The Illusion of Efficacy: How Brands Use 'Wellness Narratives' to Harvest Anxiety

Brands turning everyday anxiety into sales

It has been reported that a wave of products on Chinese e‑commerce platforms are being marketed as “stomach‑nurturing” foods with slogans like “steel stomach” and even “no lifetime gastroscopy” — claims that regulators and industry experts say cross into medicinal efficacy. TMTPost, citing The Beijing News (新京报), documents how vendors package ordinary solid beverages and traditional ingredients such as Hericium erinaceus (猴头菇), Chinese yam (山药) and dendrobium (石斛) into quasi‑therapeutic narratives to tap a broad, anxious market: people who fear gastroscopy or prefer “natural” fixes over clinical care.

A staged marketing funnel, not accidental hype

Marketers reportedly use a layered script: shock‑value headlines in paid search to drive clicks; suggestive main images to retain attention; safer‑sounding ingredient copy on detail pages; and “consult your doctor” lines in chat to create a legal buffer. The effect is precisely calibrated emotion‑management rather than accidental exaggeration. Who benefits? Short‑term sellers and traffic brokers. Who loses? Consumers and legitimate brands that play by the rules.

Consumer harm, trust erosion and evasion tactics

The mismatch between promises and physiological reality can leave buyers disappointed at best and misled at worst. Solid beverages cannot reverse mucosal disease, yet the marketing creates a placebo of “I am treating my stomach” that delays proper diagnosis. It has been reported that some operators deploy multiple storefronts and brands to escape reputational fallout — a classic “bad‑actor” playbook that accelerates a market where bad money drives out good.

Policy tightening may change the field

Regulatory change is already on the horizon. The National Health Commission (国家卫生健康委员会) in July 2025 signalled it will advance standardisation of “health claims” for food‑medicine homologous substances, a move that would make many current wellness assertions verifiable and enforceable. If implemented, brands that survive will be those willing to trade viral slogans for verifiable claims. For Western readers less familiar with China’s tech‑driven retail landscape: the same platform dynamics that scale novelty products overnight also amplify regulatory and ethical failures — and Beijing’s push for clearer standards could be the industry’s corrective.