The New Wellness. When Beauty Means Health

Concetta Maria Vaccaro

Economia dei Servizi, 2010, issue 1, 91-102

Abstract: Behind the new and increasingly broaden selfcare behaviours, and the corresponding explosion of wellness consumption, lies a new conception of health that gives centrality to the dimension of psychological well-being and considers to be and feel beautiful as a prerequisite in order to attain this achievement. Individual empowerment in self care also affects people's engagement in activities, and then the option for consumption choices, related to fitness, healthy eating and beauty treatments, in a cultural scenario where tends to prevail an extensive notion of health that is, however, far from being unambiguous. The aim of the paper is to explore the combined effect of the dynamics of the consumer society, the explosive growth of certain market segments and the new cultural dimension that assigns centrality to the idea that being «beautiful» means feeling «good». The perverse effect of multiplying behaviors that could be risky for health itself is investigated.

Keywords: wellness; health; beauty; health selfempowerment; consumerism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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