Defining the well-being in life sought by consumers

You may have heard the word well-being being bandied about more of late. Well-being is defined by the WHO in the following way: “being neither ill nor weak, in a state of complete physical, mental, and social fulfillment (well-being)” (back translation from Japan WHO Association).

The four-year covid crisis strongly accelerated the introduction of the term “well-being” into the general public’s consciousness. Covid-19 was first confirmed here in Japan in January 2020. Society’s structure and consumer values sizably changed amidst the constantly changing situation. This brought about sizable social changes like “structural changes” beyond time and space through telework due to the restrictions on going out, and “changes to people’s values” due to the closer relationships with family, giving consumers the opportunity to once again reconsider “their lives” and “lifestyles”. (See Fig. 1)

Fig. 1

So how will consumers lead their lives, and what sorts of lifestyles do they want to lead in future? One answer to this question lies in the attention beginning to be paid to “well-being” in people’s lives and lifestyles. How do consumers view well-being? What sorts of things need to be realized for them to achieve a state of well-being? Let’s explore the well-being in life and lifestyles that consumers seek.

Well-being is also spreading along a variety of vectors in the business world, such as the well-being of local society in “community well-being” and the well-being of workers in “employee well-being”. We hope this article will also enable you to confirm what support businesses can offer from a marketing and new business creation perspective to enable consumers, local society, and employees to achieve well-being amidst consumers’ and communities’ current exploration of well-being in life and lifestyle.

1. Awareness of the term “well-being” is 1.3 times higher than it was two years ago

Fig. 2 depicts the results from a question asking whether consumers were aware of the term “well-being”, and to what extent they were familiar with it. In a survey conducted in December 2024, 46.2% were aware of the term, including those who had “Only heard of well-being”.

Fig. 2

On observation of the data from the past two years, the awareness rate of the term itself has increased yearly. In the survey conducted in December 2022, the awareness rate was 34.6%, while in the survey conducted in December 2024, it rated 46.2%, approximately 1.3 times higher than two years ago.

On observation of awarers by age group and gender, the awareness rate was highest among 20 ~ 29-year-old males at 61.5%, followed by 15 ~ 19-year-old males at 55.3%, then 20 ~ 29-year-old females at 54.0%, indicating awareness was high among young people.
On observation by occupation, awareness was 71.7% among university students/graduate school students etc., 63.6% among public servants and organization employees, 61.1% among company employees and managers, indicating awareness of the term was high among students and public servants in charge of administrative policies.

2. Are they in a state of well-being?

Upon filtering awarers of the term down to those who “Know the term including what it means” + “Can roughly imagine what it means”, upon checking on “whether they were currently in a state of well-being” (Fig. 3), 11.5% were “very much in a state of well-being” and 49.8% in a “state of well-being”, meaning 61.3% of people are currently in a state of well-being.

Fig. 3

We next examined the relationship between “financial leeway”, “time leeway”, and “emotional leeway” in order to identify the sort of people who are in a state of well-being, as seen in Fig. 4.
Among people who are “very much in a state of well-being”, 68.6% “Think I have a lot of + Think I have some financial leeway”, 68.5% “Think I have a lot of + Think I have some time leeway”, and 76.4% “Think I have a lot of + Think I have some emotional leeway”, indicating that being in a state of well-being is closely related to “financial”, “time”, and “emotional” leeway.

Fig. 4

3. Key factors for achieving well-being

We next more specifically examined which elements are important in a state of well-being, as seen in Fig. 5. The top answer was “Health” at 51.5%, followed by “My own happiness” at 48.8%, “My family’s happiness” at 47.5%, then “Being able to lead a quiet lifestyle” at 46.3%, “Having a place to belong” at 45.3%, and “Not having to struggle with money” at 41.1%, with attributes regarding “health”, “happiness” and money” ranked highly.
Other top factors cited were attributes regarding “disasters” and “freedom of choice”, with “Absence of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods” at 39.9%, followed by “Being able to make my own choices” at 38.7%.

Fig. 5

It is thus clear that the three broad factors of “health”, “happiness” and “economic stability” are important in the realization of a state of well-being. This result is in line with the WHO’s definition of a state in which one is fulfilled physically (health), emotionally (happiness) and socially (financial satisfaction: money).

