You can’t browse a grocery store or pharmacy without being subject to flashy labels that promote health benefits. In the beverage aisle, for example, you might find “prebiotic” sodas that supposedly support “gut health.”
Scienceploitation crops up in far more places today than ever before, including in search results, on social media platforms and from influencers, Caulfield said. Consumers are often inundated with confusing options as more companies position themselves as healthy.Buyers are prioritising scientific evidence, said Sienna Piccioni, an analyst and head of beauty at WSGN, a trend forecasting company.
So, for now, we’re on our own. But you can still arm yourself. Here are some marketing tactics to be aware of.JAM-PACKED INGREDIENT LISTS Manufacturers use words like “aids,” “promotes,” “stimulates,” “boosts” to suggest positive health outcomes. Other phrases, like “clinically tested”, “research-backed”, “doctor recommended” and “evidence-based”, show up in the beauty or personal care aisleand often lack the context they’d need to be verified, Dr Wong said.