What are your intentions?
Here, in the article , we explore the importance of understanding the motivations and intentions that make people like you think about treatments. The concept is patient psychographics.
Benefits of the Approach
Stratifying patients into the archetypes will provide new and useful information for healthcare professionals, leading to success in the clinic and ensuring patients feel empowered to become their best self. Such tailored treatment approaches can provide benefits for both the patient and physician.
Benefit for patient
= being communicated to in a relatable way
Benefit for physician
= better understanding of their patients
By using these patient archetypes, healthcare professionals will be able to gain insight into their patients' deeper needs and desires and create tailored, holistic and long-term treatment plans for each individual.
Beauty is not just about how you look - it's deeper than that. It's about empowerment, strength, intelligence and emotion. We encourage healthcare professionals to go beyond pure aesthetics to treat the whole person; to fulfil their emotional and physical needs.
Patients can become who they want to be, wherever they may be going.
The Beautification Patient is motivated by celebrity culture to achieve or project a certain look° - to get themselves noticed. They want to enhance their features to achieve a more desirable aesthetic and become the best version of themselves.
The Positive Ageing Patient wants to celebrate the stage of life that they have reached. Many feel a mismatch between the age they look and the age they feel. Some patients want to soften the tell-tale signs of ageing, while others want to maintain or simply refresh their look - all without anyone knowing.
The Correction patient is continually bothered by a feature or area of their body, often noticed by others, the Correction Patient sees aesthetic procedures as a way of feeling comfortable in their own skin.
The Transformation patient is conforming to a cultural ideal of beauty, the Transformation Patient aspires to a look they believe gives them an advantage. Large eyes, shapely nose and a defined, contoured jawline are just some of the qualities they equate with the promise of success.
Beautification Archetype
Case Study: Jessica
• Jessica’s motivations are based on a belief that a certain look will lead to a higher social standing.
• She is a Gen Z, where there is a celebrity standard for beauty. Jessica believes that being relevant to the latest trend, she may be able to improve her social status and therefore increase her sphere of influence.
Patients who stratify into the Beautification
Archetype tend to covet the appearance of a celebrity; however, they want to preserve their own identity.
According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2016, the top five counties to undergo injectable procedures were the US (21.7 % of worldwide total), Brazil (9.0%), Italy (5.9%), Japan (4.5%) and Turkey (4.1%). For these patients, beauty offers a means to express who they are and what they can achieve, with social-media platforms playing a significant part in their worldview. Considering there is a belief in popular culture and psychological literature that white women have greater body dissatisfaction than women of colour, a 2006 meta-analysis of 98 US studies published by Grabe and Hyde indicated that this difference was small.
The following assumptions can be made:
Key triggers
Selfie culture
Exposure to celebrity and popular fashion trends - wanting a certain look
In your practice, you may recognise a patient who fits into the Beautification Archetype as they are likely to use the following phrases, or similar:
' want to look more attractive
' want to look like a certain celebrity
Positive Ageing Archetype
Case Study: Susan
Susan doesn't want to change who she is.
She wants to feel aspirationalShe feels that there is a lot of societal pressure that values youthfulness and energy, and that she will benefit from being empowered to take control
The Positive Ageing Archetype accounts for approximately 75% of the US market, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery,' In the US in 2016, 7,8 million procedures were performed on patients aged 40-55 years and 4,1 million were on those aged >55 years.' Positive Ageing Patients want to maintain a youthful, healthy sopearance and believe that the best strategy in anti-ageing is prevention. The more mature patients in this category might notice a disconnect between how old they feel and how old they look. Many new patients in this category may be hesitant about undergoing treatment for fear they will look unnatural or less the themseives?"
Such patients want to achieve natural-looking results through less invasive treatments with miriened downtime. They do not want to freeze their face in time, but simply want to look like a better version of themselves. According to the international Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the top thres counties, for facial rejuvenation procedures in 2018 were the US (20.7% of worldwide total), Japan (12.2%) and India (7.3%)," Healthcare professionals need to understand both the motivations and potential peychological barriers for the Positive Ageing Patient, ensuring that their approach is tallored accordingly,
The following assumptions can be made:
Key triggers
Societal pressure to look good with age
The signs of ageing
In your practice, you may recognise a patient who fits into the Positive Ageing Archetype as they are likely to yes the following phrases, or similar:
" look tired
• ' look sad'
• 'I want to look more youthful
Correction Archetype
Case Study: Charles
Charles is a patient whose motivation is centred around the need to look and feel what he perceives as normal
As a child, Charles was bullied because of his appearance
He is a typical Correction Patient, who has features that he believes make him stand out for the wrong reasons
Consequently, throughout his life, Charles has acquired coping mechanisms, and this was apparent in the consultation
The Correction Patient has what they perceive to be a negative feature. Many will have been bullied at a voung age and begin to feel uncomfortable with their features. Throughout their life, a dislike of this negative feature has cast a shadow over their experiences, especially in social situations. Research by Cooper-Hobson and Jaffe (2009) of childhood otoplasty procedures (n=101) performed at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UK) reported a 97% increase in happiness and a 92% increase in self-confidence, with 79% noting improved social experience and 100% reporting that bullying was either reduced or eliminated.?
Among both men and women, low ratings of self esteem are considered important drivers that motivate these patients to seek out cosmetic treatment.
A desire to 'balance' their appearance remains a perpetual loop until the right solution can be found.
It is important to remember that patients like Charles have often been bullied from a young age, for features which are not considered the norm, and that they may have been harbouring concerns and insecurities about their appearance for a long time.
The following assumptions can be made:
Key triggers
Low self esteem
Dislike of features
Key barriers
Feeling helpless
Lack of confidence around success®
By the time Correction Patients decide to seek treatment, they may be excited about the practitioner being able to give them something they've never had - feeling comfortable in their own skin. For this reason, the approach to deeply understanding the motivations of patients is important in achieving the best outcomes.
In your practice, you may recognise a patient who fits into the Correction Archetype as they have a tendency to use very specific words and phrases, such as the following:
'Asymmetry'
'is too big'
•'…is too small'
•*..makes me look ugly'
Transformation Archetype
Case Study: Arevika
• Arevika's motivations are based on a belief that a certain look will lead to success (either within her career and/or social group)
• She's Armenian, where there is a cultural standard for beauty. Arevika believes that once she meets this standard, she may be able to lead a more successful and therefore content, quality of life
The Transformation Patient wants to adopt a new identity that they feel they should have been born with, regardless of nature and history. They are often driven to pursue perfection as defined by a societal, cultural or gender ideal.° According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, almost 5% of total worldwide cosmetic procedures were carried out in South Korea in 2014.For these patients, beauty and success are intrinsically linked and they believe that cosmetic treatment will stand them in good stead for better employment opportunities and lead to a happier life.
The following assumptions can be made:
Key triggers
Beauty is linked to social standing in some cultures
A desire for confidence and improved social status
In your practice, you may recognise a patient who fits into the Transformation Archetype as they have a tendency to:
• Speak about a very specific societal, cultural, or gender ideal
Use words that describe a Western ideal of beauty, such as:
'Large, round eyes'
- 'v-shaped chin'
- 'Pointed nose'
- 'Slim jaw'
The article has introduced and explained the characteristics of the different categories, by being aware and understanding the motivations and intentions, practitioners can look after patients in a more tailored manner. Improving communication, connection and trust. This allows for a more conscious and mindful approach to aesthetic care with can only improve the relationship and the direction towards the goals together.
Which archetype do you most relate to?
Beautification , Positive Ageing, Correction, or Transformation?
