Preventative healthcare and wellbeing gadgets will continue to thrive: report
Euromonitor International has published its annual Top 10 Global Consumer Trends forecast report, highlighting an expected boom in consumers' desire for preventative healthcare via digital devices – given the current popularity of
fitness and dieting apps.
Written by Daphne Kasriel-Alexander, a consumer trends consultant for Euromonitor International in the UK, the report states that by November 2014, the MapMyRun app – that tracks various physical activities – had achieved 5.4m downloads on Android-based gadgets, according to xyo.net. The Calorie Counter app was downloaded by 32m consumers, proving that connected health is a prevalent trend.
Among the reasons Euromonitor gives for this increase in digitally monitoring one’s physical activity and dietary habits is that while consumers are aware of the benefits of exercise, they are lacking in drive. “This blend of exercise and technology mirrors broader lifestyle trends,” the report says. “Consumers everywhere are connected most of the time, thanks to smartphones, so it feels natural to them to blend fitness elements into their mobile cocoons.”
“The consumer need to share, benchmark, compete and stay motivated means this tracking and health-promoting activity is spilling over into discussions on social networking platforms,” the report adds. “In the eyes of consumers, fitness is more than the physical element and linked to factors such as purpose, social life and community.”
Consumers are also turning to gadgets to improve their mental wellbeing – using smartphones to enhance their lifestyles and happiness through apps that involve stress detection, meditation and other relaxation techniques.
The huge amounts of information on the internet, however, means consumers are increasingly using Google searches to self-diagnose. NHS choices, the UK government’s health website, saw visitors rise by 40 per cent this year, according to the report. Patients that turn up to appointments to see their doctor, armed with printed pages from health websites and convinced they know what is wrong with them are being dubbed “cyberchondriacs”.
This wired wellness trend is also demonstrating ways in which consumers campaign for change. Social media and blogs are being used “as megaphones to pressure the food industry and others into greater transparency and into altering product formulations,” it says in the report. The New York Times covered a case in which an American mother went online with a petition to highlight the adverse effects that petroleum-based food dyes in confectionary were having on her son, according to the report. The online campaign prompted commitments from brands such as Mars to explore natural alternatives.
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