Doomspending and wellness trend: Overview
- Doomspending reflects consumer pessimism and prioritises immediate gratification
- Younger consumers increasingly spend on experiences, comfort and treats
- Indulgent food categories could benefit most from doomspending behaviours
- Wellness spending may also reflect short-term doomspending motivations
- Health and wellness still dominate food, limiting doomspending’s influence
The health and wellness trend is dominating food and beverage. Consumers are drinking less, eating more protein and fibre, and even changing how they see indulgence itself.
Yet a new trend may be on the horizon, one that brings back indulgence through a uniquely bleak lens: doomspending.
What is doomspending?
‘Doomspending’ is a term used to describe spending habits provoked by a general pessimism about the future.
“‘Doomspending’ is what happens when a consumer believes they have no real future to look forward to, or at least no future they can be certain of,” explains Matthew Barry, global insight manager for food and snacks at Euromonitor International.
It is, essentially, what happens when consumers spend like there’s no tomorrow – often more and more lavishly, without fear of the consequences.
Consumers, particularly younger people, fear for the future. Fears over AI are joining more long-standing concerns over climate change and war, says Barry, giving these consumers a rather bleak outlook on the years to come.
Doomspending is driven “by a desire for immediate gratification when the future feels uncertain or financial goals seem increasingly out of reach”, says Jonny Forsyth, principal strategist for food and drink at analytics company Mintel.
Of course, indulgence has always been around in various different forms, points out Michele Scott, director of insights at analytics company Innova Market Insights.
In its more ‘optimistic’ iteration, she says, this takes the form of ‘little treats’.
“It seems that, while indulgence trends always revolve around making exceptions to health or financial best practices, doomspending is reflective of larger pessimism in society.”
How could doomspending show up in food?
Doomspending is a trend that is not yet impacting the food sector in a drastic way. If it does, it is likely to benefit the indulgent categories.
“Doomspending creates an opportunity for treats that promise emotional benefits, either overtly or more subtly,” suggests Mintel’s Forsyth. Indulgent and impulse-driven categories and foodservice have the strongest potential to benefit from doomspending.
For example, in the US, 43% of restaurant-goers aged 18-35 believe that quality is more important than price, and 37% of the same age-group believe that a memorable restaurant experience is more important than saving money.
More than half of consumers don’t care about health when they’re treating themselves, according to Innova Market Insights, with 47% gravitating towards premium food and drink on such occasions.
Meanwhile, in the UK, 31% of Gen Z adults use food to feel comforted, according to Mintel, compared with 21% of all adults. Around 30% of Gen Z adults say food helps them feel more relaxed, compared with 20% of all adults.
While calm and comfort are often associated with drinks such as Trip and Recess, analysis from Mintel suggests that treat categories such as crisps could also be associated with calm, boosted by a combination of functional, sensory, psychological and emotional cues. Crisps have already been linked with stress relief in Japan.
Is doomspending compatible with wellness?
Conversely, doomspending may be compatible with wellness, suggests Euromonitor’s Barry. A lot of wellness goals consumers are setting are very short-term, and congruent with a belief that their long-term future remains uncertain.
Consumers may, instead of splurging on hedonistic activities, stop putting off a wellness boost until the distant future, prioritising it in the present because they don’t know what the next day will bring.
“Doomspending does not look the same across consumers because if you accept your time on Earth is more limited than you might have once thought, people are going to prioritise using that remaining time in different ways.”
Will doomspending impact food?
Currently, while doomspending is a prominent consumer trend in other areas, it is not seen prominently in food, says Euromonitor’s Barry.
In food, health and wellness is still prevalent. When indulgence does appear, it is more present in ‘little treat’ culture, with consumers using stress to justify treating themselves.
“Given the importance of wellness trends right now, it is difficult to say there is real evidence of doomspending at a widespread level across grocery categories.”
Nevertheless, Mintel data has consistently shown that young people are more likely to spend a lot on food than older people.
While this may be in part due to “ennui at age inequality”, it could also be the result of younger consumers not absorbing the habits of frugality that their grandparents did, Forsyth suggests, due to growing up in a much more affluent society. In fact, he says, the spending habits of the young are the reason that so many manufacturers focus on this demographic.
While there is certainly evidence that consumers are spending a lot on food for comfort, whether doomspending could overtake the health and wellness trend in food remains to be seen.