Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- China is about to step up efforts to address national mental health crisis
- Sleep problems point to more lifestyle related solutions
- Loneliness is rife among younger generations
- Impact of COVID-19 on emotional wellbeing management
- Recovery of indulgence spending despite financial situation still takes time to recover
- Consumers’ definition of identity is becoming more specific during COVID-19
- Impact on the market and the future outlook
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- Figure 2: Short-, medium- and long-term impact of COVID-19 on emotional management market, Sept 2020
- Who’s innovating
- New solutions for anti-stress and better relax
- Addressing loneliness in different ways
- Making psychological counselling easier
- Food and drink product innovations
- The consumer
- Stress and tiredness are most commonly perceived emotional issues
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- Figure 3: Changes in emotional wellbeing, April 2020
- While financial stress and workload are problems to the majority, demand for detailed solutions to alleviate other causes of emotional issues are on the rise
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- Figure 4: Causes of emotional issues, April 2020
- Solution to sleep is demanded in achieving both mental and physical wellness
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- Figure 5: Impact of emotional issues, April 2020
- Consumers take a varied approach to emotional wellbeing management
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- Figure 6: Ways to manage emotional issues, April 2020
- Fruit and chocolate are equally popular as comfort food choices
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- Figure 7: Comfort food, April 2020
- Definition of loneliness is evolving amongst young consumers
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- Figure 8: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (loneliness related), by consumers who feel lonely more often, April 2020
- Creating a sense of ritual is not only appealing to young females but also young males
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- Figure 9: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (having a sense of ritual in daily life helps lift mood), By gender and age, April 2020
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Leveraging a sense of ritual to help young people de-stress
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 10: Examples of foodservice and personal care retail brands combining rituals to their product offerings, Global and China, 2017-20
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- Figure 11: Examples of foodservice brands and cooking influencers offering home-cooking services, Global, 2020
- Expanding the territories of sleep improving functions
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 12: Examples of players within the fitness industry featuring sleep improvement, UK, 2019-20
- Figure 13: Examples of products featuring both immune/gut health and stress & sleep functions, Global and China, 2019
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- Figure 14: Examples of bath products with sleep promoting function, Global and China, 2019
- Engaging young adults in different ways to alleviate loneliness
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 15: Platforms that creates opportunities for consumers to engage with others, Global and China, 2019-20
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- Figure 16: Examples of brands adjusting their product offerings and marketing language to meet young people’s evolving definition of loneliness, Global and China, 2019-20
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- China is about to step up efforts to address national mental health crisis
- Linking emotional wellbeing with consumers’ identity
- Small increase in ‘indulgence’ spending as personal finance gradually improves during COVID-19
- Making healthy eating and mood lifting more engaging
- Captivating consumers with new sensations and emotional vocabulary
- Future outlook under the impact of COVID-19
Market Factors
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- Unevenly distributed mental health resources and demand
- China to step up efforts to enhance mental health
- Sleep problems could exacerbate emotional issues
- Loneliness is rife among younger generation
- The impact of COVID-19 on emotional wellbeing management
- Recovery of indulgence spending as financial situations continue to improve
- Consumers’ definition of identity is becoming more specific
- Impact on the market and the future outlook
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- Figure 17: Short-, medium- and long-term impact of COVID-19 on emotional management market, Sept 2020
Who’s Innovating?
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- New solutions for anti-stress and better relaxation
- Captivating consumers with brain-tingling sensation
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- Figure 18: Examples of ASMR product applications and advertisements, Global, 2019-20
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- Figure 19: ChromaYoga and Yili’s NOC Xu Jin Huan frozen yogurt ice cream, Global and China, 2017-19
- Introducing activities and rituals in daily life
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- Figure 19: Brands providing activities and rituals for different emotional experiences, Global, 2017-19
- Applying mental wellbeing solutions in the workplace
- Helping kids learn the fundamentals of emotional wellbeing
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- Figure 21: Brands trying out to help kids with emotional wellbeing management, Global, 2020
- Addressing loneliness in different ways
- “Beat it”
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- Figure 22: Examples of brands acting as mentors, coaches and social catalysts to facilitate consumers’ connection, Global, 2017-20
- “Live with it”
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- Figure 23: Verbatim on gmw news’ mini survey, China, 2020
- Beyond the six recognised emotions
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- Figure 24: Bodily maps of emotion, published on PNAS in 2013
- Figure 25: Products that use new vocabulary to describe more complex emotions, Global, 2015-19
- Making psychological counselling easier
- More affordable: texting hotline
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- Figure 26: Summersalt’s Joycast free texting hotline, US, 2020
- More accessible: meeting the therapists through VR and AI technology
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- Figure 27: Examples of psychological therapy services using VR and AI, Global, 2019-20
- More convenient: using digital device to track mental health triggers
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- Figure 28: Moodbeam One wearable, UK, 2019
- Food and drink product innovations
- Experimenting before committing
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- Figure 29: Examples of food and drink and related products providing fun experiments, Global, 2020
- Justifiable indulgences
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- Figure 30: Examples of healthy products featuring a more indulgent taste profile, Global and China, 2019
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- Figure 30: Examples of indulgent products featuring a healthier proposition, Global, 2019-20
- Using natural and scientific formulations
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- Figure 31: Examples of products using adaptogens for boosting productivity, Global, 2017-18
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- Figure 32: Examples of products using nervines for stress relieving, Global, 2017-20
- Offering dual functions
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- Figure 33: Examples of products offering stress reduction and immune system support benefits, Global, 2019
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- Figure 35: Examples of products that increase brain’s demand for sleep aiding neurotransmitters, Global, 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Emotional issues are driven by stress and tiredness
- Financial stress and workload are major causes of emotional issues
- Sleep difficulty plays an impactful role
- Consumers take a varied approach to managing emotional wellbeing
- Fruit and chocolate are the most popular comfort food choices
- Consumers view psychological counselling as the medical treatment of specific diseases
