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Daymon Worldwide Announces Comprehensive Research Study Into Global Food Culture Shifts, Powered by the Hartman Group. |
04.05.2006
“HartBeat” is The Hartman Group's FREE online newsletter, providing insight, analysis, information and strategy to give business leaders the knowledge and vision to build sustainable brands.
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For more Hartman Group articles on CHILDREN'S WELLNESS, click here...
10.13.2006 "(Food) Pyramid Schemes & the Myth of Following Nutritional Guidelines"
04.14.2005 "Emerging Trends in Parenting the Healthy Eater"
11.11.2004 "What's for Dinner?: Understanding Meal Fragmentation as a Cultural Phenomenon"
09.23.2004 "Asian Dinner Mixes & the Family Meal: Evolving Food Culture"
10.25.2002 "Children's Wellness: Making Decisions & Negotiating"
10.18.2002 "Children's Wellness: Who's Leading the Charge?"
04.15.2002 <
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StumbleUponBrand Trust And Children's Wellness
- "An organic diet is like an insurance policy for my children's future. No one's really sure what all the hormones and chemicals are going to do. It can't be good. And it's the least I can do to protect my children's health."
This quote is typical of so many concerned parents across America today. Protecting children's health and wellness is an increasingly important concern for parents in today's marketplace. By understanding who children's wellness consumers are and how to engage them in a lifestyle proposition built from the contexts of everyday real life, CPG companies and retailers increase their chances to differentiate products and brands, grow market share and establish long-term relationships with consumers that foster repeat purchases.
This is the focus of our latest study, Children's Wellness 2005: At the Intersection of Hope & Anxiety and the third report in a series focused on children's wellness from the consumer's vantage point. As consumers continue to shop and care for themselves and their families in ever more unique and individualized ways, we are noticing profound changes in consumer orientations toward wellness in general, as well as in children's wellness specifically. These changes will have critical implications for producers and marketers of youth-oriented wellness products.
Children's Wellness 2006  AT THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE & ANXIETYYour roadmap to understanding the health and wellness challenges parents and youth face in today's marketplace - a "must have" resource of key business implications for both manufacturers and retailers...PURCHASE FULL REPORT OR BY CHAPTER |
Wellness consumers are increasingly motivated, not by a rational means-to-an-end approach, but rather by less tangible emotional states produced by fears, anxieties, hopes and aspirations created by the all-American need for self-improvement and the desire for something better. Thus, consumer behaviors are not simply driven by specific health concerns, but by concerns with "living better lives" through being better parents, eating healthier, being active, taking control, etc. This drive for self-improvement is clearly evident in the domain of children's wellness, where parents' own lifestyle aspirations and practices have come to dominate children's wellness pursuits.
For example, the study explores the primary triggers behind involvement into children's health and wellness. While having children is the most obvious, others include:
- Health conditions
- Seeking a Wellness Lifestyle
- Social Influences
Between two extremes lies the opportunity
The degree to which a consumer is involved in a wellness lifestyle determines his or her position in the continuum from the Core to the Periphery. For example, Core Consumers in the World of Children's Wellness are "trendsetters" and practitioners. They seek all things natural but prefer to purchase organic foods, beverages, personal care products and clothing. They are most knowledgeable about the "latest" products to reduce or avoid consuming.
By contrast, Periphery Consumers are "dabblers" and the least involved in the World of Children's Wellness. Periphery Consumers are often skeptical about the health and wellness benefits of children's wellness products and services. They don't know the difference between natural and organic and see little or no reason to pay more for natural personal care products. More than the Mid-level and Core, they tend to rely on and trust government safety standards and the medical industry, especially when it concerns children's health and wellness.
- "I can't possibly know everything that may or may not be bad for my kids. And I can't think about all the dangers lurking out there. It's like worrying about nuclear war; it's too big and overwhelming, I pretty much rely on the government to set safety standards. I can see the government acting in self-interested ways for other things, but not when it comes to the health and safety of our children."
- Jennifer, Periphery Consumer
Between these two extremes lie the majority of consumers who participate to varying degrees in wellness activities, but who have yet to incorporate the complete range of children's wellness products and services into their lifestyle. Mid-level consumers are "gaining knowledge." They are seeking healthier alternatives: fresh, natural and minimally processed products. Mid-level consumers are less able (compare to the Core) to articulate specific health and wellness benefits of youth-oriented products and services. Rather than being proactive information seekers, these consumers have a heightened awareness of the major issues and concerns, and are likely to notice information disseminated through their regular channels of information (e.g., Oprah, evening news, Parenting magazine).
Mid-level consumers are still considering how to fit children's wellness into their family's overall wellness lifestyle. They are also more likely than the Core to give into their children's preferences and requests. Rather than eliminating certain categories, they like to "set limits." These consumers want to find a balance between implementing health and wellness goals and "allowing real life to happen."
Looking for partners consumers can trust
Mid-level and Periphery Consumers respond more positively to healthier alternative products that are produced by their favorite and trusted brands. Parents want solutions that are flexible and allow for a partnership rather than constant battling and negotiation between what children want and what parents believe they need. Kids today are pretty shrewd and fairly suspicious of advertising and packaging. Marketers shouldn't assume all this generation wants are sweetness and indulgence.
Children are playing an increasingly significant role in household attitudes and behaviors toward health and wellness. In fact, in some households, children are more aware, informed and involved than their parents in dietary and nutritional practices and standards. Children begin making their own choices (including purchase decisions) at an early age - around age 10. At this juncture, parents' roles transition from guardians to partners in health and wellness.
Manufacturers and retailers must accept that times have changed and continue to evolve for today's youth. Just as parents become partners with children on their journey in health and wellness, the opportunities are ripe for manufacturers and retailers to leverage brand trust in development and innovation of new health and wellness products and services. Don't give consumers a reason to abandon your brand in favor of others in the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. 
| Children's Wellness 2006 AT THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE & ANXIETY Your roadmap to understanding the health and wellness challenges parents and youth face in today's marketplace - a "must have" resource of key business implications for both manufacturers and retailers...PURCHASE FULL REPORT OR BY CHAPTER |
