Hi Phoenix,
The reason that I am doing this is for personal reasons. You are absolutely correct in the fact that popularity of a particular brand or model should not influence an individual's decision when selecting a mattress. I did not think of this when creating the survey - partially because I came up with the questions quickly, and partially because I didn't want people to have to answer 50 questions.
However, the answers I receive will give me a good idea of whether or not people like the current mattress they sleep on. For example, if a sufficiently large number of people currently have a hybrid mattress and indicate they want to purchase a hybrid mattress in the future, I can report that users of hybrid mattresses typically like the style enough to continue to purchase in the future. It's not an exact science by any means, you are correct.
Right now I'm simply trying to find out general market trends with the new styles. Many new styles of bedding have emerged this year, and more people are beginning to purchase them. As of now, my mattress is eight years old, and I'm apt to try new products - especially when it comes to the place where I sleep. That said, I wanted to see if people have tried out the new styles, such as Tempur's cooling gel or maybe even as high-end as the Sleep Number X12 model. Asking the sales associates in the store about products doesn't always result in truthful answers (in my experience anyway), so I wanted to see feedback from a large number of people.
On a side note, thank you for this forum. It is a great way to hear owners opinions and ideas first-hand from an independent source. Because on average people purchase mattress infrequently, it can be difficult to find a centralized location for reviews that aren't on the seller's own website. I think people trust independent forums more than they do vendor's, so this is an excellent knowledge base.
As I said before, I will post the results once I have a large enough sample size (thank you to the 20 that have taken the survey already). I'm not saying that people should base their opinions off of my results at all - a mattress is both a mattress and a tool, and due diligence should be undertaken by any buyer. The survey is purely one factor I will consider when purchasing my next mattress in the near future.
Thank you, have a great day!