Yes& Study: Consumers Receptive to TRSA Certifications
A new survey of consumers of hotel, restaurant and healthcare services indicates that TRSA’s Hygienically Clean and Clean Green certification programs could have a more positive impact on the attitudes of textile end users than previously thought.
TRSA’s marketing agency, Yes&, Alexandria, VA, recently posed a series of questions to 1,000 end-user consumers, i.e., the customers of your laundry customers. Specifically, the agency asked whether the use of a certified laundry by a restaurant, hotel or healthcare facility could affect the perceptions of end users toward those organizations. When asked about hotels, 84% of respondents said it’s important that their hotel uses a Hygienically Clean certified laundry due to COVID-19; 75% said they would feel better knowing they were supporting a hotel that cares about sustainability; 65% or more of respondents agreed with these statements about Hygienically Clean and Clean Green:
- All else equal, I would have higher satisfaction with a hotel where I saw a placard or notice of the certifications
- All else equal, I would be more likely to book a hotel where I knew they had Hygienically Clean or Clean Green sheets and towels
- I would be more likely to leave a positive review of the hotel on the internet.
Yes& described Hygienically Clean and Clean Green as having a strong positive impact on hotel visitors. About two in five respondents believe they have seen placards in guest rooms with messages promoting hygiene and sustainability from professional laundering. Both messages provide additional reassurance, increase satisfaction and make hotel visitors more likely to book again and write positive reviews. A minority are skeptical, but it’s likely they need more information, the agency says. The survey also showed that not all hotel visitors understand the superiority of professional laundering, indicating that these messages can help educate consumers.
The study drew similarly positive results from consumers of restaurant and healthcare services, due to both safety and environmental concerns. Yes& asked if consumers would change their preference for reusable textiles over disposable equivalents, if the textiles were processed by a Hygienically Clean or Clean Green laundry. The findings showed that among restaurant patrons, 55% of the respondents indicated a preference for an experience with cloth napkins, tablecloths and wait staff in matching attire, vs. 45% who preferred paper napkins, no tablecloths and no matching attire. Some 17% of all respondents to this survey – almost 40% of those who initially favored disposables – switched their preference to reusables when Hygienically Clean was factored into their views. About 14% of all respondents – more than 30% of those who initially favored disposables – switched to reusables when Clean Green was considered.
Both the Hygienically Clean and Clean Green messages tested extremely well at moving diner preferences toward cloth vs. disposables, as well as enhancing satisfaction with their dining experience, Yes& says. This seems to indicate a great deal of untapped consumer receptivity to these concepts. Hygienically Clean was particularly influential in increasing preference for cloth among those aged 55-plus (+23), married (+21), Caucasians (+20) and women (+19). This statement didn’t change preference as much for germ-conscious consumers (+13), perhaps because they already preferred cloth (62% prior to the statement). The Clean Green statement was similarly effective at increasing preference for cloth among those aged 55-plus (+26), Caucasians (+19), women (+19) and those who are conscious of the environment (+15).
As for healthcare, preferences for reusables grew for every product tested, with patient gowns seeing the most dramatic increase, as 11% of all respondents to this survey – or 20% of those who preferred disposables – switched to reusables. Watch for more on the Yes& Agency’s study in upcoming issues of Textile Services Weekly.