By Dr. László Puczkó
Traditional Wellness: A Focus on Women
Wellness, wellbeing, happiness. Very closely related concepts that have become important topics over the last 5+ years. These are, of course, not new, but especially post-COVID-19, individuals, corporations, and many governments recognize their importance.
The spa world has traditionally embraced the role of wellness orientation and its anticipated benefits. This interest and discussion have also traditionally mainly focused on women due to their close links to beauty.
Discussions have not focused on how and what men think of wellness. Spas, and consequently wellness services, products, and communication, tend to pay limited attention to exploring how men may translate wellness or what men may want from wellness.
Apart from grooming and smart fitness solutions, men do not often feature in the world of wellness. Recent market intelligence, however, supports otherwise.
Men’s Growing Interest in Wellness
According to the Wellness, Spas, Health and Travel 2030 survey, solo men have made it to the top three in terms of key target segments for wellness in the Middle East and in Asia. ISPA also suggests that men are more likely than women to choose body services (30% compared to 24% of women).
Recent 2022 reports have shown that 49% of spa-goers in the US are men, with these figures up from 29% of men using spas in 2005. We are observing a paradigm shift in wellness. Get ready, men are coming!
A series of intelligence reports from HTWWLife have been exploring the wellness & men topic in detail. This pioneering project introduces insights from men about their wellness-related habits, expectations, and predictions. The information and data collected provide critical insights about the current state as well as the characteristics of men’s wellness.
Research Insights: How Men Define Wellness
In the pilot, Part 1, over 350 men shared their practices, beliefs and expectations about wellness. The Part 1 Report highlighted that:
- One-size-does-not-fit-all: men represent very different understandings and practices of wellness segment-to-segment, e.g. solo, partnered, queer, etc.
- There is a wide range of activities that make men well, and the number one is listening to music!
- Interestingly relaxation and the quest to relax may not be directly linked to the concept of wellness. It is perceived to be somewhat different.
- Men are interested in the actual benefits of doing something for wellness. They seem to be less interested in labels with certain wellness-improving promises.
- Men are open to learning about new ideas and activities that could improve their health and are inclined to try them either at home or while travelling.
For Part 2, 77 industry heavyweights were invited to share their relevant insights. The exclusive panel represent:
- Architects & Designers,
- Hoteliers & Hospitality Specialists,
- Health & Wellbeing Specialists,
- Consultants,
- Wellness Operators & Spa Specialists,
- Wellness Travel Specialists,
- Spa & Wellness Media & Marketing Specialists, and
- Wellness & Health Researchers.
Tailoring Wellness to Diverse Male Audiences
The findings of Part 2 suggest that:
- What wellness means to men and how they may want to improve their wellness very much depends on their cultural traditions and social norms, age, family status, life cycle position, and sexual orientation. The question is how to balance the very different expectations of segments with business rationale.
- Probably somewhat surprisingly men are loyal wellness consumers. To establish and nurture loyalty service design and communication need to take men’s demand triggers seriously.
- Men do not tend to open up easily about their state of wellness or, more importantly, their lack of it. Men need encouragement, tailored incentives, and support, which their partners are expected to provide.
- More gender-neutral service design and delivery appear to be one development direction. Still, operators are not fully convinced that this is the most suitable approach.
Adapting Wellness Offerings for Men
Spa, wellness, and hospitality developers and operators should consider the results of this Intelligence Series as inspiration and a call to action.
- Men can be reached the easiest via their partners. This suggests that these partners can become ambassadors of wellness-improving services and offers. The ambassadors or influencers can convey all the important information and evidence about services and the actual offerings of spas and wellness spaces.
- Men look for tangible offerings with results, i.e. variations of existing treatments with stronger pressure and focusing on muscle relaxation, and trigger points can become attractive propositions.
- The results and benefits of treatment, services, and programmes should be clearly and simply defined and introduced. Men appreciate facts, and they happily avoid the often space-filling sales/PR blurb.
- Working closely with gyms, fitness spaces, and professionals can be an important path to meeting men’s demand for wellness. Incorporating spa/wellness offerings into physical training programmes and packages could initiate prompt demand.