can solve that and answer that problem, they will jump in and try the lenses”.
It’s also about addressing lifestyle and the active sports of the younger generations, rather than the often more slow-paced pastimes of their older counterparts.
“Older people, we’re more likely to play a round of golf,” says Robinson.
“The younger guys, they’re playing hockey, they’re playing soccer, they’re doing night games under lights – some of the sports won’t allow glasses on the field and contact lenses are ideal for those guys.”
Environment and social concerns are other influences where the attitudes of younger and older generations diverge, as highlighted in the CLI survey.
“The Gen-Xers may not be particularly motivated about environmental concerns,” Robinson says. “The young ones are absolutely aware of it.
“They are going to be more aligned with a lens that’s healthy for the environment, that’s going to have less environmental impact, and they are interested in the ethical, moral aspects of certain contact lens companies – their zero-waste approach.”
Patience with your patients
Mr Daniel Moriarty is a young man blessed with the patience of those many years older.
Like Robinson, the 27-year-old optometrist at South Australia’s Innovative Eye Care sees plenty of keratoconus, myopia and dry eye.
Many of his patients are referred to the practice by ophthalmologists, GPs and other optometrists less familiar with contact lenses.
Those ones tend to be “pretty motivated”, he says.
But he also deals with plenty of patients reluctant to try on contact lenses, a problem for many practices around the country.
And sometimes he has to be a little more patient.
When one of those clients complained of short-sightedness but balked at wearing contact lenses, Moriarty decided to play the long game.
“I just sort of planted the seed,” he says.
“We put lubricating drops in her eyes, just to get something in her eyes. And then, the next year rolled around and she was ready to go, ready to give contact lenses a try.”
A little more patience is needed when dealing with the older generation as well.
“I think if you try to fit someone that’s probably a little bit older, they might be more resistant, because it’s going to potentially be challenging to handle lenses,” he says.
“If you’re patient with them, there’s not really too much of an issue . . . if they’re not keen, as long as you plant that seed, I think you’ll find that they’ll be keen next time you see them.”
His younger patients, on the other hand, are much more likely to give it “a crack”.
Many have already tried contact lenses as part of their ortho-k treatment, which helps soften their attitude when they move beyond the rigid version.
“You get a lot of the younger patients whose attitude is just to give it a try.”
He says they are also more likely to be keen on mixing and matching their spectacles and contact lenses.
Older patients, possibly recalling the stigma of wearing glasses when younger, are more likely to favour contact lenses.
But frames are now much more stylish, modelled by plenty of popular influencers and now socially acceptable.
“They are just more fashionable and the younger patients probably don’t have
that trauma.”
Building trust – quickly
Barron has also noticed differences between the generations in attitudes towards contact lenses.
The senior optometrist at Heron Eye Care in Toowoomba, Queensland, says he treats a “conservative demographic”, with a fair percentage of his patients over 50.
“And that can be pretty heavy going in the contact lens space,” he says.
“You’ve got to have a pretty damn good multifocal on board – the older generation appreciate that because they get better acuity and less eye strain with computer use.”
Gen-Xers are keener on price and convenience and prefer to do their shopping, including optometry services, closer to where they live.
“And as soon as you go older than that, that’s when comfort becomes really, really critical.”
Price is less of an issue with Millennials, he says.
“They’re normally pretty busy people, and they want things to work, so you’ve got to tick those boxes – they want good stuff.”
He finds the youngest cohort are more likely to mix and match their shopping with online purchases.
But as the others have pointed out, they are also more likely to give contact lenses a go, which can make then ideal to work with.
“It’s usually single-focus lenses, which are dead easy,” says Barron. “Also nice, super easy corneas; their tear pillows are more likely to be better, it’s probably going to be easier to fit.
“From an ocular surface point of view, from a refractive complexity point of view and vision comfort, they’re more likely to be more dexterous.”
He too hears plenty of nonsense from all generations about “big, scary and uncomfortable” contact lenses.
“We try to control that within our consult rooms.”
He finds that once patients are in the clinic’s “inner sanctum”, optometrists are able to “delete all the rubbish that’s associated with any kind of pressures and just be blunt with people”.
That is about building a level of trust that transcends the generation gap.
“No person on the planet comes in with a placard saying, ‘I want contact lenses’,” he says.
“Our most valuable commodity as clinicians is trust.
“If you’re going to put a 14-millimetre slice of plastic in someone’s eye, they have to trust you, and you have to build that trust as fast as you possibly can with every single patient, whatever their age.
“The pillars of successful contact lens sales are good vision, good comfort and good handling – if you can nail those three things every single time, you will have a very successful contact lens practice.”
