Generation Reinvention #19: Boomers and the Future of Conscious Consumerism

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LOHAS, an acronym which stands for Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability, is a lifestyle and consumer cohort identified in the late 1990s, which has grown to become a $290 billion global market segment. Consumers described as LOHAS are passionate about sustainability, health & wellness, personal development, resource conservation, corporate social responsibility, social justice, and natural and organic living. According to Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a Pennsylvania-based company that has for years conducted groundbreaking original research describing this segment, LOHAS consumers comprise 17 percent of the U.S. population.

The Boomer generation over-represents the segment: 21 percent of Boomers are LOHAS consumers (24 percent higher than average among age groups). An intrinsic connection between Boomers and LOHAS becomes more obvious when considering historical context. Launched on April 22, 1970, birth of Earth Day, the modern environmental movement led the nation through myriad protest marches and civic activism of this generation. Boomers created overwhelming political pressure leading to the Environmental Protection Agency and passage by Congress of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. In conjunction with their awakening to environmentalism, Boomers found sustenance in organic and natural foods popularized by nutritionist and author Adelle Davis; discovered aerobic fitness from running advocate Dr. Kenneth Cooper; and immersed deeper into spirituality with wise counsel from gurus such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. From among their ranks came LOHAS-style businesses such as Wild Oats, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Stonyfield Farms, Silk Milk, and Celestial Seasonings.

My guest is Frank Lampe, a LOHAS pioneer who brings more than 23 years of media and communications management experience to his new role as director of communications with the American Herbal Products Association. He is one of the nation’s leaders in the healthy living / sustainability marketplace. As a co-founder of Natural Business Communications, he and his team introduced and quantified the LOHAS concept and produced the groundbreaking LOHAS Journal business magazine and the LOHAS Market Trends Conference. He was the editorial director at New Hope Natural Media, where he launched several trade titles, and is a former editor of Natural Foods Merchandiser. Frank most recently was executive vice president at InnoVision Health Media, where he oversaw all content functions for a healthy living consumer magazine and three peer-reviewed medical journals, a number of consumer books, and related websites. He is the newly appointed director of communications at the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).

VISIT FRANK LAMPE’S WEBSITE

http://www.ahpa.org/