Ethnomarketing of holistic health consumption: the cases of France and Brazil.

Summary 1. Health, a global concept defined by a plurality of conceptions Health is characterized by the plurality of its conceptions, each representing a certain interpretation. The holistic and multi-criteria conception of health is manifested by the perception of a body-mind-environment unity included in a spiritual whole, by the plurality of modes of access to the holistic health universe, and by the consideration of factors depending on the individual's lifestyle. Health representations vary according to their professional and lay nature, and are characterized by an influence of the professional discourse on the lay discourse and also a reformulation of the professional discourse by the patient-consumer. Moreover, the status of professionals and patient-consumers is shifting and depends on the links between them. The positive conception of health is manifested by the self-empowerment of the consumer. The positivist conception of the organism affected by external elements appears through the perception of food and drugs as factors of modification of the organism. The functional conception, which locates the existence of the disease within the patient, corresponds to the holistic conception of the individual within which are located both the causes of the health problem and the potential solutions. Finally, the subtractive and additive conceptions appear through the behaviors of fortification and purification. The body is the object of a plurality of different conceptions. The field survey has in fact enabled the emergence of the notions of body acted upon vs. body actor, which highlight the different relationships of the individual with his or her body, thus constructing his or her identity Holistic health is characterized by the plurality of consumer behaviors and related lifestyles, the individual being able to accumulate several of them and thus form a multi-faceted global attitude towards health.