How have consumer attitudes to health changed between 2012 and 2024?
Health is fluid, and what consumers prioritize about their health is constantly changing. Our perspective on health can transform through education, innovation, and cultural shifts.
What we prioritize about our health can also change over time as a result of our age and lifestage. Understanding what consumers prioritize about their health, and how this is changing over time is critical for brands and manufacturers if they want to remain relevant with their offer and target audiences effectively.
In 2021 Bryter undertook a study of US consumers to understand what they prioritize about their health and the types of products they were buying to meet those health needs. The study revealed several interesting trends...
- Mental health was a key health priority for all age groups, and the number one health priority for those aged 18-34
- Age plays a key role in how focused consumers are on different aspects of their health. As we age, we prioritise a wider variety of aspects of our health
- The importance of serious disease prevention increases with age, and is the number one health priority for those aged 55+
- Vitamins were the most common purchased products for supporting health goals
- Younger consumers were increasingly turning to more novel and 'natural' solutions to meet their health goals, including superfoods, probiotic and probiotic foodstuffs and home remedies
- White space existed for new products to address sleep, onset of mental disease and improving mental performance
What do consumers prioritize about their health?
To better understand how consumer attitudes to health have changed between 2021 and 2024, Bryter undertook a survey of 1,897 US consumers to ask them about their health goals, and which products, digital tools & services they are using to meet those goals. Ultimately to understand if attitudes and behaviors have changed in the last three years and if this in turn is impacting on the types of products they are buying.
Top health goals remain unchanged
The top three health goals for US consumers remains unchanged since the 2021 survey. Maintaining good mental health continues to be the number one health priority, although the proportion of consumers rating this as 9-10/10 in terms of a priority has declined slightly since 2021. A similar pattern can be seen for 'to sleep well' and 'reduce risk of serious disease'.
Post pandemic, we saw a rise in the importance consumers were placing on 'building immunity'. Although nearly half (45%) of consumers still place high importance on this aspect of their health, we have seen one of the biggest drops between the two waves for this health goal, with a seven percentage point (PP) drop between 2021-2024. This change in attitude is also reflected in a decline in the proportion of consumers that place high priority on prevention of seasonal diseases and in the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, potentially indicating a shift in attitudes and a decline in key aspects of proactive health management.
How do consumer priorities differ by age?
In the previous wave of research, we saw significant differences in terms of what consumers prioritize about their health based on their age, with the over 55 age group more focused on disease prevention and building immunity to prevent disease.
In this latest wave we can see that this pattern still exists, with the proportion of those aged 55+ claiming that 'reduce risk of serious diseases' is the most commonly cited top 3 health priority for this age group. We can also see that the importance of this increases as consumers age.
Maintenance of good mental health is the number one priority for those aged 18-34, and has increased in importance since 2021 for this age group, with a thirteen percentage point uplift for those claiming it as one of their top three health priorities between the two waves. Gut health (a trend we saw being driven by younger consumers in 2021) also continues to increase in importance for the younger demographic, with a +7PP increase between the waves.
The middle aged group (those aged 35-54) are placing greater importance on more serious aspects of their health between the two waves, with a +9PP increase for 'reduce risk of serious disease' and prevention of disease related to mental performance, whilst at the same time placing lower importance on prevention of seasonal disease (-5PP) and build immunity (-11PP), perhaps signaling a shift towards a more long term rather than short term prioritization of health for this age group.
Key takeaways:
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Post-pandemic, there has been a decline in the importance of building immunity as a key health priority and a rise in the importance of mental health, serious disease prevention and prevention of diseases that affect mental acuity.
- Mental health remains a key priority for US consumers, and is the number one priority for younger consumers aged 18-34.
- The importance of mental health has continued to rise for younger consumers and is ranked as a top 3 health priority by 49% of those aged 18-34, well ahead of the second ranked priority of reducing the risk of serious diseases (31%).
Full report
https://www.bryter-global.com/health-goals-report
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