Variety is out. Virtue is in. That’s the tenet of an emerging new demographic, metrospirituals, who are replacing metrosexuals as the cutting-edge trendsetters most coveted by marketers.

Metrospirituals include everyone from celebrities (Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Gere, and Angelina Jolie, to name a few) to average office workers looking to add meaning to their lives. What they all aspire to, both in themselves and in the products they buy, is a socially conscious combination of style and substance.

Though it parallels many Judeo-Christian beliefs, metrospirituality actually has its roots in Eastern philosophies such as Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. But unlike adherents of the New Age movement of the late 1970s, metrospirituals are very comfortable with the materialistic society in which they live. “Just because you’re spiritual does not mean you can’t be a rabid consumer,” notes Sharon Lee, co-founder of the youth trend forecasting firm Look-Look, which has been tracking the rise of metrospirituals among the 14–35 age group for the past six years.

Steven Waldman, co-founder and editor in chief of the spiritual gathering site Beliefnet.com, which coined the term metrospiritual, says this group pays closer attention to the companies behind many of the products they consume. “I don’t know if metrospirituals are more or less brand conscious, but they’re more careful to align their brand choices with their spirituality,” he says.

The Whole Foods grocery chain is often cited as the poster company for this trend, but metrospiritual companies also include condiment maker Hampton Chutney and even Craigslist, which forgoes traditional advertising on its Web site and is dedicated to building a true community among its users.

No Faking It
Of course, not every company can position itself to appeal to metrospirituals as part of its business development strategy, although Waldman argues that having some spiritual connection can be good for most brands. “The part of the metrospirituality concept that any company can adopt is the realization that most of their consumers are spiritual beings,” he says. “So any company, as they’re figuring out how to market, should attend to that fact.”

One entrepreneur who seems to embody the metrospiritual movement is Richard Perl. A lawyer who used to run several of New Age guru Deepak Chopra’s ventures, Perl recently joined forces with chocolatier Michel Cluizel to open a new boutique chocolate shop in New York. Perl suggests that while metrospirituals can be marketed to, what they respond to best are products that fit their holistic view of the world.

“If a marketing person wants to appeal to this group, they have to be the real deal,” he says. “Metro-spirituals aren’t looking for hype. They’re looking for real experiences that will take them farther on their path, however they define it.”

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