More individuality, less religiosity

March 25, 2025/Business, Cremation, Products/

It probably won’t surprise anybody in the Death Care profession that a recent study showed that “Individuality” in funeral choice is becoming far more popular that “Religiosity”. As a matter of fact, 68% of those consumers questioned believed in holding a “Celebration of Life” rather than a “Time of Reflection”.

And, that 68% figure is 10% points higher than the answer to the same question in 2019 — only five years ago.

The results come from Great Britain’s Co-op Funeralcare and their recent report titled “Trending Tributes“. You can get to the “Trending Tributes report by following this link to a press release on the topic.

Here’s another interesting quote from the press release showing the changing face of services, “. . . this trend is further reflected in the locations where funerals are held, as nearly six in 10 (57%) of Co-op Funeralcare’s funeral directors reported an increase in requests for services to take place outside of traditional religious settings, while almost half of the respondents surveyed (48%) said they had attended a funeral in a non-traditional setting over the last year.

There’s also an increase in the use of technology at funerals/celebrations taking place according to the report. 98% of funeral directors report that they have had requests to “Livestream” a funeral — something that is becoming more and more universal. In addition, 18% of funeral directors report attendees taking selfies and 31% of funeral directors report families or attendees posting to social media about the event.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily: I think that this is a really interesting report to take a look at for all of those who are in funeral service and in charge of offering products and services to those in need of death care dispositions or celebration/events. There is no doubt that after five or six decades of slow change in the services aspect of the business change is happening fast.

And, in my few years of covering the profession with Funeral Director Daily I’ve come to the conclusion that, while the customs consumers choose in death care of Great Britain and North America have been different, there is somewhat of a “coming together” of those consumer choices.

There seems to be a more universal movement to cremation over traditional burial on both continents and there also seems to be movement away from the religious aspect or implications of one’s life when planning the event or services. Finally, from my point of view, not only has Great Britain moved away from organized religion faster than North America, but the choice of “Direct Cremation” seems to be a bigger choice in the United Kingdom than North America at this time. . . . .with North America quickly moving in that direction.

Because of that, I think smart operators in North America are wise to look to what has happened to Death Care in Great Britain for ideas and insight in how to gain future market share in North America. This report is a good place to start.

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