Strategic Trends and Insights in Health and Wellness

NMI’s 2012 Strategic Trends and Insights in Health and Wellness report is a compilation of 13 years of trended consumer data since 1999 based on consumers in the U.S., and has now been expanded to include consumer data in over 20 countries. This research seeks to examine consumer attitudes and behaviors toward health; how these behaviors and attitudes have transformed, adjusted, and realigned over the past decade in response to the ever-changing and uncertain world.

The past few years have shaken consumers; they have had to deal with a turbulent economy, corporate mistrust and global political turmoil. Consumers are taking inventory and realizing that aspects of their previous way of life may be unsustainable which is prompting a reorganization of priorities and formation of innovative behaviors realigned with a more frugal, sustainable and healthier lifestyle. While it may appear that many healthy attitudes and even behaviors have flattened, it is more likely the case that consumers are re-grouping, rethinking, and making a more strategic plan for how best to traverse the health landscape.

This report seeks to provide insights into how today’s consumer is confronting their own health and wellness, uncover factors that are creating health challenges, and reveal some underlying dynamics that may help to provide a glimpse into what lies ahead. Some examples of the issues which are discussed....

The healthiest segment within the population, identified as the WELL-BEINGS by NMI’s proprietary health and wellness segmentation model, continues to set the bar for healthy behaviors. They are considered a highly influential segment and the healthy standards they set provide the benchmarks for the more aspiring mainstream segments.

From continued expansion of functionality across food and beverage, to cosmeceuticals, to growth of comprehensive health and wellness centers, the whole anti-aging phenomenon will infiltrate the lifestyles of even the youngest generations as it moves from a niche opportunity to a mainstream way of life.

From the impact a product has on the planet to the impact it has on our own health, consumers are demanding more transparency and a clearer view of how a product or service truly fits with their value system. The brand relationship will undergo a metamorphosis from that of the typical brand icon to one which nourishes a deeper values experience, where the required return on investment is no longer one-dimensional, but multi-dimensional.

Consumers’ lack of distinction between organic and non-organic is pushing the organic industry to develop a clearer understanding of how organic fits into the consumer lifestyle. The new “organic” will need to go beyond the organic definition and emphasize the quality and regulated benefits of organic under the umbrella of a healthier option for people and the planet.

Consumers believe in different paths to health and they are impacted by different challenges - from budgets to babies and even to being an aging Boomer. In effect, consumers are compartmentalizing information and taking the pieces that apply to their beliefs and lifestyles to formulate their individual plan towards health. Marketers will need to understand their desires and provide the features, benefits, and communications that have greatest relevance to their target. Come see what consumers are thinking and doing in the latest health and wellness trends report from NMI.

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