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Megatrends in the consumer world

How relevant is your brand to the target audience?

21.06.2022

author
Laura Šarenac
Brand Strategist

Our world is constantly changing, and these changes have an impact on consumer behavior. On one hand, we see our needs and fundamental desires slowly evolving, and on the other hand, the landscape around us is changing with nature, technology, and more.

To best prepare your brand for these changes, it is wise to assess your brand's relevance based on the 16 megatrends in the consumer world. We've gathered them below for you. A high score indicates that your brand or concept is relevant to the target audience, and relevance leads to better connections with the audience!

Status seekers

The relentless, often unconscious but always present force that influences virtually every aspect of consumer behavior.

Self-improvement

The relentless, often unconscious but always present force that influences virtually every aspect of consumer behavior.

Human connection

The relentless, often unconscious but always present force that influences virtually every aspect of consumer behavior.

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Better business

CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility is important. Good for the environment and good for people. Consumers increasingly value and support brands that prioritize social and environmental responsibility.

Youniverse

In this trend, individual preferences take precedence. Personalization is a key strategy in the current consumer market, where brands ask their target audiences about their needs and desires. As a result of this increased personalization, consumers will have even more choices. Ensure that the target audience is at the heart of this trend. Try to become a part of their world, their personal universe.

Local love

To support local businesses and initiatives, consumers nowadays place more value on a brand that has a local origin. Something that is local is also familiar and feels close to home.

Ubitech

Technology, we can no longer escape it. Technology is universal and essential; we can't live without it anymore. Consumers want to build their lives based on the unparalleled "superpowers" that technology offers them, such as instant information, convenience, extensive choices, and much more. Brands that utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide truly smart products and services to their target audience are perfectly aligned with this megatrend.

Desire for information

Consumers want more. They show an insatiable hunger for information, and it is expected that this appetite will only increase in the future.

Playsumers

Life is a party, but you still have to hang up the decorations yourself... Or is it already done for us? Consumers are increasingly seeking experiences. Experiences and fun in unexpected places. For example, a waiting area where boredom is eliminated by something unique with a playful element. Brands that tap into this desire capture the most important thing from their target audience: their attention.

Ephemeral

Always on, connected with everything and everyone. As a result, the consumer's attention span has dropped to an average of just 8 seconds. Just 5 years ago, it was 50% longer, namely 12 seconds. Consumers try to speed up certain experiences while slowing down others. Ultimately, they have one goal in mind: extracting maximum value from each moment.

With the busy lifestyle of today's consumers, brands must cater to the need for bite-sized and often quick, short interactions. With this fleeting content and real-time streaming capabilities (via platforms like Snapchat and TikTok), the real and digital worlds are intertwined for consumers, allowing them to experiment with infinite forms of self-expression at the same time.

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Fuzzynomics

In the world of fuzzynomics, the rules of the past no longer apply, and the new rules are still quite hazy. It revolves around an increasing desire for control over what we as individuals consume. People want to be involved in the design and shaping of products and services. The previously clear distinction between producer and consumer is slowly fading away.

Pricing pandemonium

In the past, the price was simply the price. Nowadays, the perception of price has become more complex, and consumers' attitudes towards price are more malleable than ever. What do brands do in this regard? They playfully dress up a product or service as a different type of product. For example, the right choice of words can lead to the following: consumers make a larger, more expensive purchase that they would normally contemplate carefully. Due to a different perception of the price, the decision can now be made quickly without much thought.

Helpfulness

Brands that make consumers' lives easier also win with their future consumers. An example of how brands can be helpful is through location-based marketing. Consumers in the vicinity of certain locations receive advertisements on their devices for things they are likely to need at that moment. Think of an ad for a tasty lunch around the corner at 12 noon. You don't have to search for it; the brand does it for you!

Joyning

This trend revolves around our age-old human desire for togetherness. Making connections with others but in new ways.

Post-demographic

Demography is dead. Today's consumers feel free to shape their own lifestyles based on their ideals, tastes, and preferences. They choose products and services that seamlessly fit that lifestyle. Consumers are no longer limited by demographic characteristics. Products and services are no longer exclusively for men or women or just for 20-year-olds instead of a 50-year-old.

Remapped

In short, this megatrend involves the reassignment of powers in the global economy. Changes in this area also influence consumer behavior.

Reinoud Wolff
Chief Commercial Officer

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