Duration

2 months (2018)

Role

Researcher

Tools

Paper, Google Workspace apps

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Under A Non-disclosure Agreement

Some of the details in this case study may be vague to protect the client's intellectual property.

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When we were asked to decode how people shop for HABA (Health and Beauty Aids) across Asia, the challenge wasn’t just about purchase behaviour, it was about decoding rituals. What draws someone to a supplement shelf? What makes one bottle feel trustworthy and another feel… like marketing?

Challenge

Walk into any pharmacy or health store and you feel it immediately - shelves full of promises. Somewhere between the packaging and the price tag, people decide what aligns with who they think they are, or who they want to become.

We wanted to understand what role packaging plays in building trust for health products, how ideas of wellness shift across generations, and why some people shop by label, others by ingredient, and a growing number by vibe. The real question underneath all of it: how does health go from being clinical to being cultural?

From survey to shelf to self

We started wide, then moved closer.

• A quantitative survey across Singapore mapped how thousands of people shop for health and beauty products - what they look for, where they buy, and how their choices connect to deeper personal values
• Cross-generational deep dives looked at how younger shoppers (21–34) navigate between tradition and innovation, buying ginseng and collagen on the same trip. For older segments, we explored how ideas of longevity and heritage shaped habits that are harder to shift.
• We also looked at channels and context. The finding wasn't that online was winning over offline. It was that both were being used for different jobs, and trust looked different in each setting.

Health as identity

The findings cut through the noise: