Consumer futurist Faith Popcorn in her 1991 book, The Popcorn Report, describes a trend of
"Staying Alive," which predicts that Americans will continue in the direction of seeking self-healing
and self-care. According to Popcorn, "Medical knowledge and alternatives will cross cultures in a
way we have never seen before...[moving] to the mainstream of medicine, ... [being] incorporated
into traditional treatments, or stand[ing] on their own as preferred courses of action." (Popcorn,
1991)
Over the past 25 years, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine has witnessed and participated
in the dramatic rise in the use of alternative medicine in the U.S. The Journal looks forward to helping
this movement attain the next level, providing the communication needed to increase understanding
and acceptance among medical practitioners and researchers, and to instigate increased education of
consumers. It is such communication that will enable the true integration of alternative medicine into
the daily lives of health practitioners, and, ultimately, consumers.
In order for the alternative medicine community to realize the "future" of alternative medicine, as
Faith Popcorn and others so optimistically foresee it, we must start by taking stock of this industry,
where it has been, where it is today, and where it is going. Borrowing a technique used from the
consumer products industry, we might start by creating a kind of industry map from a consumer
perspective. To do this, we must first understand:
The continued growth potential for alternative medicine in the U.S.
How consumers perceive alternative medicine today
Factors influencing these perceptions
Means of addressing their major concerns in adapting alternative medicine
Let us examine each factor in turn.
The Continued Growth Potential for Alternative Medicine in the U.S.
Advocates of alternative medicine can celebrate the fact that 34% of the U.S. population uses some
form of alternative medicine, and that interest and demand continue to climb (Eisssenberg et al.,
1993)
In the U.S., this $50 billion dollar alternative medicine industry continues to strive for further growth
(The New York Times, 1996): Over 50% of the top 250 pharmaceutical companies are currently
conducting research to develop new active materials from plants (Cosmetics-and-Toiletries, 1994)
Retailers such as Thrifty PayLess have worked to capitalize on trends in alternative medicine by
devoting more space to herbal remedies and homeopathic products (Chain-Drug-Review, 1994)
From 1992-1993, the number of HMOs offering chiropractic coverage rose to almost 50% from
about 25%, according to the Group Health Association of America. (Caraton, 1995)
Over 50% of conventional physicians use or refer patients for complementary and alternative
medical treatments in the U.S. (Office of Alternative Medicine, 1996) Despite these benchmarks,
the potential for growth is still great. Indeed, according to the World Health Organization, 65-80%
of the world's population relies on traditional medicine as its primary form of medicine
(Complementary Alternative Medicine at the NIH, 1997). The U.S. still has a long way to go in
realizing the value associated with the increased use of alternative medicine.
How Consumers Perceive Alternative Medicine Today
While interest is strong, consumers have not responded fully to the vast array of products and
services currently on the market. This puzzle was aptly captured in a feature article in Time
Magazine on the topic in May, 1997: "No matter how many times consumers have been shown this
shopping list of cures before...only a comparatively small percentage of them have expressed any
interest." (Kluger, 1997).