Consumer Trends to Watch

It’s January, that time when pundits and prognosticators tell us what the future holds… or at least give us their best guesses.  Of course, understanding consumer trends is invaluable to marketers.  The question, of course, is which ones do we believe?  I try to view stated consumer trends on the backdrop of what we see when we speak to research participants.  Two such trends:

  • Companies exposing their flaws
  • Personalized marketing

Trendwatching.com has just released their “12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012.”  One trend in particular resonated with what we’ve been hearing from consumers.  They call the trend “flawsome,” and explain it as follows:

“In 2012 consumers won’t expect brands to be flawless; they will even embrace brands that are… honest about their flaws, that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humor and dare we say it, some character and humanity.”

We’ve seen that in our research: consumers dislike brands that won’t admit mistakes, but when a company admits to a mistake, not only are consumers forgiving, the admission tends to generate positive regard.  (For an example of what not to do, consider Netflix.)

The next trend, personalized marketing, is not new, but its time has come with the tools now available to marketers.  As my friend Jenka Gurfinkel put it (in a fascinating blog post), we are now a “confederacy of niches.” We should no longer target an “average” consumer based on demographics, but rather consider narrower targets based on consumers’ attitudes and circumstances.  And we now have the tools to do so.  Consider the precise targeting available when advertising on Facebook as well as the wealth of information available from website analytics.  Oh, and let’s not forget another way to uncover those psychographic segments: well-designed market research!

To design market research that will uncover your customers’ attitudes and circumstances, give us a call.

Sources:12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012,” Trendwatching.com, January, 2012; “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It…. And I Feel Fine,” social-creature.com, 1/4/12; “No More Average 32-Year-Old Woman, but Market Myth Persists,” Advertising Age, 1/2/12; Bureau West research