MERGE research finds technology adoption surging; access and trust barriers are best overcome with personalized experiences.

MERGE, a leading marketing and technology agency, today unveiled its new report, “The Health Revolution: Empowered by Your Experience” at the inaugural Built 2025 summit. Drawing insights from more than 1,800 adults ages 26–75, the study explores how digital health and wellness tools shape daily lives and health choices while revealing the critical gap leaders must close to create contextual experiences that are accessible, trusted, and impactful.

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MERGE research finds technology adoption surging; access and trust barriers are best overcome with personalized experiences.

The research highlights both momentum and barriers in digital health adoption. While 46% of consumers now use wearables and 70% rely on multiple technologies to manage their health, access remains uneven, influenced by income, identity, and geography. To better understand this divide, MERGE segmented respondents into two categories: experienced (regular users of digital health tools like health wearables, mobile apps and fitness trackers) and hesitants (non-users of any tool). The report found that 68% of experienced respondents said they regularly start health and wellness behavior change efforts, while 57% of hesitant respondents have never tried to change a health and wellness behavior.

Initial drivers for digital health tool adoption are often life events, prescriptions, and insurance coverage, yet many users abandon these technologies due to poor user experience. While Gen Z is a key driver of adoption, they also report feeling overwhelmed and face significant barriers like financial stability to making positive changes. For brands, providers, and payers, creating meaningful, lasting experiences starts with uncovering consumer motivations and meeting people where they are on their path to wellness.

“Our data study, The Health Revolution: Empowered by Your Experience, validates that people only have room in their lives for health and wellness experiences that are personal and resonant,” said Stephanie Trunzo, CEO at MERGE. “Brands must elevate contextual experiences - across data, AI, and design - far more dynamically than ever before, from top of funnel awareness through deep ongoing interactions. Across the complex ecosystem, from brands to providers, payers, and life science researchers, this opportunity to close access divides, and create health experiences that people can trust is much more than incremental change; it’s a call to reimagine how health connects with humanity and to unlock the next wave of value creation.”

Top insights from the report include:

Life events trigger initial adoption, but experience is what drives engagement and trust.

• The top drivers for trying digital tools are doctor prescriptions and health insurance coverage – with life events like a new diagnosis or parenthood as the biggest catalysts for adoption.
• However, there is a gap in consistent adoption: 68% regularly start health and wellness changes, but only 27% are still actively working on them.
• 46% of experienced respondents have abandoned digital health technology due to poor user experience or a lack of personalization.

Gen Z leads the adoption curve, but feeling overwhelmed prevents sustainable action.

• 23% of Gen Z respondents feel overwhelmed by digital health and wellness tool options, and they report “experiencing many barriers to making positive life changes” at more than double the rate of Boomers (67% of Gen Z compared to 25% of Boomers).
• Roughly a third of Gen Z says financial wellness is more important than physical and mental health, yet they aren’t showing behaviors to back it up (like saving or credit management).

Financial anxiety and lack of access have the greatest impact on the least healthy.

• The respondents who fell into the category of least healthy are also the most worried about the economy and their own financial future — making them less likely, or less able, to take steps to overcome that financial insecurity. The landscape of sentiments around financial wellness shows deeper anxiety paired with a lack of agency for the lowest-income respondents.
• Rural residents show the lowest adoption and satisfaction with health and wellness tools, highlighting retail access gaps.

In the survey of 1800 respondents, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected participants to provide qualitative context to enrich the survey results. To download the report, visit: https://learn.mergeworld.com/mergedatastudy2025-download.html

About MERGE

MERGE is a marketing and technology agency built for the intersection of health and wellness. We combine deep expertise in health and consumer behavior with strategy, creativity, experience technology, and digital marketing to design personalized experiences that drive meaningful results.

Powered by human insight, creativity, and AI, we weave storytelling through technology to turn complexity into clarity — strengthening relationships between people and brands.

With 750+ specialists across Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, and Raleigh, MERGE partners with leading brands like Abbott, GE Healthcare, American Express, T-Mobile, Coach, and Meta to advance health, wellness, and happiness.

Learn more at mergeworld.com.

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"The Health Revolution: Empowered by Your Experience, validates that people only have room in their lives for health and wellness experiences that are personal and resonant,” said Stephanie Trunzo, CEO at MERGE.