Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) has featured Hero Digital’s Wellness Truth & Beauty Index in a recent article titled: Consumer Insights Report Finds Empowerment is Key to Digital Transformation in Wellness. Written by Alexandra Pastore, an editor in strategic content development, this article highlights key differences across Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Baby Boomer. Read the full article below.
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According to a new consumer wellness survey by Hero Digital, a digital business transformation company, half of Gen X consumers and 40 percent of Gen Z consumers prioritize empowerment in wellness brands.
While the wellness category has been gaining momentum for years, the pandemic gave brands in the space an extra nudge in their acceleration as consumers searched for new ways to improve mental and physical health — from digital fitness to wearables and weight loss. However, wellness solutions and transformational tools do not look the same for all consumer demographics. In fact, Hero Digital’s new report reveals insights into key differences found across Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Baby Boomer consumers including the attribute they place as a top priority.
In its research, Hero Digital surveyed more than 3,000 people across 52 brands in consumer goods, financial services, wellness, and health care.
“The past few years have proven that taking care of your mental and physical health has taken priority for consumers of all ages,” said Owen Frivold, executive vice president of strategy at Hero Digital. “This latest Digital Wellness Truth & Beauty Index shines a light on what each generation of consumers is looking for in their wellness journey. As emerging brands build their name and traditional brands evolve to meet these new consumer needs, it’s important to pay attention to what different generations prioritize in order to stand out in the saturated market of health and wellness.”
The top derived attribute that drives brand advocacy for Gen Z was reported as “effectiveness,” with 60 percent of respondents citing the importance of functionality and 40 percent citing emotional needs. This consumer, the report said, was greatly affected by the changes of the pandemic and is adapting new wellness technology at high rates. “They value effective products that help them live their best lives.”
In contrast, 60 percent of Millennials cited the importance of wellness brands supporting emotional needs and 40 percent cited the importance of functional needs. This group said they value trust above any other attributes when recommending a wellness brand.
Gen X consumers, however, reported an even split in the importance they placed on functional vs emotional needs on likelihood to recommend a wellness brand, though still placed trust as the top brand attribute they looked for. “Transformation is by far the leading need for this large age group,” said the authors of the report.
Mirroring Millennials, 60 percent of Baby Boomers reported the importance of wellness brands meeting emotional needs with 40 percent citing functional needs. And like Gen Z, this cohort cited “effectiveness” as its leading brand attribute to recommend a brand. “To gain advocacy from this influential group, brands must constantly improve experiences and empower customers to live their best lives,” said the authors of the report.
Notably, while each generation has unique customer experience priorities that are defined by what its customers say is important when shopping from a brand and what they feel is important when recommending a brand, across all generations value was found when brands showed they were delivering “transformation through empowerment and disruption.”
Additional attributes where consumers said they saw value were empathy and principles (20 percent of Millennials) as well as price and stature (30 percent of Boomers).
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Hero Digital’s Wellness Truth & Beauty Index surveyed 3,000 people across 7 digital wellness brands. Using Hero Digital’s advanced, proprietary framework, leading companies can uncover the hidden attributes that drive both brand choice and brand advocacy, so they can place today’s customers at the center of their digital transformation strategy.
Contact us to receive your own assessment and better understand how you benchmark against other like-minded brands.
