Two national surveys completed by TRSA, the leading global textile services trade association, have found the majority of both businesses and consumers prefer that employees wear uniforms. The primary reasons for this preference, according to the survey are related to image, trust and identification.
Surveying both textile service decision makers and consumers nationally, TRSA found 82 percent of businesses report a preference for employees wearing uniforms, while 86 percent of consumers across service, healthcare, hospitality and restaurant sectors prefer uniforms as well.
“These two surveys provide a unique and detailed perspective on business issues related to uniforms and linens across multiple industries, as well as how these textiles influence consumer perceptions and choice,” explained Joseph Ricci, president and CEO of TRSA. “We believe the resulting data will help better educate our members and ultimately influence marketing and service improvements as they interact with their consumers.”
Both national surveys found significant business growth opportunities for textile service providers across several industries. For instance:
• Nearly half of all healthcare workers clean their uniforms at home despite 68 percent of consumers reporting they are concerned seeing scrubs and other medical uniforms outside of a healthcare facility.
• One in three hotels report a preference for outsourcing linen services but cannot locate a textile services provider.
• Fifty-seven percent of the most affluent and frequent diners prefer restaurants using table linens and would pay more for meals at these restaurants that use them.
Additional data on business decision maker and consumer views, along with the complete surveys, is available for download by the media at www.trsa.org/research
The two surveys were completed between February 24th and March 9th, 2015 by Fabrizio Ward, an opinion research and consulting firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The business- to-business survey was conducted across the healthcare, hospitality, food and beverage and industrial sectors. Consumers were asked for their views on textile-related issues with healthcare, hospitality and food and beverage businesses.
