How Cremation Consumers Choose Containers, Service, Providers
In January 2008, Starmark Funeral Products launched our first cremation consumer survey and published the results in a series of three groundbreaking articles. However, the 2008 survey did not allow us to compare responses from states with high cremation rates to those with low rates. In this 2009 survey, we compared the differences to assist marketers in better predicting consumer behavior in their own markets. All respondents expressed a preference for cremation with low cremation costs instead of burial upon death. About 80 percent were between the ages of 55 to 64 and nearly 20 percent were between 65 and 75. Roughly 99 percent of respondents finished high school and 82 percent attended college. States were segmented into five groups according to their cremation rates.*
State Group #1 (Cremation rate over 50%)
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon and Washington
State Group #2 (Cremation rate from 40 to 49.99%)
Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wyoming
State Group #3 (Cremation rate from 30 to 39.99%)
Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin
State Group #4 (Cremation rate from 20 to 29.99%)
Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia
State Group #5 (Cremation rate under 20%)
Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee
The following survey questions are just as they were presented to participants. Combined responses are shown along with the responses of individual groups when they demonstrated a statistically significant variance. Occasionally, commentary is added to better explain questions and responses. Every cremation requires a container or casket to hold the body. In question #23 through #25 we asked participants to suggest retail pricing for each container and/or casket. In question #26 we asked individuals to rank each product by preference. (Question #1 through #22 were included in Part I featured in the spring issue of The Cremationist.)
Question 23. Kraft cardboard cremation box. This Kraft corrugated paper box holds the body as it is transported and consumed during cremation.
National average, $62.50
Question 24. Wood-grain printed paper corrugated container. With its simple interior and mattress, this container is used for transportation and private family viewings. It is consumed during cremation.
National average, $179.24
Question 25. Blue cloth-covered cremation container. This container includes a simple interior and mattress and is used by families to spend private time with the deceased. It is typically not used for public viewings.
National average, $257.57
Question 26. Assuming you are having a private family viewing of the deceased, please rank the following in order of preference. Indicate your favorite with a 1 and your least favorite with a 4.
Cardboard container, $60.00, Wood-grained container, $200.00, Blue cloth-covered cremation container, $350.00, blue cloth-covered casket, $550.00, Kraft cremation container, $60.00
Preference (at this price):
First, 39%
Second, 7%
Third, 13%
Fourth, 40%
Wood-grained container, $200 Preference:
First, 25%
Second, 52%
Third, 23%
Fourth, less than 1%
Blue cloth-covered cremation container, $350 Preference:
First, 19%
Second, 34%
Third, 47%
Fourth, less than 1%
Blue cloth-covered cremation casket with wood handles, $550 Preference:
First, 18%
Second, 6%
Third, 17%
Fourth, 59%
We know from both the 2008 and 2009 surveys that 25 to 30 percent of cremation consumers would choose the lowest-priced products and services. So it’s no surprise that 39 percent of those holding a private family service choose the rock-bottom priced container. A far more important finding is that without the Kraft box option, consumers overwhelmingly select a wood-grained ($200) or blue cloth-covered container ($350). The simple strategy of eliminating the Kraft box increases every minimal cremation profit margin by more than $100, not including added revenues from private services.
Question 27. Do you know that rental caskets are available to families wanting more traditionally oriented services including a viewing prior to cremation? (Response is nearly identical to our 2007 survey.)
Nationally: Yes, 34%; No, 66%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Yes 29% 40% 44% 28% 30%
No 71% 60% 56% 72% 70%
The third group, which has significantly more Catholics as a percentage, knows about rental caskets. For years, we’ve known that funeral homes serving Catholics use rental caskets more frequently. They easily increase product profit margins by $400 to $1,000 every time they’re used. Another benefit to both service providers and families is that the use of an attractive rental casket can facilitate a full and inspirational service. Most respondents suggested that each of the four rentals we showed should rent for less than $500. Keep in mind that the majority feel everything associated with a funeral is too expensive. In our 2007 survey articles we suggested that rental caskets should cost about the same as cloth-covered burial caskets and respondents overwhelmingly concur. We also recognize that rentals with crepe interiors are often retail priced at $800 up to $1,300. Regardless of where you land on the pricing scale, every time you rent a casket, you’ll likely generate a robust profit margin as well as additional service revenue. We began the next section by describing how rental caskets are used. These solid-wood rental caskets are available to families having public funeral services followed by cremation. With each use, the section holding the body and fabric surrounding the body is replaced with a new, combustible cremation insert, after the service, the corrugated cardboard cremation insert and interior are removed and transported to the crematory where they’re consumed along with the body.
