Spa & Wellness MexiCaribe 53, Spring 2024

Wellness
for Men
Understanding how and what men think of wellness is not always
at the forefront of discussions. Wellness services, products, and
communication tend to pay little attention to exploring how men
may perceive wellness, or what they want from wellness. A series
of exploratory studies from HTWWLife have been looking into
men’s wellness in detail. An initial survey highlighted that men are
interested in the actual benefits of wellness, rather than just the
promising labels. It discovers that men are open to learning about,
and trying, new activities that can help them feel better, either at
home or when traveling.
Industry experts were asked for their insights on the survey results,
concluding that:
1. Cultural traditions, social norms, age, family background, life
cycle position, sexuality, and orientation all play an influential role
in the personal meaning of wellness and how men may want to
improve their wellness.
2. Men are loyal wellness consumers, as long as the activities
offered have been designed with men’s demand triggers in mind.
3. Men do not tend to open up easily about their state of wellness,
or lack thereof. They need more encouragement, incentives, and
support. This can be provided by their partners, but wellness
professionals and brands can help by offering products and
services designed for men.
4. Creating and offering more gender-neutral
services may help to increase men’s interest in
wellness, but this approach could come with other challenges.
Spa and wellness professionals may take the survey results as
inspiration in many ways, for example:
• Offering variations of existing treatments with stronger pressure
and focusing on muscle relaxation, and trigger points.
• Clearly and simply define the results and benefits of treatments,
for example focusing on facts and cutting back on space-filling
blurb.
• Work closely with gyms, fitness centers, and fitness
professionals to incorporate spa and wellness offerings into
physical exercise programs.
• Consider men’s partners as ambassadors who can bridge the
gap between potential interest and the actual offerings of spas
and wellness spaces. Partners, family, and friends can act as
trusted influencers about spa treatments and wellness programs
within their circle of influence.
By László Puczko
Founder, HTWW Life
www.htww.life
www.spawellnessmexico.com 55
aribe