Building the Case for Obesity Medicine as an Economic Disruptor

We are most accustomed to technology bringing economic disruption. Three decades ago, it was the internet. Then smartphones and social media. Now, we obsess about the effects of artificial intelligence. But a strong case is building that obesity medicine is becoming an economic disruptor on a scale that is equal or greater than any of those.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Ali Furman and Paul Leinwand say that GLP-1 medicines are influencing far more than just physical health and appearance:

“Based on early signals, GLP-1s may be catalyzing a behavioral and economic shift that’s on par with major technological breakthroughs. Consumer interest in Ozempic, for example, has scaled faster than search trends for the iPhone and many other popular tech products. But unlike those digital innovations, this disruption is physiological. A transformation that begins with biology is now cascading across categories once siloed from healthcare, potentially blurring the lines between industries like food, wellness, beauty, retail, and travel.”

This is disruptive innovation with effects well beyond healthcare.

Household Spending

Furman and Leinwand are marketing and business strategists at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). So naturally, they start with the shifts in household spending that have come with the adoption of these medicines. It has been considerable already.

In their analysis of spending habits, they see a six to eight percent decline in grocery purchases for households where a GLP-1 user is the household food buyer. Food is typically a stable spending category, so this is an epic change. But the quality of food purchasing is changing as well. Calorie-dense and convenience items are moving less, while functional and more nutritious items are moving more.

This is already prompting a shift in food marketing.

Identities and Priorities

The changes afoot go well beyond food, though. Furman and Leinwand see evidence of effects on other consumer goods and services. Clothing purchases are up. A rise of four to five percent in spending is evident six months after adoption of a GLP-1. They describe this as more than just functional. It a signal of shifts in personal image and self-expression, they say. There are also effects on fitness, dining, and travel activities. And these industries are taking note.

More Than a Passing Trend

Of course, it remains unclear how far the utilization will extend for these medicines. In the present report, about 14% of households are currently using a GLP-1. Another 24% say they will consider doing so if the price comes down and convenient options proliferate.

In short, there is quite a bit of room for growth. With that growth will come economic disruption that would be easy to underestimate. Health systems – both insurers and providers – that think they can resist this are likely mistaken.

They risk making themselves irrelevant in the new order of things.

Click here for the analysis by Furman and Leinwand and here for further perspective.

Migratory Cotton Picker, photograph by Dorothea Lange / Wikimedia Commons

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October 22, 2025