Question 28. Solid-oak hardwood rental casket. If you are going to have a public service, how much are you willing to pay to rent this casket?
National average, $536.39
Question 29. Solid-pine rental casket. If you are going to have a public service, how much are you willing to pay to rent this casket?
National average, $530.12
Question 30. Solid-poplar wood rental casket. If you are going to have a public service, how much are you willing to pay to rent this casket?
National average, $543.13
Question 31. Solid-cherry hardwood rental casket. If you are going to have a public service, how much are you willing to pay to rent this casket?
National average, $584.82
By a slim margin, consumers would pay the most for a cherry rental casket, followed by poplar, oak and pine.
Question 32. What do you expect to pay for a traditional funeral service followed by cremation using a rental casket?
National average: $2,975
Group averages:
Group 1, $2,975
Group 2, $2,781
Group 3, $3,056
Group 4, $3,081
Group 5, $3,056
Question 33. Most hardwood caskets can be used for cremation. They’re typically sold to families at a price range of $1,600 to $4,000 or higher. How likely are you to purchase a hardwood casket priced at $1,600 or higher for cremation?
Definitely consider: Nationally, 1.71%
Group: 1, 1%; 2, 3%; 3, 0%; 4, 1%; 5, 4%
Definitely not consider: Nationally, 50.49%
Group 1, 61%; 2, 45%; 3, 49%; 4, 46%; 5, 53%
Need to see products to decide. Nationally, 17.56%
Group: 1, 16%; 2, 20%; 3, 11%; 4, 15%; 5, 28%
Prefer a rental casket: Nationally, 30.24%
Group 1, 22%; 2, 33%; 3, 40%; 4, 38%; 5, 16%
Question 34. Nearly all funeral providers advertise. Assuming there are multiple funeral homes in your area, which advertising messages or images are your top four reasons for choosing a funeral provider?
Low prices, 59%
Web site (additional information), 55%
Good reputation, 52%
How long in business, 33%
Private family services, 30%
Convenient location (s), 28%
Testimonials, 26%
Free planning video (CD), 17%
Ads with local hospice, 13%
Ads with church, temple or synagogue, 12%
Casket/cremation product photos, 10%
Organ/piano and chapel photos, 6%
Responses indicate that promotion of low prices, an informative Web site and your good reputation may be key messages to increase call volume. Your location(s), years in business and the availability of private-family services are among the six most important messages chosen from our survey.
Question 35. Some funeral providers own cremation equipment while others use outside services. Which cremation-service provider is your choice based on ownership of cremation equipment?
Doesn’t matter who owns/operates equipment, 71%
Prefer funeral provider owns/operates equipment, 29%
With regard to question #36, some funeral providers track the deceased body by discretely including a small, non-destructible tracking disc from the time the body is picked up, through identification, services (if any) and cremation. This same numbered disc is included with the cremated remains when returned to the family.
Question 36. Is it important that your funeral service provider takes every reasonable measure to avoid mistaken identity?
Yes, a tracking system should be used, 72%
No, it really doesn’t matter, 28%
Using sequentially numbered cremation tracking discs adds less than 50 cents per cremation. Most respondents feel it is very important to track their loved one. Ironically, few service providers offer a non-destructible tracking system.
Question 37. How much do you expect to spend for all funeral expenses including cremation?
National Average, $2,797.20
Group averages:
1, $2,461;
2, $2,492;
3, $3,109;
4, $2,602;
5, $3,322
For more insight into each group, we arranged group responses in ascending dollar amount from lowest to highest. Each group was divided into three, equal sub-groups and averaged their responses. The chart below shows an average of how much the lowest spending third, middle third and the highest third expected to pay for a cremation service.
