From lifestyle to commodity: How Instagram users construct and circulate wellness narratives

This article takes an approach to theorizing the role of Instagram and its users in producing and circulating wellness-related content. We analyse 1500 Instagram posts containing the hashtag #Wellness to identify and describe how Instagram users communicate with their audience through associated performances. The qualitative thematic analysis conducted in our study disclosed multiple dimensions of wellness, encompassing themes related to health concerns, bodily awareness, material possessions, emotional expression and interpersonal relationships. Results confirm wellness as a multi-layer concept and the need to understand and study it in an integrated way. The main contribution of this study indicates that wellness is attainable for all individuals. However, this attainment is often intertwined with commercial motivations and intentions. Post analysis revealed advertisement or promotion of a business, a brand, a product or a service identifying that #Wellness could be acquired, positioning it as a commodity and contradicting the basic principles of its definition. Findings place Instagram as a communication tool from which users take advantage of a marketplace environment logic.