We next observed the key factors for well-being by age group, as seen in Fig. 6.
There is no sizable shift in “Health” or “Happiness” across the three age groups, with both ranking tops. while “Not having to struggle with money” ranked fifth among each age group from teens to those in their 40s, yet a low ninth among those in their 50s and 60s (❶). As people get older, they appear to have more things aside from money that are important to them.
“Absence of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods” conversely ranked 11th among those in their teens and 20s, then increased to eighth among those in their 30s and 40s, and fifth among those in their 50s and 60s (❷). This is deemed due to the desire to protect assets they have built up such as real estate as people get older.
Those in their teens and 20s are characterized by “Being acknowledged/complimented by people” at 10th place and 38.6%, while those in their 50s and 60s are characterized by “Wishing for the happiness of others and society” at 13th place and 27.9%, clearly indicating that each age group has different factors they consider important to maintain a state of well-being for.

Fig. 6

4. Well-being in urban development

There is a movement toward aiming at the realization of well-being in local communities with urban development by local governments (municipalities), with the well-being of local society known as “community well-being”. The factors confirmed as key to well-being in life in local society are as seen in Fig. 7.
The top answer was “Good medical facilities” at 45.4%. “Having opportunities to learn what I want to learn” ranked second at 42.6%. “Feeling that the air and water in the area where I live is clean” ranked third at 42.0%.
It is apparent that consumers seek “ease to live in (convenience)”, “the provision of opportunities for growth”, and “an abundant natural environment” in terms of well-being in local society.
Due to the recent increase in robbery crimes, “crime prevention measures are in place and it is safe” also ranked top at 40.6%.
Well-being in local communities is expected to balance various elements desired by local residents, such as convenience, opportunities for active growth, the natural environment/scenery, childrearing, disaster/crime prevention and more.

Fig. 7

5. Employee well-being

Let’s next turn our attention to the workplace, where an increasing number of companies are focusing on “employee well-being”, and the variety of initiatives being implemented to improve employee satisfaction levels.
Fig. 8 depicts the state of adoption of initiative measures for well-being in the workplace, and employee adoption needs.
The top answer was “Stress checks” at 49.1% (already adopted + would be good if it were adopted), with second a “telework system” at 45.5% (same), third a “flextime system” at 45.4% (same), fourth “shorter work system” at 41.5% (same), and fifth “activities to promote work/life balance” at 39.8% (same). The top factors reflect a desire for flexible work styles (in terms of time/place).
There were also needs for systems to balance childcare (7th place), nursing care (8th place), and medical treatment (12th place) with work, making it apparent balancing work and one’s lifestyle in line with one’s life stage and condition of health leads to employee well-being.

Fig. 8

6. Summary

In order to achieve well-being (a better lifestyle for consumers), it is clear it is important to create an environment wherepeople can become “healthier”, “happier” and “more economically stable” in different situations and settings, such as personal (family) life, community life, and one’s workplace.

Well-being is deemed guidelines for consumers to explore “how they may live” and “what sorts of lifestyles they may lead” within their diverse inidividual lifestyles and values.
In addition, from the perspective of “well-being in urban development”, balanced government policies are sought that provide the convenience sought by consumers, opportunities for active growth, the natural enbironment/scenery, childcare, and disaster/crime prevention etc.
From an “employee well-being” perspective, companies are being expected to offer “flexible workstyles (in terms of time/place)” and “a balance of work and one’s lifestyle in line with one’s life stage and condition of health”.

From a marketing/business perspective, the provision of products and services conscious of these needs that consumers deem important, to “help/support” them in achieving well-being will not only help consumers to realize happiness, but also lead to new business opportunities in the future.

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Research Outline
Survey Area: Nationwide, Japan
Respondent Criteria: Male and female individuals aged 15 ~ 69
Sample Extraction Method: Eligible extracted from Mighty Monitor
Sample Size: Screener n=10576 Main questionnaire n=3629
Weight-back tabulation: None*
*Gathered in line with gender, age group, and regional demographic composition based on national census
Survey implementation period: (Fri) 20th December, 2024 ~ (Mon) 23rd December, 2024

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