Health Update: New study identifies three behaviours behind health and wellness spend – What Experts Say

The Growth Distillery has released a new report that claims it can predict which health and wellness shoppers are most ready to spend, based on behaviour rather than demographics.

Launched on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, Signals of Intent: Health & Wellness is based on analysis of one million real-world purchases and a survey of 3,000 Australians.

What the research says drives higher spend

The report points to “high-agency” consumers, people who believe their daily choices genuinely impact their health, as the highest-value segment. It found these consumers spend 50 per cent more and buy twice as much as “low-agency” consumers.

Three behaviours that signal someone is ready to buy

According to the report, people most likely to spend in the category tend to:

• Compare products and research options, rather than buying on impulse
• Read significantly more health content on specialist news websites, with more than half saying it directly influenced what they bought
• Check reviews, and are 54 per cent more likely to trust brands that appear on trusted health news sites

Bethan Hockey, Head of Growth Intelligence – Client and Commercial at The Growth Distillery, said the challenge for marketers is separating general interest from purchase intent.

“Reaching people interested in health is easy. Finding the ones who will actually spend is hard,” Hockey said.

Implications for advertisers

The release argues brands should shift their targeting approach in health and wellness marketing by focusing on observable behaviours. It recommends prioritising consumers who are actively researching products and using messaging that reinforces the idea that choices can influence health outcomes.

It also recommends brands lean into “trusted health news sites”, positioning them as environments where purchase-ready audiences are already engaging.

How News Australia plans to activate the findings

The report has been integrated into Intent Connect, News Australia’s audience intelligence platform. The companies say this will allow brands to activate the identified consumer segments across News Australia’s premium networks.

Dean La Rosa, General Manager, Commercial Data at News Australia, said the integration is designed to help brands move from insight to execution.

Dean La Rosa

“Through Intent Connect, brands can understand and target these purchase-ready consumers in real time, driving genuine commercial outcomes,” La Rosa said.

The Growth Distillery is a research think-tank powered by News Corp Australia.

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