Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

Product packaging is the first Health and Wellness cue that consumers notice – clarity of
product function, sustainability markers and contemporary aesthetics are all necessary
Key Concepts at the Product and Category Levels
There is a Predictable Product Adoption Path
A distinct product adoption pathway exists in the World of H+W. This pathway delineates the order
by which consumers typically introduce product categories their wellness regimens as they evolve
from Periphery toward the Core.
The first major H+W category to be adopted into a wellness lifestyle is, almost invariably, healthier
and better food, followed by use of common vitamins, most often a multi-vitamin, and often including
basic named vitamins e.g. Vitamin C. We call these, and a few others, ―gateway‖ categories. In the
Mid-level, consumers begin to incorporate other H+W-oriented products such as natural home
cleaners and personal care items into their wellness regimes. By the time consumers reach the Core,
they are shopping with keen H+W interest in nearly every category, from the food they feed their pets
to what they spray on their lawn.
The Product Adoption Pathway (see chart below) can be quite helpful as a guide for targeting
products and retail offerings that are most relevant to consumers. For instance, there would be
little point in trying to sell herbal remedies with origins in Traditional Chinese Medicine (far upper right
of chart) to consumers in the Periphery of the H+W world, however, targeting those same consumers
with sensible, easy-to-shop arrangements of common vitamins (top, toward the left of the chart)
makes perfect sense based on the Product Adoption Path.
food/beverage
vitamins
Figure 25 – Product Adoption Pathway
health + wellness books, magazines, +
education
natural home cleaners
specialty
supplements
natural lawn/
garden
natural pet care
herbal
supplements
+ remedies
PERIPHERY MID-LEVEL CORE
OTC
sporting equipment
home lighting
natural children‘s
hygiene/toiletries
natural
skincare
alternative toys and
games
natural make-up
natural natural eye care
hair care
natural fem hygiene
We can see this pattern to some extent in the self-reported category frequency of use data from our
quantitative survey. For instance, the figure below shows the purchasing behavior of functional
beverages such as fruit juices with added vitamins and dietary supplements. This pattern repeats
itself showing higher usage at the Core of each of the gateway product categories on it. In all cases,
it‘s the Core consumer that is purchasing these wellness products on a more frequent basis.
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