Citizens fight in esotericism – Newspaper Kommersant No. 24 (7469) of 02/09/2023

Esotericism and psychology were among the fastest growing segments of online education in Russia in 2022. According to GetCourse, the turnover of these segments grew by 15% and 7%, respectively, while, for example, courses related to training in new professions fell. Numerology, Tarot and meditation, as well as psychology, help people in times of crisis to regain a sense of control over the situation, experts say. Market participants also attribute the stability of demand for esoteric practices to the fact that they are mainly interested in a more adult audience, whose habits were less affected by the consequences of military operations in Ukraine.

Kommersant got acquainted with the presentation of GetCourse (a platform for launching, selling and conducting online courses, unites 15 thousand online schools) on the results of 2022.

It follows from the document that among the studied niches of education, esotericism showed the most pronounced growth at the end of the year – by 15%, to 6.6 billion rubles.

The total amount of income from the sale of courses on the platform in 2022 grew by only 1%, to 95 billion rubles. (According to the results of 2021, sales on GetCourse doubled).

Among other areas that grew in 2022 were “psychology” (by 7%, to 7.8 billion rubles), “earnings” (by 5%, to 10 billion rubles), “financial literacy” (by 4 %, to 4.6 billion rubles) and “languages” (by 7%, to 1 billion rubles). For the rest, sales fell. The largest niche on GetCourse – training for new professions – showed a decrease of 4%, to 16.6 billion rubles. The turnover of courses on personal growth fell by 7%, to 7.5 billion rubles, and related to hobbies – by 19%, to 4.9 billion rubles.

Esoteric courses in GetCourse include Tarot, numerology, “fulfillment of desires” and “conscious thinking”, as well as practices at the junction with other areas – for example, health (meditation) or psychology (neurography), explained CEO and co-owner of the platform Sergey Mikhailov.

However, the outstripping growth of the segment in 2022 “speaks more about the stability of the niche than about a sharp increase in interest in it,” Mr. Mikhailov believes.

According to him, in 2021 the direction grew by 89% and was only the seventh segment in terms of dynamics. “Buyers of esoteric courses are on average older than in most other segments, and their consumer behavior has changed less under the influence of the events of 2022,” Sergei Mikhailov specified. According to him, the younger audience “changed focus to psychology, sports, earnings and became less interested in hobbies.”

Other market participants are seeing growth in demand for psychology courses first. This, in fact, is the segment closest to the esoteric among the Soho.LMS courses, notes the CEO of the platform Mikhail Ukolov: “We have a 25% faster growth in demand for psychology in relation to other segments.” He explains the popularity of esoteric courses by the fact that “people want a magic pill and are willing to buy it.” “Not everyone is ready to make an effort, learn new skills, work hard, rebuild their lives. It’s easier to “tune in to the right vibrations” or shift the responsibility for making a decision to the Tarot cards,” adds Mr. Ukolov.

In this case, it is important to separate the products of the online education market and hobbies, notes Anton Kopylov, COO of Skillbox: “Esoterics, astrology and related courses can rather be attributed to the second category.”

In his opinion, the popularity of esoteric courses indirectly depends on the level of people’s anxiety. “In November 2022, we conducted a study in the field of psychology, which revealed that a quarter of the Russians surveyed experience anxiety all the time and associate it with their character traits,” Mr. Kopylov adds.

In difficult and crisis periods, people are more actively looking for support in a variety of practices, both spiritual and secular, notes Maria Danina, co-founder of the online school of psychological professions “Psychodemia”: “This helps them regain a sense of control over the situation, comprehend changes and adapt to them” . Esoteric topics are more often used by people who believe in the power of the supernatural, she adds. “Psychology is interesting both to them and to those who are more oriented towards the scientific picture of the world,” Ms. Danina explains. According to her, in 2022, the company noted an increase in demand for basic programs and free courses related to anxiety, as well as a several-fold increase in demand for corporate psychological assistance, including calming trainings for employees.

Valeria Lebedeva