Why a Top-Rated Mattress Might Not Be as Good as You Think

If you’re looking for a new mattress, what factors are you considering? You’re probably looking for a mattress that is the perfect blend of comfort and support and accommodates any personal needs (such as allergies) or preferences (such as a tufted mattress vs. quilted).

You might spend hours reading reviews or mattress ratings, hoping to find something that will help you get the best rest while also fitting your personal budget. It may be tempting to filter those mattress ratings to find the top-rated mattress and go from there, but believe it or not, a top-rated mattress might not be as good as you think.

What Affects Ratings?

Large chains and brand names soar in popularity for a few different reasons. They may make a great mattress, but they don’t have to rely on only satisfied consumers to promote their product. Larger marketing budgets affect ratings and public influence. Here are some of the ways this can happen:

• Commercial Advertising. When a mattress company has an enormous marketing budget, they can take advantage of advertising in various ways and markets. Flashy billboards, impressive television commercials, and frequent online ads may take over the top claims without any real way for you to fact check. The information comes at you fast, and your brain may likely only remember the flashiest or biggest words in the advertising, such as “#1” or “Top Rated.”
• Marketing Polls. Large marketing budgets can afford biased polls. For example, a large mattress chain may take their best mattress and give it, along with the lower end mattresses of their competitors, to a very small, selected pool of consumers for comparison and review. You may see an asterisk following the claim directing you to a paragraph of super-fine print which discloses the number of consumers in the poll and which mattresses were being compared. However, super-fine print is super hard to read — and most people pass it over.
• Social Influence. Socially, people are always longing for what’s bigger, better, newer, and flashier. Marketing strategies play on the human nature of discontent. The way it can successfully drive up product ratings for everything from cars to appliances to mattresses is if a consumer is led to believe that by spending an excessive amount of money on “the best,” they too will be satisfied. Paying more for a mattress doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting the best money can buy. It may simply mean you overspent.

How Can You Make Sense of the Ratings?

With all this talk about how top-rated mattresses might be prone to exaggerated claims, biased polls, or even social influence, how can you verify the authenticity of mattress ratings? Keep the following tips in mind and it can help you in your mattress buying decisions:

• A bigger company may not be better — in fact, less may very well be more. Local or family-owned and operated companies may seem to pale in comparison to large mattress chains, and that could be due to their marketing strategies and budgets. Still, they’re offering a competing product successfully, which should tell you something. Chances are you might be able to pay less for a better mattress when you shop through smaller companies, because you’re paying for what counts: the quality of the mattress itself.
• A bigger price tag doesn’t mean a better mattress, either. Large mattress chains can work in a significant mark up on their mattresses because their marketing budget also has greater overhead. Retail giants must cover their expenses, too, and marketing is costly. This will affect the ending price tag, so keep that in mind if you’re buying from a well-known mattress manufacturer. What are you paying for? A lot more than just the mattress.
• Check out real customer reviews. You don’t have to believe that a top-rated mattress is all it claims to be just because a magazine ad said it was so. Dig for customer testimonials and read personal reviews.

Gardner Mattress has a lot to offer when it comes to excellent mattresses, and it’s our goal to give you the best mattress at the best price. Watch our customer testimonials for more information. You can trust that when you buy from us, you’re not overspending by paying for the markups or middle man. You’re just paying for a great mattress that you’ll love for years to come. Decide for yourself — contact us today.