More than 50% 40-49% 30-39% 20-29% Less than 20%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Lowest third $631 $931 $1,410 $1,014 $1,377
Middle third $2,048 $2,352 $2,962 $2,450 $2,754
Highest third $4,704 $4,460 $5,280 $4,517 $6,200
Group 1’s lowest third indicated it expects to spend an average of $631. The middle third expects to spend $2,048, and the highest third expects to spend $4,704. We might expect the lowest third from each group to represent the price expectation for an immediate cremation through a cremation society or similar service. The middle results may represent the expected cost for private-family services and the upper third represents the expectation for full traditional services with a rental casket. Nationwide, cremation can be pared down to three levels of service: immediate/direct cremation; private-family viewing; and more-traditional service using a rental casket. We understand that in some lower-volume cremation markets, funeral homes occasionally sell a hardwood casket for cremation, along with traditional services. However, we also see that once seriously low-priced competition arrives, average prices for cremation services tend to migrate downward.
Question 38. Do you think crematory operators take great care to return the actual cremated remains of your loved one?
Yes, 46.34%
No, 11.46%
Don’t know, 42.2%
Question 39. Which of the choices below best describes your thoughts about burial?
Spend the money on something better, 68%
Too expensive, 62%
Why preserve body—it’s dust-to-dust for me, 58%
Don’t like buried casket taking up space forever, 43%
Don’t need to see a body to accept death, 40%
Makes no sense to me, 36%
Don’t like open caskets at funeral, 17%
Don’t have close relatives so why bother, 6%
Funeral homes are creepy, 4%
Religion or beliefs forbid burial, less than 1%
Question 40. Nearly all funeral providers have merchandise selection rooms or displays. Of the choices below, which method do you prefer?
See actual products in a selection-room display, 58%
Select from photo CD in the comfort of our own home, 29%
Select from photos or electronic display at service provider’s location, 14%
Question 41. Have you met with any funeral service professional to specifically discuss your cremation arrangements?
Nationally: Yes, 11%; No, 89%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Yes 11% 5% 8% 17% 13%
No 89% 95% 92% 83% 87%
Question 42. Some cremation or memorial societies charge a $25 nominal fee to become a registered member. Are you currently a registered member of a cremation society?
Nationally: Yes, 3%; No, 97%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Yes 10% 1% 4% 1% 0%
No 90% 99% 96% 99% 100%
Question 43. if you’re planning to have a memorial service, when will it likely occur?
Before cremation, 24%
During the cremation, 1%
Soon after the cremation, 24%
Doesn’t matter, any time, 51%
Question 44. Which type of cremation-service provider would you most trust to handle cremation arrangements?
Nationally: Cremation society, 48%; Funeral home, 52%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Cremation Society 56% 61% 40% 39% 48%
Funeral Home 44% 39% 60% 61% 53%
Question 45. Which type of service provider would you expect to charge less for a cremation?
Funeral Home, 12%
Cremation Society, 45%
Don’t really know, 43%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Funeral Home 7% 11% 13% 14% 14%
Cremation Society 59% 41% 40% 42% 44%
Don’t Really Know 34% 48% 48% 44% 43%
Question 46. Are there cremation societies active in your area?
Nationally: Yes, 16%; No, 5%; Don’t know, 79%
By State Group (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Yes 29% 30% 11% 5% 6%
No 4% 1% 6% 5% 9%
Don’t Really Know 67% 69% 83% 89% 85%
Question 47. In a few words, please tell us why you chose cremation as a means of final disposition?
Nearly 35 percent said their decision was based on the high cost of burial. Others included: waste of space; don’t want to care for a gravesite; no need to preserve a dead body; and cremation is easier for family members.
Question 48. What one or two new things have you learned from taking this survey?
Twenty-two percent indicated that the idea of a cremation society was interesting or something they would look into. Twenty-four percent learned about the availability of rental caskets. Others commented that they did not know there were so many cremation-container choices. Some were surprised that bodies were cremated in plain, cardboard boxes.
Question 49. If you could tell the funeral industry one thing, what would it be?
We certainly got an earful of responses with this question. Nearly 59 percent were frustrated to downright angry that funerals are so expensive. Others indicated that they felt emotionally vulnerable. Some reported that their local funeral directors were fantastic and showed great compassion in their services.
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