In short

• Emotional barriers, like stigma and trust, block hearing aid adoption, beyond what surveys can capture.
• Glaut uses AI-native interviews to uncover deep emotional and relational insights fast.
• With just 3 open-ended questions, Glaut reveals patterns in emotion, sentiment, and stigma perception.
• Analyses are structured, scalable, and segmented by key variables like gender and experience level.
• Goal-based reports are ready in minutes, helping brands act faster and more effectively.

Problem: emotional barriers in the hearing aid market

Despite growing awareness and access to hearing aids, emotional resistance remains a major blocker. Feelings like shame, distrust, and social discomfort are often more decisive than price or performance. We’re talking about:

• Stigma: what will others think?
• Distrust: will this even help me?
• Negative emotions: does this mean I’m getting old?

These are emotional blockers, not technical ones. And traditional research methods don’t quite get there:

• Surveys are too shallow.
• In-depth interviews are rich but impossible to scale fast.

The Solution: Glaut’s AI-driven research

Glaut’s AI-moderated interviews (AIMI) offer a new way forward, delivering scalable emotional depth without losing control over data or structure.

In this study, Glaut used a lightweight but powerful setup:
Just 3 open-ended questions, each with dynamic follow-ups generated by the AI-native platform.

This minimal structure captured maximum insight across three strategic areas:

• Patients' perceived benefits and emotional barriers
• Engagement and sentiment toward healthcare providers
• Perception and influence of social stigma

What makes this format different? It’s conversational, context-aware, and modular so every answer leads to deeper insight, without researcher intervention.

Key Analyses: what we learned from just 3 questions

Glaut’s AI-native interview surfaced rich emotional and behavioral patterns with minimal prompting. Here’s what emerged fast, deep, and directly from patients' own words.

Hearing aids enhance connection, but friction remains

• 93% of users said hearing aids improved clarity, especially in noisy settings.
• For 65%, this meant better social connection (one quotes: “I hear conversations better, especially in crowded places”).

But discomfort and maintenance issues were common:

• 89% of women reported physical discomfort;
• 94% of men flagged battery and cleaning fatigue.

Across all genders, background noise was a consistent challenge.

Emotionally, trust leads, but isn’t automatic

• 79% of users feel trust;
• ‍20% feel joy

But most are cautiously optimistic:‍

• 76% expressed moderate trust;
• 3% still struggle with reliability fears - “I’m still learning to trust it.”

Support from audiologists matters, but it must feel personal

65% praised thoughtful consultations and advice. But older users (60–80) often felt rushed or unheard, while 33% of 80+ users reported confidence when providers took time to explain.

Stigma is real, but not limiting

66% still feel stigma, mostly tied to age or dependence. Yet 86% say it doesn’t stop them from using their device.‍

“I focus on staying connected not what others think.”

Stigma isn’t gone but users are reframing it as a sign of care, not weakness.

Built-in reports, decision-ready

Insights don’t live in a spreadsheet. Glaut delivers them in goal-based reports, ready to share across teams. From emotional barriers to HCP sentiment and stigma trends, everything is pre-analyzed and neatly presented. Want to see it in action? View the report built with Glaut’s Report Builder. You’ll see how raw responses became visual, layered insights that drove real strategic change.

Conclusion: Qual at the speed of action

Hearing aid adoption is about more than tech, it’s about identity, emotion, and trust. And that requires research that sees the person, not just the patient. Glaut makes that possible: with just three questions, Glaut surfaces emotional depth, scales it, and packages it into insights you can use immediately.

No more trade-offs between depth and speed. With Glaut, you get both.