The effects are likely to be widespread and unpredictable. Airline providers predict that lighter passengers might significantly reduce fuel costs. The energy sector may notice changes in energy use for heating and air conditioning because people taking these drugs feel colder. Many industries are likely to be affected. Will yours?

In this interview, Dr Guen Bradbury talks with Dr Helena Rubinstein about how GLP-1 drugs could be as socially disruptive as the smartphones, and how businesses can respond.

Why are so many different industries likely to be affected?

You might be thinking “OK, lots of people might take end up taking these drugs. But it’s about food, right? They change what you want to eat, and how your body responds to the food?” And yes, that is a part of the story.

GLP-1 drugs slow stomach emptying and affect insulin sensitivity. But the big thing they do is reduce appetite. But it’s not all appetite. They don’t just reduce consumption of all foods. People’s food preferences change.

What’s going on?

GLP-1 drugs specifically affect reward processing by reducing the activity of dopamine neurons. They specifically seem to tone down our response to the most rewarding things we encounter. In our society, the most visible effect is that they reduce our consumption of certain foods. But the effects go far beyond this. These drugs reduce not only food consumption, but also consumption of addictive substances (not only illegal drugs, but also cigarettes, alcohol, and even coffee). They may even affect how people shop.

Wait. Are these our target consumers?

It’s hard to know how many of your consumers are taking GLP-1 drugs unless you ask. One organisation, in a survey of their skincare consumers, found that more than 25% of survey respondents were taking these drugs.

Now, that might just be a skewed sample, but it’s plausible that many ‘target consumers’ may be taking these drugs.

Why? Because ‘target consumers’ are the people most likely to buy a product. People who binge eat and people with a higher BMI are more likely to show certain impulsive behaviours.(3) And people taking GLP-1 drugs report less impulsive and compulsive shopping.(4)

In this interview, Dr Guen Bradbury talks with Dr Eve McMahon about how medicine has been surprised by the increase in use of GLP-1 drugs, and what this means for the future.

But isn’t cost a major deterrent here?

Currently, yes. And cost is just one of the barriers to their use. But things are going to change.