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Wellness May Be A Tough Sell for Diet Companies – By J. LaRosa

Jan. 15, 2019

What do most consumers think about when they hear the term “wellness”? Some may think about being free of any disease, or being physically fit, or mentally fit. Do they also think about weight loss? Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, in America the term wellness has always been kind of vague and is a tough thing to quantify. Insurers, and consumers, want to be more specific –things like BMI, blood cholesterol levels, quitting smoking or alcohol, stress tests, health risk assessments, ability to walk or run a certain distance, decreased pain, etc.

WW’s move to broaden its message and shun the word “diet” and “weight loss” is a gamble for sure, and Jenny Craig has not been shy about spreading the message that wellness is a confusing term. It’s sticking with it’s focus on losing weight. Other competitors are celebrating WW’s move as well.

New research from Jenny Craig suggests that consumer confusion about the meaning of ‘wellness’ could cause marketing campaigns centered on the concept to fall flat unless companies more clearly define – and back with science – how their products support consumers’ health. A total of 43% of consumers said that wellness is just a buzzword and 51% say that they are skeptical of the term.

Will WW continue its growth in 2019? We’ll have to evaluate the metrics at the end of the year to see, but it could be challenging.

Note: For comprehensive market research reports about the weight loss market, see Marketdata’s website: marketdataenterprises.com/diet-market-our-specialty, or call: John LaRosa, Research Director, at: 813-971-8080. Diet market analysts for 30 years.

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