-By Joseph Tarnowski

There is a predictable adoption path in terms of which nonfoods products consumers will use as they become increasingly involved in a health-and-wellness-oriented lifestyle, particularly one that involves a more sustainable outlook. But while it’s predictable, retailers need to take some specific steps to ensure the right offerings are available for each step along this path.

According to "Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally Conscious Lifestyles," a research study published last year by Colorado Springs, Colo.-based nonfoods supplier association Global Market Development Center (GMDC), this move toward more natural-oriented products doesn't occur in large jumps, but rather as a slower progression of steps as the shopper gradually dips her toe in the pool of natural products.

The study revealed that general merchandise and health, beauty and wellness products fall into one of three categories along this adoption path: 1) gateway categories, 2) non-gateway categories that have direct ties to health and wellness and 3) non-gateway categories that have indirect ties to health and wellness.

The first major health-and-wellness category to be adopted into a wellness lifestyle is, almost invariably, healthier and better food, followed by use of common vitamins, most often a multi-vitamin, and often including basic named vitamins such as vitamin C. The study refers to these types of products as "gateway" categories.

At the mid-level, as consumers dive deeper into the lifestyle, they begin to incorporate other health-and-wellness-oriented products such as natural home cleaners and personal care items into their wellness regimes. By the time consumers reach the core level, where they are heavily engaged in the health-and-wellness lifestyle — including sustainability — they are shopping with keen interest in nearly every category, from the food they feed their pets to what they spray on their lawns.

Because of this, GMDC developed the Product Adoption Pathway as a guide for targeting products and retail offerings that are most relevant to consumers. For instance, there would be little point in trying to sell herbal remedies with origins in traditional Chinese medicine to consumers in the periphery of the health-and-wellness world. However, targeting those same consumers with sensible, easy-to-shop arrangements of common vitamins makes perfect sense.

In terms of specific health-and-wellness product criteria, periphery and "low" mid-level consumers — in terms of engagement in a health-and-wellness lifestyle — tend to think primarily about price and effectiveness. For "high" mid-level and core consumers — those heavily engaged in the healthy lifestyle — notions of purity, avoidance of toxins, and environmental friendliness are the most desired product attributes.

The introduction of transitional products (targeted to mid-level consumers) is imperative to help consumers move from conventional products into more health-and-wellness-oriented items, according to the study. Retailers should use integrated product sets (merchandising the conventional and transitional products in the same location) to attract mainstream consumers who shop habitually and want to make product comparisons at the shelf.

Indeed, product packaging is the first health-and-wellness cue that consumers notice: clarity of product function, sustainability markers and contemporary aesthetics are all necessary components in the product's design.


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The full 160-page study is available at www.gmdc.org.