Despite Financial Stress, Wellness Is the Last Thing Consumers Are Cutting Back On
Is wellness recession-proof? According to findings from Restore Hyper Wellness (Restore), consumers are certainly willing to make sacrifices in other areas to continue to afford health and wellness spending.
In partnership with Wakefield Research, Restore surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults to determine consumer sentiment around hyper wellness. The companies define hyper wellness as “grounded in 9 Elements everyone should incorporate into their daily lives both inside and outside of Restore’s four walls: oxygen, hydration, nourishment, cold, heat, light, movement, rest and connection. This category of care combines groundbreaking science with expert guidance to help consumers proactively improve their health.”
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“As part of our ongoing commitment to providing accessible proactive care methods to the nation, we wanted to better understand how consumers are viewing health and wellness and how they integrate it into their lives,” said Jim Donnelly, Restore’s chief executive officer and cofounder. “We not only learn those behaviors through the report, but also categorize those modalities and introduce hyper wellness as an extension and complement to the traditional health care industry.”
The report highlights consumers increased adoption of wellness services, products and solutions. For 54 percent of survey respondents, preventative health measures are part of their routines and 25 percent who engage in preventative health and wellness activities say they couldn’t go a week without these routines before experiencing negative mental or physical impact.
Consumers are also willing to elevate these wellness routines, too. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they would be willing to try a new hyper-wellness activity, service or product. Further, the survey revealed that, on average, people believe that turning 30 represents a time to “start thinking about health,” however, Gen Z respondents shared they believe that focusing on proactive wellness should begin at age 22 and Millennials believe proactive care should being at age 26.
The rise in interest isn’t surprising, according to the authors of the report, who noted that life expectancy has reportedly dropped for the second year in a row in the U.S., finding that consumers are actively turning to proactive methods of wellness. In fact, 63 percent said they believe that investing in hyper-wellness activities, services or products will save them money in the long term.
Although inflation and recession are top-of-mind for consumers, Restore’s survey revealed that U.S. consumers will change very little in the way they spend on wellness, if at all. Sixty-two percent of respondents told the company that “preventative health and wellness activities would be the last thing they cut back on,” with the same percentage saying that they are even willing to cut back on social activities to afford to participate in preventative care.
“As consumers continue to explore wellness modalities that support proactive health, it’s no surprise that many consumers are factoring this into their household budgets,” said Richard Joseph, MD, Restore Medical Advisory Board member. “I expect to continue to see greater adoption as the greater public prioritizes their health.”
When asked how they would reorganize their budgets, more than half of consumers said they would be willing to forgo store-bought coffee, while a third said they would give up cable and streaming services.
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