Americans Embrace Digital Funeral Planning While Still Seeking Professional Guidance, New NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Study Reveals
Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, has released its 2025 Consumer Awareness & Preferences Study, revealing significant shifts in how Americans approach death and funeral planning. The comprehensive research shows consumers are increasingly embracing digital solutions while simultaneously demonstrating growing reliance on funeral directors’ expertise.
The research continues NFDA’s ongoing effort since 2012 to track evolving consumer attitudes and help funeral service professionals better serve families.
Key findings include:
● Digital adoption surges: Nearly 30% of families now complete all funeral arrangements online, while 40% of consumers have used the services of a funeral home they found on Facebook—nearly doubling from 21% in 2023.
● Professional expertise increasingly valued: 44.4% would feel not very confident or not at all confident planning a funeral without a funeral director’s help—up 7.1% since 2024, despite growing digital adoption. Additionally, of those consumers who planned a funeral online, nearly 48% still needed the assistance of a funeral director and more than 15% felt the online planning process was either impersonal and lacked the level of compassionate service they would have received had they planned with a funeral director.
● Religion remains central: 75.7% consider religious components very important or somewhat important in funeral services, while nearly 64% would arrange livestreaming for distant relatives.
● Green options gain appeal: More than 61.4% of consumers are interested in exploring “green” funeral and natural burial options.
● Economic pressures shape choices: 55.4% of respondents earned less than $50,000 annually, compared to 38.5% in 2024, influencing demand for value.
● Pre-planning preferences evolve: While 19.4% have pre-planned and prepaid for arrangements, primarily to guarantee prices and relieve survivors of financial burden, 31.8% prefer a hybrid approach combining online planning with direct funeral director consultation.
“This research demonstrates that while technology is transforming how families access funeral services, the fundamental value of professional guidance remains irreplaceable,” said Dutch Nie, NFDA Immediate Past-President and Nie Family Funeral Home & Cremation Services owner, CEO/President and funeral director . “Funeral directors are successfully adapting to digital expectations while maintaining their essential role as trusted advisors during families’ most difficult times.”
The study also reveals that consumers increasingly view funeral directors as valuable experts, with growing recognition of their professional expertise in navigating complex arrangements and providing essential support during grief.
About the Study
The 2025 NFDA Consumer Awareness & Preferences Study continues NFDA’s ongoing research tracking consumer attitudes since 2012. The study is designed to help funeral service professionals better understand and serve evolving family needs while maintaining the highest standards of care and professionalism. Conducted in the spring of 2025, 1,126 Americans age 40 and older were surveyed.
About NFDA
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit NFDA.org.
