Weight Watchers is an international company that assists its members with losing weight by creating a healthy eating plan that can be coupled with motivational and accessibility tools. These factors encourage positive lifestyle changes in order to help members lose the weight and keep it off. Additional success tools for members are available online or in-person to create a healthy eating plan, imagine resourceful ways to become more active in everyday life, provide assistance with making healthy eating choices at the grocery store or when eating out, and provide in-person or online support, encouragement, and motivation from a registered coach. Weight Watchers has seen great successes in some countries and in some areas of the United States. More specifically, high number of members’ longevity and success with losing weight and maintain weight loss has been reported in more rural areas. Weight Watchers has seen exponential growth in their online platform but do not have continuous membership or the same amount of success in those areas. This report will focus on Weight Watcher’s decision to redesign their online platform in order to increase member satisfaction and weight loss.
Face to face support group meetings are more popular in rural areas in the United States and abroad. This may due to the slower pace of life stereotypical of rural living. However, international members lack a strong online presence and seem to prefer the comradery and intimacy available from physical interaction with one another. The lack of internet connections in some rural areas, at home and abroad, almost make it mandatory for members to opt to join a physical weekly support group meeting in their area. These meetings usually last from 1-2 hours and allow members to share their weight loss successes and challenges. Also, during these meetings, members can discuss other topics if they choose to. These meetings can turn into a social gathering and inevitably become a source of healing and social interaction for people who may not get it throughout the week from likeminded people on the same path. The meetings may offer something not available from online interaction. Moisio, Risto, and Mariam Beruchashvili (2010) discuss the importance of the spiritual component that surrounds weight loss support groups. The authors contend that members are on a quest for well-being and that gaining a large amount of weight could be indicative if a tumultuous emotional state. Members’ extravagant weight can be a result of poor life choices, embodiment of their emotional state, or the visual evidence of their socioeconomic position. Members within the support group seek encouragement and motivation of the changes they are making to the issues they have identified need to be addressed.
The lifestyle changes are usually never about just the weight loss. Members must learn coping mechanisms to tackle their triggers and that is where the quest for well-being is apparently more satiated in a physical support group rather than an online support group. The authors contend that with “members’ quest for well-being” for overconsumption, the “spiritual-therapeutic” model present in support groups’ works best. The authors conclude in the study that the “spiritual-therapeutic” approach present in physical support groups helps with the “understanding of well-being inscribed within the contemporary American cultural. The online forum, while available for convenience purposes for members that are on-the-go, does not do as good a job acting as a vehicle for “angst-alleviating therapeutic confession.”
Thomas, et al (2008) conducted a study to determine the type of support participants would need during their weight loss journey to be successful. The authors reported that regardless of the diet program participants chose, focusing on dieting alone did not motivate them to continue with the program. Participants did not utilize physical activity to the extent that was prescribed. However, when participants were active in the dieting programs with family and/or friends, their weight loss results improved. The participants reported feeling more “accepted and supported” when they had support from people they loved and respected and had the social networking component to the program. When participants failed to stick with their chosen dieting program, they usually blamed themselves for their inability to 'stick' to it. The study concluded that “two thirds of participants felt that dieting was an effective way to lose weight” even though most of the participants did not stick with their chosen dieting plan.
The study by Thomas, et al (2008) focused on the ability of individuals to stick with their chosen healthy eating plan. The success of any plan is contingent on the participants’ commitment to stick to it. Participants in that study discontinued their prescribed dieting plan from lack of support and difficulty being resilient from failures. Success in a weight loss program is indicative of the support surrounding someone to succeed. Positivity and belief in oneself play a vital role in the success of the individual to have success in and stick with their dieting and exercise plan.
Weight Watchers has become an international organization for a number of reasons. Most notably is their ability for member retention and their success rates for weight loss and weight loss maintenance. The challenge to increase membership initiation and retention, as well as weight loss maintenance from the online community, is at the forefront of the company. Weight Watchers is redesigning their online presence and needs to implement some new motivation and social tools for members to utilize that are not able to physically attend weekly meetings.
