Despite cultural differences around the world, consumers display many similarities in approaches and attitudes to Health & Wellness, particularly during a global event such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought shared immediate priorities to the fore.

The Hartman Group’s Health & Wellness Across the Globe report reveals that consumer understandings of Health & Wellness around the world are shaped by cultural forces that can vary by country. The report examines:

  • Health & Wellness Across the Globe
  • Health & Wellness in a Global Pandemic
  • Consumer Engagement in Health & Wellness
  • Global Approaches to Diet and Meals
  • International Perspectives on Sustainability

Global Consumer Perspectives of Health & Wellness

How do consumers in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Mexico and the USA think about health, including their own health status, aspirations and behaviors?

Across the globe:

  • Comparing one’s own health to other citizens reveals that most are optimistic about their own status. Consumers tend to rate themselves as healthier than average, particularly in Mexico, Brazil and the USA.
  • Definitions of Health & Wellness are dominated not only by physical aspects but also by components of self-esteem and mental wellbeing. Feeling good about oneself ranks among the most important aspects of Health & Wellness for consumers in the USA, Brazil, Germany, India and Mexico, but not in China.
  • In most of these countries, strong immunity ranks among the top three meanings of Health & Wellness, perhaps related to their deep cultural ties to food as medicine. 
  • While consumers’ regular Health & Wellness activities vary by country, a focus on sleep is shared across geographies.
  • Anxiety/stress and aches & pains rank among the top conditions being managed (treated or prevented) in most of these countries.
  • Across geographies, consumers use food and beverage to manage conditions with direct and well-established links to diet and nutrition. Consumers tend to think of food and beverage primarily as a means to manage those conditions that have a direct and well-established link to diet and nutrition, such as weight, digestion, food allergies, heartburn, cholesterol and diabetes.

Health & Wellness in a Global Pandemic

Living in the midst of a global pandemic has affected how consumers perceive Health & Wellness—both in general and in terms of the health of themselves and their loved ones.

Consumers are more likely to report improvements to health and diet in the past year; Germans are an exception, seeing relatively little change

Changes in Health Aspects in Past Year Chart

In most of the countries, more consumers reported improvements than declines to their overall health, mental health, and diet over the past year. Still, consumers became more concerned about a range of immediate health priorities during the pandemic, including contact with germs, overall health and safety of their family, and immunity.

Health & Wellness Across the Globe Cover ImageThe Hartman Group’s latest report, Health & Wellness Across the Globe, provides unique consumer perspectives on the important dynamics shaping the global health & wellness marketplace and delivers insights into how consumers envision and enact health & wellness in the realities of the “new normal.”

Gain a global perspective on the wellness consumer! Download the Health & Wellness Across the Globe report overview and order form and take advantage of special pricing before it expires August 31, 2021. Download now!

Contact: melissa@hartman-group.com