Wellness, once a loose category attribute, is becoming a broader consumer operating system. Across categories, wellness propositions are converting interest into durable demand rooted not only in health, but in identity, self-optimization, and aspiration.
Strategy&’s global survey of 3,000 digital consumers in six countries found that nine in 10 consumers consider wellness part of their identity. This attachment appears resilient: More than 90 percent of consumers who associated wellness with their identity three years ago still do so today.
The centrality of wellness is translating into spending resilience. Across income brackets, consumers report a willingness to maintain spending on wellness products and services, even as they reduce discretionary spending elsewhere. Wellness is not immune to macroeconomic pressure, but it is becoming a higher priority.
Historically, wellness propositions relied on one of two authority systems: medical or scientific credibility, or brand and status aspiration. Today, the strongest players combine proof with pull: Science and performance make the promise credible, while brand, community, and personality make it desirable.
Unprompted brand-choice responses show that consumers typically favor wellness brands that draw on two or three authority systems, but simply combining these signals is not enough. They must come together in a way that feels credible to the consumer, making authenticity a prerequisite for durable success.
Leaders make wellness credible, desirable, and easy to repeat through a focused proposition, intuitive experience, and usage model embedded in daily routines. Laggards may offer either scientific claims without consumer pull or lifestyle aspiration without sufficient proof.
This distinction is visible in performance. Between 2022 and 2025, our benchmark wellness leaders delivered a 10 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), versus 5 percent for a broader consumer composite, alongside average EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margins of 12 percent versus 7 percent.
Wellness should no longer be viewed as a thematic growth trend. It is becoming a source of consumer advantage.
Strategy&’s global wellness survey offers a snapshot of a global market in transition. Wellness is increasingly becoming an integral part of the self-identity of consumers. In the process, demand is becoming less discretionary and more durable, and multiple categories of wellness goods and services are becoming less discrete and more interconnected.
These shifting fundamentals offer a rich opportunity for wellness companies. Companies that can harness the power of wellness as identity and earn the trust and patronage of the new wellness consumer will be well positioned to capture long-term growth and profitability.
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