The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) is offering a sneak peek of initial findings from its new research on consumers’ digital habits of contact lens-related searches across North America.
Titled Digital Discovery: Consumer Searches Reveal Contact Lens Realities, this latest data is part of CLI’s ongoing See Tomorrow initiative bi-annual contact lens custom research,
Start with the basics of this research: the gathering process.
The institute performed three digital search investigations:
- Utilizing Google “contact lenses” auto-complete results for both the U.S. and Canada
- Data collected on weekly basis
- Timeframe: Jan. 3-31, 2025
- Using TikTok auto-complete results in English (sourced via AnswerThePublic.com)
- Data collected on weekly basis
- Timeframe: Jan. 3-31, 2025
- Analyzing Google Trends data
- Timeframe: Dec. 1, 2024 to Jan. 31, 2025
A couple of notes about these searches:
- Auto-complete suggestions: Referred to as “predictions” by Google, these consider language, location, and user behavior trends to suggest (predict) the top searched phrases over the last few weeks.
- Google Trends: These report relative rankings of custom search terms and topics over a specific period of time via the use of completed user behaviors
Got it. And what were the general conclusions from these searches?
A few key takeaways:
- Purchase factors are the primary driver of consumer online contact lens-related searchers in North America
- A strong need exists to advance:
- Patient education regarding contact lens removal
- Discussions on dual wear (in which patients shift between glasses and contact lenses)
The big-picture perspective on this: “Heading into 2025, we’ve turned our attention to consumer perceptions and needs as revealed through their online search habits—a window into what they are thinking yet may not be telling their eye doctors, opticians, and staff,” stated Stan Rogaski, executive director of CLI.
Let’s get into specifics.
Out of the top 20 contact lens-related Google searches, 10 were geared toward lens purchases (65% of total volume).
Out of those 10:
- Five were related to specific contact lens retailers (53.3% by volume)
- Four were related to contact lens price (9.75% by volume)
And what does that mean?
CLI’s interpretation: Clinical practice may benefit from “proactively discussing purchase dynamics ahead of and during exams”—and, importantly, not waiting until a patient goes to an optical center.
What these discussions should include:
- Price-performance alternatives of contact lenses
- Total costs of lenses
Connecting this back to prior findings: Previous CLI research found that 47% of patients were greatly influenced by having a wider range of price/performance options.
What other trends were identified?
Consumers online are also reported to be seeking help in removing their contact lenses at least twice as often as insertion.
The evidence: Among “how to” contact lens searches on Google, this topic ranked as the second highest (26.3% by volume) as well as the first-and-third-highest ranked search on TikTok (61% by volume).
- The first and third most-searched-for questions on Google:
- How much do contact lenses cost (54.3%)
- How to clean contact lenses (11.1%)
- And the second-most searched-for question on TikTok:
- How to put in contact lenses (28.3%)
Keep with this topic. What else did Google report?
Among both U.S. and Canadian consumers over the two-month period, contact lens removal searches were found to outpace those regarding contact lens insertion—by 250% to 400%.
What this suggests: Eyecare providers (ECPs) may benefit from emphasizing removal techniques during in-office training with staff and during patient check-ins post-lens fittings, CLI noted.
Noted. Any other notable topics?
Four words: Unfulfilled dual wear opportunities.
Some insight into this: CLI’s 2023 research on the untapped potential of contact lenses and glasses identified an “unrealized [contact lens] prescribing opportunity for more than one-third of all patients”:
- One in four (23.6%) of adults reported wearing both contact lenses and glasses
- One in five (18%) glasses-only wearers reported interest in contact lenses
- One in five (18%) contact lens-only wearers reported interest in glasses
And in regards to ECP conduct:
- 75% of glasses-only wearers reported their ECP did not discuss contact lenses at their last eye exam
- 45% of contact lens-only wearers reported their ECP did not discuss glasses at their last eye exam
Interesting … so how did contact lens comparisons rank?
After analyzing the top 20 comparative Google searches of contact lenses, CLI determined:
- 80% of searches used an“or” conjunction
- 14% of searches used “vs”
- 6% of searches used “and”
Further: The majority of contact lens comparisons were made to glasses/spectacles (94%) rather than LASIK (6%).
The institute’s feedback on this: “Shifting that perspective may be aided if practices develop more intentional processes to prompt dual wear conversations during exams, as well as during ongoing communications with patients between visits.”
When will the full report on this be released?
CLI shared that additional data and insights will be released “over the coming months.”
And in the meantime?
If you’re attending Vision Expo East this weekend, CLI will host a panel discussion of the previewed data, including a look at these consumer digital queries and what they mean for clinical care and buying habits (among other topics).
Digital Discovery: Consumer Searches Reveal Contact Lens Realities kicks off Friday, Feb. 21, at 10 am EST on The Vision Expo East Main Stage.
The discussion will include a moderated panel of ECPs, including:
- Charissa Lee, OD, MBA, FAAO (moderator; 2025 CLI Board chairperson)
- Roxanne Achong-Coan, OD, FAAO, FIAOMC, FSLS, Dip CCLRT
- Ryan Corte, OD
- Nishan Pressley, OD
Vision Expo East is being held in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 19-22, 2025.