Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

General Growth in H+W Related Activities
NUTRITION, WEIGHT CONTROL, AND DIETARY GUIDELINES
Periphery consumers typically have limited concepts of nutrition, other than basic ideas that they
should be eating more ―healthy‖ foods (largely produce and fresh meats and fish) and avoiding ―junk‖
foods (e.g. potato chips), however, they often struggle maintaining those ideas in a behavioral sense.
For Periphery consumers, nutrition, diet, and weight control are tightly correlated to one another. At
the same time, they are conflated with ―health‖ in a general sense. That is to say, to many Periphery
consumers, diet, weight, and health are almost the same thing; often discussions of health with
Periphery consumers are framed as a struggle to lose or maintain weight. ―Dietary guidelines‖ often
equate to simply ―being on a diet‖ in order to lose weight, without necessarily being correlated to
ideas of nutrition.
As consumers become increasingly involved in H+W, their daily habits tend to change markedly.
Nutrition in a holistic sense becomes more important, as food ceases to simply be ―fuel‖ and is
understood in its broader functionality, often providing an even more intense sense of enjoyment
than it did before. That is to say, as a consumer becomes more involved in H+W, they do not eat
―bland‖ healthy foods, but generally tend to eat a more diverse and higher quality diet that includes
more fresh food. Behaviorally, as consumers evolve, they get increasingly close to eating a fully
―balanced‖ diet, though many are not keeping strict track of what they eating, embracing a general
idea and practice of eating as diversely as possible without pre-scripted requirements.
Unsurprisingly, along with fresh foods, the use of organics tends to increase as consumers evolve to
more advanced levels of H+W, however, more recently, we have seen the overall use of organics
tapering off, as Mid-level and Core consumers increasingly move toward both ―local‖ products and
non-organic foods of high quality levels (e.g. artisanal cheeses).
FITNESS
Fitness in the Periphery, like other matters of health, often tends to correlate with weight control,
vanity, or both. Consumers in the Periphery (with some exceptions e.g. bodybuilders) generally are
the least successful consumers at maintaining fitness regimes. Often these consumers will frame
less intense activities as ―exercise,‖ including leisurely walks, and, in some cases, household chores.
Often, they will possess rarely-used exercise equipment that sits in garage or basement areas of
their homes.
Mid-level and Core consumers tend to be more successful in maintaining regular fitness routines.
Often times, those fitness activities are joined with other lifestyle interests. For instance, many will
choose hiking or biking as forms of exercise in order to enjoy the outdoors while exercising.
Traditional gym-based workouts begin to taper off as consumers move toward the Core, though
more contemporary alternatives such as Pilates and Yoga continue to be popular with those
consumers.
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