Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

Though this is an important category, caution should also be observed before investing too heavily in
it. As we saw in Chapter 2, the Internet now serves as the key source of H+W information for
consumers. We do not see this trend reversing itself, in fact, we anticipate the Internet becoming
more important overall in consumer H+W over the next several years.
Purchase Criteria
Purchase criteria are rather difficult to discern in this category, as many consumers do not purchase
within it regularly and/or purchase such items on whim or impulse. Price is often a leading criterion,
but it tends to operate in retail channel selection rather than in an immediate store context. That is,
many will simply go to a specialist channel (e.g. Borders) where they expect pricing will be
competitive when they go out specifically to purchase publications. When publications are purchased
impulsively, price often does not matter so much so long as it is not unreasonable. Probably the most
significant other factor is simple and immediate relevance, which makes in-store placement of
publications important e.g. having books on cooking with herbs near specialty herbs, or placing
books on vitamins near vitamins.
Brand and Product Offerings
There is of course no lack of available printed materials on various aspects of H+W. Some selection
of key works in H+W topic areas (e.g. books by Dr. Andrew Weil) would be desirable in most
channels covered by this report. The specialty drug channel and specialty grocers should consider
carrying more extensive variety of H+W related publications. In the latter case, publications relating
to food (E.g. Saveur) should be prioritized given the H+W resonance of food in those stores.
Non-Gateway Categories/Sub-Categories
The following categories have some discernable relevance to H+W, and often appear alongside
other categories of adoption. However, by themselves they currently lack the ability to facilitate a
consumer‘s growth into other categories of H+W goods, thus they are ―non-gateway‖ categories.
OTC
H+W Relevance
While this category has a very direct relationship to H+W, it is not the
most positive association. OTC products are generally associated with
conditions of illness and/or crisis (e.g. a bad headache) and lack the
positive, proactive H+W associations that we find with certain other
categories, e.g. taking the right supplements is often viewed as a
positive, self-empowering move by Mid-level consumers. Many H+W
consumers tend to use less in the way of OTC as they evolve and
develop a general disinclination toward ―drugs‖ or other medications.
The following figure shows consumer attitudes towards OTC use versus
using natural versions. Overall, a majority of consumers (58%) use
OTC medications, but try to limit the amount used. The Core is more
Figure 70 – Consumer
Collage Showing Concern
Over Taking “Too Many
Drugs”
90