What Do Women Want From Health and Wellness?

SAN FRANCISCOWhat do women want? When it comes to the health and wellness industry, women want brands that motivate and inspire them to be healthier, enabling them to reach their goals at any stage in life, according to a study in a white paper titled, "What Women Really Want From Health and Wellness" by Anthem Worldwide, the brand development practice of Schawk, Inc. (NYSE:SGK).

"The attitude of today's women about health and wellness is that they would rather live according to their internal motivations and not to external expectations," said Kathy Oneto, vice president, brand strategy. "Moreover, when it comes to purchase behavior, health and wellness is a factor at the point of decision and how brands speak to women up to that point influences the choices they make. A full two-thirds of women believe a brand that motivates them to be healthy is important when considering which brand products to buy."

Aimed at identifying what motivates women to achieve their goals, Anthem's study findings showed 74% of today's women are motivated to be healthy and the majority, 82%, believe there will be negative impacts if they do not take care of their health. Wanting to feel good was a motivational factor for 87% of women; close behind at 86% were the factors of being happy, having quality of life, and being their best selfall motivations surrounded seeking personal fulfillment.

The study also analyzed women's attitudes toward their health and wellness expectations. Most, 84%, feel they are expected to take responsibility for their family, 72% wanted to make others happy, 67% eat for health and not enjoyment, 66% felt responsibility to the planet and 61% wanted to be thin.

Oneto stated the research demonstrated similarities across generations, with high regard to health and wellness definitions, motivations and expectations. The study suggests marketers create more powerful connections with women, approaching them from a motivational standpoint rather than external, social standard reasoning.