Wellness: the most sophisticated consumer culture in the market

From a passing trend to an established cultural model, wellness has become a central pillar of everyday life. The term encompasses an expanded vision of self-care and has consolidated itself as an industry undergoing sustained economic growth. Its success reveals profound changes in social expectations, in our relationship with health, and in the way consumption itself is understood.

David López López, Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at Esade, explains how wellness represents far more than a multibillion-dollar industry: it has become a cultural narrative that redefines habits, priorities, and lifestyles. “It is the result of a convergence of factors that acted as accelerators of a transformation already underway.” Together with him, we analyze its rise and how, through a new conception of well-being, contemporary society seeks meaning, control, and belonging in a hyperconnected yet uncertain world.

The beginning of a “new life”

“The main turning point that gave rise to this transformation was, without question, the COVID-19 pandemic,” López explains. This health crisis exposed the fragility of healthcare systems and shifted attention toward prevention, immunity, and mental health. Beyond that, the saturation of traditional medical systems and their inability to fully respond to patient needs acted as a catalyst. As a result, consumption of preventive health-related products and services increased, even when, in many cases, they lacked solid scientific evidence.

Once the seed was planted, social media and technology took care of the rest. “Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube not only amplified the message, they turned well-being into a lifestyle aesthetic.” Consumers no longer purchase wellness products for their functionality alone, but for their symbolic value and their capacity for self-expression, as noted in a Harvard Business Review study. One example is the wellness tech market—accessible technology aimed at well-being—which surpassed $260 billion in 2024.

This shift has been driven primarily by younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z), who are more willing to invest in well-being as a life priority. That investment has had a powerful economic impact. The European health & wellness market stands at around $400 billion, with annual growth close to 6%. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is expected to approach $10 trillion by 2029.

Beyond the money it generates—and it generates a great deal—the impact of wellness can be explained by six structural factors:

• A cultural shift in the definition of health, now understood as an aspirational ideal that includes mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial health.
• The individualization of health, where responsibility for well-being falls on the individual, allowing almost any action to be reframed as an act of self-care.
• An alternative to the saturation of traditional healthcare systems, promising prevention, autonomy, and tailored solutions.
• Emotional capitalism, in which not only products are sold, but emotions as well.
• Aestheticization and social media, since the idea of well-being is now something we visualize daily on our screens.
• The broad range of sectors involved, which has expanded its reach and economic impact.

Adapt or die

Wellness emerged as a response to real social changes. The rise in lifestyle-related chronic diseases, overly pharmaceutical healthcare systems, and a growing desire for personal control over health and the body reveal social demands that the industry has listened to. Its response has been to adapt quickly—and then to amplify, shape, and even create those demands.

Taking care of oneself has become an institutional concept: it is now a daily obligation

“In that sense, the social pressure to find more humane, preventive, and holistic alternatives was already there,” López notes. The industry has since set the pace. It has introduced new needs, popularized new aesthetic and functional standards of the healthy body, and even medicalized everyday practices such as staying hydrated or sleeping well. Self-care has moved from a popular concept to an institutionalized one, regarded as an individual responsibility. “This is where wellness shifts from being a social response to becoming a highly sophisticated consumer culture.”

Rather than merely following trends, brands have created them. One of the most prominent product categories today is dietary supplements—products that, in most cases, lack strong scientific evidence yet are consumed by large segments of the population. They offer a clear example of how brands have built entire product lines that respond more to aspirational narratives than to genuine clinical needs. “The industry has moved from being reactive to being prescriptive, generating cultural frameworks around what it means to be well.”

This expansion has benefited a wide range of sectors. “Those companies that have successfully hybridized health, lifestyle, and emotional values are the ones that have gained the most,” López explains. The key, he adds, has not simply been offering solutions, but narratives: selling well-being beyond functionality.

A radically different kind of marketing

Brands have transformed both their discourse and their role in people’s lives. Moving from authority to role model, they no longer dictate what consumers should do, but instead invite them to build a new identity under the motto: “this is how someone who takes care of themselves lives.”

Marketing now focuses on storytelling, aesthetics, and emotional resonance. The goal is to construct a universe around self-care that is so idealized and personalized that anyone wants to belong to it.

The surge of products on the market casts doubt on influencers who sell them: authentic endorsement or a paid promotion?

Yet it is not only companies that have changed. Consumers have changed as well. “They are more informed, more critical, and they demand evidence, clarity, and consistency between what is promised and what is actually delivered,” López states. With the rise of social media, consumer questions are often answered by the same figure: the influencer. In an effort to foster greater transparency, this dynamic is beginning to shift. The new challenge for companies is to move from aspirational marketing to responsible marketing.

Consumer pressure has pulled brands along with it, forcing them to raise their standards and seize the opportunity to professionalize the industry. “This allows us to strengthen customer trust and build brands that are more solid and sustainable over time,” López explains.

Does this shift go hand in hand with influencers, then? While these public figures have been key in normalizing the discourse of wellness as a product, they also raise serious questions about the real credibility of what they promote. As López points out, “influencers work because they humanize wellness, but consumers struggle to distinguish between personal experience and advertising campaigns.” This is why companies are increasingly seeking profiles with more specific and professional training.

China offers a clear example of this trend. In October 2025, the country—highly developed in influencer marketing—introduced new regulations requiring anyone addressing sensitive topics such as medicine and health on social media to demonstrate real professional qualifications in order to publish on those subjects. The goal is simple: to protect the public from misinformation.

Real well-being

In this transformative era, everyone wants to be part of something: a community in which to feel accepted, a space that fosters belonging and identification, or a positive lifestyle. Given the constant flow of daily inputs, it is difficult not to feel that need.

The promise of “a better life” offered by wellness goes beyond words. It represents control, health, status, and authenticity. In doing so, it conveys a message about the self: become someone with potential in today’s society.

We should not forget, however, that there is an entire industry behind it. That it is not only about appearing to be well, but about truly being well.

Perhaps this transformation should be understood as an opportunity to renew the importance of aspects that, while pushed into the background, have always mattered. To value mental and physical health without succumbing to the social pressure of everything we “should” be doing and consuming according to the rules of wellness. To understand well-being for what it should be: a healthy life that allows each person to become the best version of themselves.