Gardner Audiology loaned over 300 hearing aids to Tampa Bay Area consumers between March and December of 2013. In exchange for free exams and loaner aids, approximately 150 patients weighed in on the benefits and value of new Starkey hearing aid technology priced from $890. Participants included experienced and new hearing aid users.
- Almost 100% percent of you perceived and received better hearing with new hearing aids. We proved that with aided hearing test results and your opinion surveys.
- 86% of you saw enough hearing improvement to justify the cost of buying hearing aids
- 27% of you wanted and were satisfied with hearing aids that cost about $1,000 or less.
- 59% of you wanted and were satisfied with the best hearing aids on the market.
- 14% of you were not ready to embrace new hearing aids in spite of improved hearing.
Why did 14% of the participants not convert to new hearing aid technology? Here are the most common reasons: 1. Some of the experienced hearing aid users felt that new aids sounded better but not enough improvement for them to abandon their old aids. 2. Some of the new users, especially with mild hearing losses and quiet lifestyles, felt the improvement was not enough to justify embracing hearing aids.
We have loaned over 7000 hearing aids to research study participants during the past 4 years. The participants’ decisions to buy their loaner aids has increased from 65% to now 86%. We feel that this is directly related to the recent availability of quality digital hearing aids at more economical retail prices that are near or below $1000.