A study from Mattress Firm found that fitting a pillow to participants based on their unique sleeping habits boosts sleep quality and duration.
In partnership with SleepScore Labs, Mattress Firm found that when compared to their sleep on the pillow they were using previously, participants who experienced in-store pillow fitting spent more time in bed, slept longer, and spent 10% more time in deep sleep.
The study measured sleep before and after customers participated in Mattress Firm’s in-store pillow fitting process and found that participants slept 487 more minutes per month on average (or 8.1 hours) when using the new, fitted pillow compared to when using their original pillow. This adds up to an extra night of sleep on average per month, according to information provided by Mattress Firm.
Data was collected objectively using SleepScore Max, a non-contact monitor that unobtrusively and objectively measures sleep at home. Participants also completed daily questionnaires about their sleep.
The study analyzed more than 750 total nights of objective and self-reported sleep data.
“There are hundreds of thousands of products and services which promise to improve sleep, but very few with any real science or data behind them said,” Colin Lawlor CEO, SeepScore Labs, says in a statement. “This study shows that sleep expertise and data combine to help people find the right pillow for them and that can make a significant difference to sleep quality.”
Participants also had more consistent sleep, spending a lower proportion of the night awake after falling asleep. In tandem with SleepScore’s objective data, participants’ questionnaire data showed that those sleeping with a new, fitted pillow reported better overall sleep quality (27% increase), improved ability to sleep through the night (36% increase), and felt more well-rested in the mornings (24% increase) compared to when using their original pillow.
“Our findings are clear: being personally fit to a pillow by one of Mattress Firm’s sleep experts improves sleep quality and duration,” says Josh Feinberg, EVP of Omni Channel Experience and Innovation at Mattress Firm, in a statement.
