LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability and describes a type of consumer that actively seeks out healthier and more sustainable lifestyle, product and service options.
These consumers buy based on values, rather than price, and they are important in the context of spa and wellness services and products. So here we share some of our findings from the online research we have gathered.
LOHAS consumers cut across all demographics and are not defined by age and gender – from young to old, male to female, urban to suburban. They are defined by their values: concern for the planet, authenticity, personal fulfilment, holistic health, and social conscience.
Once a niche market, (LOHAS) consumers represent 23% of the USA population, 29% of the Japanese population and 33% of the New Zealand population. Other countries are following this trend.
The LOHAS consumer is a $355 billion market in the USA alone and growing at 10% per year. It is a $546 billion market worldwide.
Categories include; Food & Nutrition, Mind & Body, Buildings & Energy, Home Life, Transport & Leisure, Work & Money
LOHAS Mind & Body includes; Complementary and alternative therapies such as naturopathy, acupuncture, and massage, alternative health and fitness such as Yoga, Pilates, and Reiki, personal development books, seminars and DVD’s, natural and organic personal care and health and beauty products.
“Wellness, for more people, is evolving from rarely to daily, from episodic to essential, from a luxury to a dominant lifestyle value. And that profound shift is driving powerful growth.” - Katherine Johnston, senior research fellow, Global Wellness Institute
n Australia the LOHAS market includes almost 4 million people, about one-fourth of the adult population, and is impacting nearly every sector of the economy. In 2007 the LOHAS market was worth $12 billion and by 2015 was worth $26 billion - projected to reach $30 billion by 2017.
Nutrition has been a starting point for a lot of people. The retail value of the Australian Certified Organic food market has grown from $200 million in 2002 to over $1.4 billion today.
Since 2007, Mobium’s Living LOHAS report, has been researching consumption decisions by Australian adults and the social trends that drive them. It segments consumers into four groups – Leaders, Leaning, Learners and Laggards. As of 2017, Leaders have grown from about 7% to 14% of the Australian adult population.
A ten-market study of the LOHAS consumer market in the Asia-Pacific region was conducted in 2011. While only 17% of the Asia market surveyed were “LOHAS followers” as compared to 19% in both Europe and the US, the proportion of “drifters” (29%) and “naturalites” in this part of the world is higher than that in the other two regions. In fact, in almost all the ten countries surveyed, including China, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Australia, the “drifters” form the largest proportion of the consumers.
The spread of the LOHAS phenomenon across Asia was nothing short of swift. As usual, Japan, quick in picking up trends, was the first in the region to take it, adapt it, and they made it into something more than what it was in the US. So from its Colorado origins in 1999, the lifestyle went to Japan (2001), South Korea (2002), Thailand (2003), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Australia and Singapore (2007). The rest of the South-East Asian nations are following suit.
Clearly the LOHAS consumer presents an important market opportunity to the spa and wellness industry.
