The Pandemic's Toll: Not Only Sickness, But Also Health, As People Globally Say They Now Define Wellness Differently

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- While Covid-19 has focused the world on the risks and ravages of disease, the pandemic has also less visibly had a major effect in reshaping people's views and definitions of what it means to be well. In fact, 80% of the world's population now say that their definition of wellness has changed, with mental health surprisingly emerging as the #1 future health concern, ahead even of new cancer treatments and new approaches to immunity.

These unexpected findings are among the many actionable insights contained in new global research from McCann Worldgroup's Truth Central global intelligence unit released and discussed at an online global conference today themed "The Truth About a Well World."  The conference included a keynote speaker from the United Nations and explored the findings of two new major global Truth Central studies – "The Truth About Wellness" and "The Truth About Sustainability" – with a particular focus in each on the implications for brand marketers and businesses.

"Brands and businesses are at a crossroads in determining the most meaningful actions they can take as the world recovers its health and seeks a sustainable future," said Suzanne Powers, Global President and Chief Strategy Officer of McCann Worldgroup. "Over the last year, we've uncovered a wealth of valuable and actionable intelligence through Truth Central's studies on Wellness and Sustainability that contain somewhat surprising revelations about how people around the world are thinking about two of the key global issues being faced as we all start moving ahead."   

Regarding the sustainability research, Powers noted that just as the government leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow are unsure about what concrete climate change commitments to make, so are individuals. While an overwhelming 90% of people globally say they are willing to change their actions to be sustainable, the percentages are much lower when specific actions are queried.

"People have views about what they can accomplish individually that are sometimes at odds with what is possible because of government and institutional factors," said Laura Simpson, McCann Worldgroup's Chief Intelligence Officer and President of the Truth Central unit. She noted also that the studies show significantly that the last two years have shifted people's views about the role of medical professionals. The research found that 43% of people globally believe that at some point technology will eliminate the need for doctors, a sharp increase from 20% in 2013 and 24% in 2015 who held that view.

Hosted on Momentum's platform, MoMo VXi Whitebox, providing an immersive, inclusive online experience, the content can be accessed by registering here. In addition to Suzanne Powers, Laura Simpson and other key strategy executives involved in conducting and analyzing the research, the speakers include keynoter Robert Skinner, Deputy Director and Chief of Partnerships and Global Engagement Outreach Division, Department of Global Communications of the United Nations.

Methodology of the Studies
McCann Worldgroup's Truth about Wellness 2021 study builds on 10 years of trended global data and research about the shape, role, and meaning of wellness in people's lives. Conducted by McCann Worldgroup Truth Central, the organization's global intelligence unit, this large-scale quantitative study surveyed more than 48,600 people in 26 countries* and builds on two prior editions of the study published in 2013 and 2015. For the qualitative component of the research, Truth Central built an online ethnographic community of over 1,000 respondents across 24 markets and also ran a Global Wellness Truth Hunt across 9 markets.

The Truth About Sustainability study includes 32,000 Global Interviews across 26 markets (Wave 1, 2019), 11,700 Global Interviews across 18 markets (Wave 2, 2021), 1,000 Online qualitative community interviews across 24 markets, 55 Interviews across the global McCann Worldgroup network and 13 Expert interviews across a range of geographies and disciplines.

About McCann Truth Central
MW Truth Central is McCann Worldgroup's global intelligence unit dedicated to unearthing the macro-level truths that drive people's attitudes and behaviors about life, brands, and marketing. Our team of trend and insight experts regularly author global studies packed with actionable perspectives that are as creative as they are analytically sharp. The unit has conducted over 25 global studies to date. These studies have covered 60+ markets, interviewed over 300,000 consumers, and contain more than 30 million individual data points. The research findings have been presented at conferences across the globe and covered by the BBC, Time magazine, USA Today, Refinery 29, Forbes, PC Magazine, Campaign, Adweek, and many others.

About McCann Worldgroup
McCann Worldgroup, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), is a creatively driven global marketing company whose professionals are united across 100+ countries by a single mission: To help brands earn a meaningful role in people's lives. McCann Worldgroup was named "Global Agency of The Year" by Adweek magazine, "Network of the Year" by the Cannes Lions, the world's most creatively-effective marketing services company by the Effie Awards (for three consecutive years), "Global Network of the Year" by Campaign Magazine and "Network of The Year" by The Webby Awards two years in a row. The network comprises McCann (advertising), MRM (science/technology/relationship marketing), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (production), Weber Shandwick (public relations) and FutureBrand (consulting/design).

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SOURCE McCann Worldgroup