As consumers reassess their priorities and increasingly ask themselves what they truly value, a host of major consumer trends have emerged: from the sharing economy to the preference given to experience over possessions, to frugal innovation and trading up and down.
This shift towards new priorities, which we have christened “The New Consumerism”, is impacting across a multitude of industry sectors and has the power to transform even the most established markets.
We will be using all aspects of Passport to help explore this area of consumer behaviour and its impact on business in a wide ranging series of articles and reports. Our latest report in the series, The New Consumerism: The Data Behind the Trends examines the social and economic backdrop to the birth of the New Consumerism and attempts to quantify its impact on consumption and behaviour globally.
The New Consumerism was born out of difficult economic times
The protracted nature of the global economy’s recovery from the financial crisis provides the backdrop to the New Consumerism. In the years following on from the crisis, stagnant incomes, high unemployment and weak consumer confidence helped to fundamentally alter attitudes to consumption.
Long-term challenges are converging to fundamentally alter the consumption landscape
Long-term global trends, including the increasing interdependence of the world’s economies, ageing populations, urbanisation and growing awareness of the world’s environmental challenges, have added to the mix.
Technology enables and drives changes in consumption
Technology is enabling new shopping behaviours. It allows consumers to deal directly with other consumers, to compare prices and to get the best deal at the touch of a button.
New priorities and values are having an impact across a broad range of industries and geographies
The New Consumerism is about consumers seeking to reassess their values and priorities and focus on obtaining the most out of life, whether this be prioritising experience over possessions, sharing over owning, or time over money.
The New Consumerism: A paradigm shift
These trends are impacting on everything from travel to kitchen appliances to ethical labels to automotive to consumer foodservice to retail.
Read more on the data behind the New Consumerism and its implications for business in our new global report: The New Consumerism: The Data Behind the Trends.
We will be using all aspects of Passport to help explore this area of consumer behaviour and its impact on business in a wide ranging series of articles and reports. Recent reports include:
The Sharing Economy in Lodging
New Consumerism and Sharing: Future Power the Smart Meter Revolution
The New Consumerism: Redefining Ownership, Values and Priorities