- Ritual is a popular practice not only in young females but also young males
Changes in emotional wellbeing
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- Emotional issues are more driven by stress and tiredness
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- Figure 36: Changes in emotional wellbeing, April 2020
- Gender disparities in experience of emotional issues
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- Figure 37: Select changes in emotional wellbeing (about the same and more often), by gender, April 2020
- Young adults need a diverse support, while older adults need positive information environment
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- Figure 38: Select changes in emotional wellbeing (about the same and more often), by age, April 2020
- Body dissatisfaction is a risk factor for psychological distress
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- Figure 39: Changes of emotional wellbeing (experienced any), by not satisfied with appearance as a cause of emotional issue, April 2020
- Loneliness is triggered by how we handle relationships
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- Figure 40: Changes of emotional wellbeing (experienced any), by causes of emotional issues, April 2020
Causes of emotional issues
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- Financial stress is a leading cause of emotional issues
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- Figure 41: Causes of emotional issues, April 2020
- Excessive work could trigger physical symptoms
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- Figure 42: Causes of emotional issues (workload), by age, April 2020
- Appearance stigma in young people (even males) and health concerns in the middle-aged
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- Figure 43: Causes of emotional issues (not satisfied with appearance), by gender and age, April 2020
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- Figure 44: Hims’ mental health online support group, US, 2020
- Figure 45: Causes of emotional issues (physical health status), by gender and age, April 2020
Impact of emotional issues
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- Sleep plays a critical role in emotional issues
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- Figure 46: Impact of emotional issues, April 2020
- Impact of emotional issues varies by gender and age
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- Figure 47: Select impact of emotional issues, by age, April 2020
Ways to manage emotional wellbeing
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- Consumers take a varied approach to managing emotional wellbeing
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- Figure 48: Ways to manage emotional issues, April 2020
- Setting up different “scenarios” for consumers at different age
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- Figure 49: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by age, April 2020
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- Figure 50: Examples of fun products coupling with innovative experience, Global and China, 2018-20
- Females tend to find “small treats” helpful in managing emotions
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- Figure 51: Select ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by gender, April 2020
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- Figure 52: Examples of portion controlled and portable products, Global, 2018-20
- Barriers from psychologist counselling: lack of spending power and knowledge to identify negative emotions
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- Figure 53: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing (spoke to a psychologist), by monthly personal income, April 2020
- Figure 54: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing (spoke to psychologists), by consumers who feel depressed more often, April 2020
- Solution to manage mental issues are getting specific
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- Figure 55: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by consumers who experience selected emotional issues more often, April 2020
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- Figure 56: Music player on Dermalogica Sound Sleep Cocoon’s website, 2018
- Physical pain sufferers look for aromatherapy
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- Figure 57: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing (Did a SPA/massage/used aromatherapy), by impact of emotional issues, April 2020
- Facilitating new connections with strangers
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- Figure 58: Selected ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by consumers who interact with strangers online, April 2020
Comfort food
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- Fruit and chocolate are the most popular comfort food choices
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- Figure 59: Comfort food, April 2020
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- Figure 60: Comfort food (chocolate, fruit), by age, April 2020
- Figure 61: Examples of comfort food products for women, China, 2019-20
- Linking chocolate with digestive benefits to attract higher-educated consumers
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- Figure 62: Comfort food (chocolate), by education, April 2020
- Food and shopping crossovers to stimulate experience
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- Figure 63: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by ways to manage emotional wellbeing (satisfied my food cravings), April 2020
- Figure 64: Examples of food and foodservice brands that aims to stimulate in-store experience, Global, 2019-20
Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing
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- Lack of knowledge and scepticism towards effectiveness are gaps to psychological counselling
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- Figure 65: Selected attitudes towards emotional wellbeing, April 2020
- Mass consumers prefer online and young people go for offline counselling
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- Figure 66: Selected attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (online and offline counselling), April 2020
- Redefining loneliness
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- Figure 67: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (loneliness related), April 2020
- Figure 68: Selected attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (loneliness related), by consumers who feel lonely more often, April 2020
- Sense of ritual is not only appealing to young females but also males
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- Figure 69: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (having a sense of ritual in daily life helps lift mood), by gender and age, April 2020
- Figure 70: Examples of products that promotes a sense of ritual for men and women, Global, 2019-20
- Seeing emotion as a sign of weakness could be a vicious cycle to overall health
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- Figure 71: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (being emotional is a sign of weakness), by changes in emotional wellbeing (more often), April 2020
- Figure 72: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (I would prefer online counselling if I felt depressed), by consumers who agree that being emotional is a sign of weakness, April 2020
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- Figure 73: Attitudes towards emotional wellbeing (being emotional is a sign of weakness), by gender and age, April 2020
Meet the Mintropolitans
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- Broad range of emotional issues threatens Mintropolitans
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- Figure 74: Causes of emotional issues, by consumer classification, April 2020
- Figure 75: Impact of emotional issues, by consumer classification, April 2020
- Mintropolitans devote more effort to holistic emotional improvement
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- Figure 76: Ways to manage emotional wellbeing, by consumer classification, April 2020
- Mintropolitans are more likely to feel lonely when using social media
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- Figure 77: Select attitudes towards emotional wellbeing, by consumer classification, April 2020
- Figure 78: Examples of brands creating “digital rituals”, Global, 2020
Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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