One option to achieve renewed commitment from Weight Watchers members is to encourage members of the online community to physically attend weekly support groups by implementing a downloadable application that will provide real time updates regarding where the nearest meetings are and what time they start. Instead of just updating cancelled and ongoing support groups on the website, Weight Watchers can follow suit of some popular apps, such as Meet Up and Hang Outs, which connect the member with people within their area at that very moment. Physical meetings can display as open until 15-20 minutes after the meeting starts to allow on-the-go members that last minute option to physically attend. They will be glad they were able to make it.
Weight Watchers can amp up their virtual support groups by implementing a FaceTime or WebCam component so members can see and hear who they are speaking to and sharing their time with. Virtual support groups can add much depth and meaning to the one-on-one virtual meetings members have with their personal online coaches. The study by Thomas et al (2008) stated that any healthy lifestyle change plan can work if the person is committed and has a lot of support to stick to it. Most people fail with their dieting plan changes due to not sticking with it which is due to lost commitment. After the initial excitement is gone, the commitment to stick to the plan will wan away if there are not motivational tools in place, like a rewards system, to encourage participants to continue. The most well-meaning and dedicated participants will fail without these required mechanisms. Weight Watchers must follow suit with regards to the study. Online participants are not reporting the same kind of successes due to not having that personal touch to stay committed and stick to it. The aforementioned downloadable mobile applications can help meet that need.
The challenges to implement these changes for the online Weight Watchers community comes down to financial backing and staffing. The cost to create, implement, and maintain the downloadable mobile applications that could be so beneficial for members that conduct their weight loss journey primarily online could be staggering if not successful. Members can take 1-3 years to warm up to new downloadable applications. Members that are already primarily online would be encouraged to utilize the new technology but the best foundation would still be the physical weekly support groups. A backward effect can also occur where the members that frequent the physical support groups begin to frequent the online community instead. This would be dangerous because, although the goal is to have the success measures for the online community meet the standard of the physical weekly support groups, if members begin to flock towards online tools and lessen their physical and social interaction at support groups, success rates of initial and maintenance of weight loss could be compromised.
A solution to the dilemma of creation and implementation cost could be to introduce the application in stages. Only members who have chosen to pay the extra fee to utilize online tools would have access to the meeting and virtual support group applications. An additional fee can be added to monthly membership fees to offset the costs. The focus and push of the company would remain for members to attend physical weekly support groups due to the success rate. The focus of the real time meeting update and virtual support group applications can be the same; get the member to begin attending physical weekly support groups. Member success rates have a correlation between frequency and consistency of attendance to support groups.
The first phase of the application can be the creation of the meeting locate and virtual meeting applications. These rough drafts can be introduced to focus groups for additional feedback amongst members and coaches. This should be done for at least 2-3 rounds of revisions to the first drafted application. Once adequate feedback has been solicited by these test groups and the appropriate revisions updated, the applications can be ready for their first roll-out. The roll-out of the applications can be executed by region or state. A systematic approach for the roll out can be done as the company statistical analysis identifies areas with a large online community presence, proposed increased online membership, or reported membership decline due to members being unable to physically utilize the support groups. The applications should only be introduced to 1-3 areas for 6-9 months in order to compile data for analysis regarding the success or failure of the applications. Performance measures to determine the results should be decided on before the roll outs take place. Perhaps the feedback from the focus groups can assist with comprising appropriate performance measures for data analysis.
It is obvious the social networking component of the Weight Watchers program contributes immensely to the success of its members. The continued push for members to attend physical meetings is critical in increasing success rates for initial weight loss and weight loss maintenance in areas with large online communities. It is not enough for people to communicate with their weight loss coaches or peers through a forum. Technology has evolved to include group chats and weekly support group location updates real time. By introducing these elements in stages to the online community, yet continuing to drive the importance of physical social interaction, Weight Watchers should realize an increase in the desired metrics from the online community.
Work cited
Moisio, Risto, and Mariam Beruchashvili. "Questing for well-being at Weight Watchers: The
role of the spiritual-therapeutic model in a support group." Journal of Consumer Research
36.5 (2010): 857-875.
Thomas, Samantha L., et al. "" They all work when you stick to them": A qualitative
investigation of dieting, weight loss, and physical exercise, in obese individuals."
Nutrition journal 7.1 (2008): 1.
