Mindbloom finds young adults four times more likely to embrace healthcare gamification trends over baby boomers with men leading the pack

Seattle, WA, December 22, 2011 – Just as young adults (ages 18-34) have thumbed their nose at television in favor of the Internet for news, landlines in favor of cell phones and CDs in favor of digital music, Mindbloom® (www.mindbloom.com) sees a trend of young adults embracing online and mobile apps for personal growth over self-help books and life coaches. Discovering that nearly 65 percent of its users are young adults, Mindbloom found that youzng adults were four times more likely than baby boomers to use its Life Game® mobile and Web app, which is designed to inspire people to define what’s important, discover what motivates them, and take meaningful daily actions in all areas of their life.

“With young adults embracing technology so rapidly, is it any wonder that they’re the first ones to embrace an alternative form to personal growth over what their parents and grandparents choose?” said Mindbloom founder, Chris Hewett, a former executive producer for Monolith Productions who developed blockbuster hits such as No One Lives Forever, Tron 2.0, and F.E.A.R. “These young adults are the first digital generation, and they have a growing appetite to apply interactive entertainment for everything from health and fitness to spirituality.”

In the U.S. alone, the self-help industry is an estimated $14 billion market, with an estimated $3 billion of that being spent on books and other media and another $3.8 billion for personal coaching. A recent study by Latitude Research titled The Future of Gaming: a Portrait of the New Gamer found that 2/3 of survey respondents would like games to help them achieve their personal goals (e.g. be healthier, more productive, etc.). Mindbloom believes it can meet those needs by developing a new frontier for wellness that takes a deeper approach by focusing on the science behind behavioral change – integrating gaming technology, art, and human psychology to make personal growth more effective. Mindbloom officially launched its Life Game in September and has successfully grown to more than 36,000 active users with a focus on intrinsic gaming mechanics, personalization and social media integration. As part of this effort to change the wellness market, the company also recently launched its digital mobile inspiration app called Bloom* in November, which has had over 175,000 downloads in the iTunes App Store.

In a reverse of social games being dominated by older women (average age 43), more than half (52 percent) of Mindbloom’s Life Game users were men in 2011, with 85 percent of all users being under the age of 44. By putting the principles of behavioral science behind social gaming to inspire people and help them achieve their personal health and wellness goals, Mindbloom has attracted a younger audience and helped its members follow through on more than 1.2 million commitments in 2011.

Throughout 2011, 80 percent of users focused on their health as their number one life priority by committing to simple actions like drinking more water, getting more sleep, and walking topping the list. Relationship-focused commitments like calling parents, spending time with close friends or saying ‘I Love You’ followed health-related activities with about 70 percent interest from both sexes. But from there, men and women’s areas of life interests varied broadly with women focusing next on their lifestyle, creativity, career and finances and men focusing on their career, lifestyle, finances and creativity, in relative order of importance.

The biggest variance on which area of life was most important centered on careers, where more than 70 percent of men used Mindbloom to support career goals compared to 58 percent of women. Both aimed career actions to limit complaining and negativity at work, however men were more interested in expanding their professional network (i.e. adding a LinkedIn connection) or being inspired by experts or other professionals. Both sexes listed spirituality as their least area of interest, but women were more likely to use Mindbloom to encourage prayer or journaling in their lives (48 percent versus 41 percent).

As people start to think of the next year’s goals and 2012 New Year’s resolutions, a survey of Life Game users shows that health will once again be the top area of focus, however only for women. According to the survey of more than 300 Mindbloom users, career (22 percent) will take over as the most important area for men, followed by relationships (18 percent), spirituality (15 percent), finances (15 percent), health (14 percent), lifestyle (13 percent), and creativity (3 percent). For women, after health (28 percent) being number one, other key areas of life include career (18 percent), relationships (14 percent), spirituality (12 percent), a tie between creativity lifestyle (10 percent), and finances (8 percent). For a complete summary of how men and women compare and contrast their goals for 2012 check out the Infographic.

For quick video introductions to how Mindbloom’s apps work, click here for the Life Game or here for Bloom.

About Mindbloom:
Mindbloom is a Seattle-based interactive media company that’s out to make life improvement accessible to everyone. By harnessing next-generation engagement techniques and focusing users on personal growth, Mindbloom has created a fun, simple, and effective way for people to improve the quality of their lives. To start living a healthier and more balanced life, visit: www.mindbloom.com. You can also find Mindbloom on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mindbloom or on Twitter at @mindbloom.