TrendKey - 14 Lifestyle Trends

The Internet has put the power of information in the hands of the consumer. Now, if they wish, they can compare every detail of your product with those of your competitors. Having decided WHAT to buy they can also research retail and delivery options and make the transaction all without leaving home.

Consumers are beginning to expect products that allow for seamless integration across platforms. As the lines between "work” and "leisure” and "home” and "away” are increasingly blurred, the need to access communication and entertainment channels has helped spur on this convergence. Multiple platforms and various options allow consumers to define and interact with their world in the way that is most relevant to them.

Consumers around the world are becoming more and more demanding.
Increasingly, they want products, brands and retailers to offer features and benefits that were mutually exclusive, such as:

• Health benefits AND good taste
• Luxury AND a good price
• Convenience AND high quality
• Connectivity AND privacy

For this reason consumers are keen to customise products wherever possible.
Finally, they are more willing than ever to complain when things are not up to the high levels they have come to expect.

The answer to the question "what do you get for the person who already has everything?" that we hear nowadays in affluent Western markets is increasingly not something to own but something to DO. As many become bored with the constant drive to buy the "next big thing”, they look instead for new experiences rather than possessions.

That "staying in is the new going out" has almost become a cliché but concerns over crime and terrorism and the rising cost of eating out have been combined with the wider accessibility of professional-quality solutions to bring the benefits of going out into the home.

Increasingly, consumers are able to take channels and preferences—once only available in the home—with them on mobile devices that provide entertainment and storage.
Time-shifting and place-shifting have allowed consumers the freedom to enjoy their preferences in media content at any time, in any location.

The desire for a "little treat every now and then" is a firmly entrenched part of modern life, as a reward for working hard. Treats can be small or large, materialistic or experiential but the underlying desire is to lift an ordinary day and give ourselves a little lift.

Saturday at the mall is now a global phenomenon as shopping becomes an established leisure pursuit rather than simply a means of acquiring goods and services. Whether to buy or merely to browse & socialize, the shopping trip has become an end in itself.

Consumers live a mobile lifestyle. That does not simply mean they move around a lot, although clearly international travel, commuting and vacations all lead to mobility of body and mind. Consumers are also mobile in other senses—social mobility (the desire to improve one’s situation), cultural mobility (an openness to other cultures and ideas) and virtual mobility (distance solutions) are all increasing.

While for some work is a daily grind, a question of going through the motions doing tasks that are neither fulfilling or interesting simply to pay the bills, modern workstyles enable others to find fulfilment and even self-expression through their work. This can be to such an extent that the line between work and non-work begins to blur or breaks down altogether.

As technology products and services become ever more affordable and accessible, consumers are increasingly "trading up” to take advantage of the new freedoms and opportunities they offer. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of new media products and channels across all industries and platforms has led to a natural consumer migration, either through proactive upgrades or simply replacing old media with new at the end of their lifespan.

Consumers, more than ever before, know what they are supposed to do to live a healthy lifestyle. But even with the best of intentions, many find it difficult to live a healthy lifestyle.
Opportunities exist for marketers who can help consumers close the gap.

Consumers today have busy, complicated lives. For many, the reality means juggling home, work, social life and other commitments—work and life are not always in balance. We see the beginnings of a push back (in the West at least) against long work hours and being "on call” 24/7. In developing nations, the desire to improve one’s situation is, for now, keeping work hours long. For
parents, this juggling act is particularly extreme and a major cause of stress.

With busy workdays, long commutes and the increasing alienation of big city life, many are finding much of their social interaction virtually, through online social networks. However, so far, we have found that virtual networks are adding to face-to-face networks rather than replacing them.

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