THE NEW UNCERTAINTY: Economic downturn. Inflation. Recovery. Recession again, followed by revival, of period of sustained growth. The modern borderless world have started exposing us to changes in economic condition with increasingly reduced gaps of occurrence. It’s a new world order where economic uncertainty is seemingly the new normal. Consumers react to this with different coping strategies; and we as marketers will need to respond to this, and more importantly keep this as an essential influential factor in chalking our future business strategies.
NEW LIFE MODELS: We are witnessing significant socio demographic changes in our society that is shaping new life models. One is that of ‘staying young’ – living life to the fullest, finding new things you enjoy, learning to adapt to change, staying physically and socially active. The other is societal fragmentation due to individualization – the ‘I, Me, Myself and of late my Selfie’ culture. Consumers today are less restricted by rigid social structures – we are witnessing multicultural populations, and reducing gender roles. These developments have sort of gained much speed in recent times and will have a big impact on consumer behaviour in the future.
THE NEW CONSUMERISM: New life models have ensured new consumerism. The belief of the young, urbane and the aspiring consumer that time and money is always at a premium and their strong desire to be in control of their own lives has created a new consumer approach that is oriented toward lifestyle and individuality. Top this up with the new evolving hybrid shopping behaviour which features expensive purchases coinciding with bargain hunting of the new age consumer. This is a defining trend.
THE BURGEONING MOBILE WORLD WIDE WEB. Imagine a world in the next 2-3 years, where all dumb phones are replaced, and we find smart phones in the hands of every consumer and tablet sales far more exceeds PCs. It will be a world where global internet users will double, led by mobile usage. Every consumer will have a real life identity and a virtual / digital identity and over time when this phenomenon starts becoming more prominent, managing consumer behavior will be the key challenge for marketers.
CUSTOMERS TRUST CUSTOMERS: From being passive bystanders, consumers are now active, aware and assertive. The new age connected, communicating, opinionated, community-oriented consumer will play a huge role on a product or service brand value and imagery. Customer reviews on the social media will be a key tool in purchase decision making.
CONSUMER TOUCH POINTS WILL BECOME UBIQUITOUS: Driven by the anytime, anywhere digital ecosystem, consumers will demand more convenience with an increasing number of touch points – across multiple screens, sequentially, often simultaneously – be it while buying products and services or while consuming content.
CONSUMERS WANT ENTERTAINMENT ‘SELFIE-STYLE’: They want to see what they talk about. Content centred on them, immediately gratifying, engaging and shareable across their social network is fundamental to today’s entertainment experience.
