Lululemon on Thursday released its third annual Global Wellbeing Report.
The report looks at well-being through three lenses: physical, mental and social. The report is based on an online survey conducted by Edelman Data & Intelligence of 14,000 respondents across 14 markets.
Most notably the report identifies and analyzes what Lululemon is calling “The Wellbeing Dilemma.” “People are increasingly prioritizing their well-being — yet the state of well-being is not improving,” the report said. With this, 64 percent of people consider well-being a top priority, but 44 percent say that achieving well-being as a top priority is impossible.
Celeste Burgoyne, president of Americas and global guest innovation at Lululemon, said this can be heavily attributed to two factors: “people feeling overwhelmed by well-being choices and the barriers they face.”
Lululemon said, based on its reports over the past three years, global well-being levels have not improved, as there are societal pressures, barriers to prioritizing well-being, including cost and time, and a feeling of hopelessness post-pandemic.
With this low well-being, people globally are responding. First, respondents feel they can’t do their best when dealing with low well-being — on average, people missed five days of work due to low well-being and felt they could not successfully perform professionally and personally.
While GenZ understands the importance of well-being likely better than any other generation, they are still struggling. According to the report, 74 percent of GenZ respondents feel it is important to talk about mental health. However, 60 percent wish they could express their feelings and 45 percent don’t access support outlets as they feel uncomfortable. Furthermore, men are struggling to approach the mental health conversation due to societal norms. According to Burgoyne, both of these groups are heavily impacted by societal pressures when it comes to prioritizing their well-being. Marginalized groups also feel the negative impacts of low well-being more severely.
When the report looked at trends in specific markets, it was clear the United States respondents were working to improve their well-being by setting boundaries in their professional and personal lives. Overall when looking to combat low well-being, respondents recognize the importance of social connection.
The report showed that respondents believe “community and human connection is really important as people move into really having positive well-being,” Burgoyne explained.
Respondents believe corporations play a role in improving well-being globally — according to the report, 74 percent of respondents think institutions, including businesses, government, media and non-governmental organizations, are not doing enough to promote well-being, posing a major opportunity.
While the report shows consumers globally recognize the importance of well-being but are struggling to achieve it, Lululemon’s insights show three ways to solve this dilemma.
“There’s three key areas that we see that have a real positive impact on mental well-being: working out and exercising with a community,” Burgoyne said. “People prioritizing and spending time with loved ones is something that definitely has a positive impact and then supporting people in working to express all their emotions and not just the positive.”
Source: WWD