Co-authored by head of culture and trends Kelly McKnight and NextGen professional Joeri Van den Bergh, the report is based on a three-part proprietary study conducted in December 2020.

The report aims to analyse how the events of 2020 have shaped how consumers seek and attain happiness and how this is driving new behaviour and expectations towards brands.

McKnight says, "Last year has unequivocally resulted in a re-evaluation of our lives and the world we live in. At the centre of this 'reset' stands the pandemic, of course, which has acted as a catalyst for behavioural change, accelerating slow-moving macro trends as well as creating entirely new ones."

Following the macro-environmental analysis, InSites Consulting used its proprietary 'Human Drivers' model, which encompasses seven universal drivers of happiness in conjunction with its global Illume Network of consumers. According to InSites Consulting, this qualitative exploration phase captures how consumer behaviour is manifesting around the globe. This led to the identification of 14 ‘trends’.

A final stage of quantification (in partnership with Dynata) validated the 14 trends with 15 000+ consumers in 16 markets, allowing each trend to be ‘scored’ according to the consumer attitudes and behaviours in each. The markets include:
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hong Kong SAR
  • Indonesia
  • the Netherlands
  • the Philippines
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • Thailand
  • the United Kingdom, and
  • the United States. 

Katia Pallini, content marketing director at InSites Consulting, adds, "As researchers, we not only want to understand which trends are shaping and manifesting around the world but also how this happens. By adding a quantitative layer to the approach through measuring consumers’ attitudes towards the trends, as well as how they are acting upon the trend when buying brands, we’re able to report trend scores and a global trend mapping."

With a global trend score of 72%, ‘Unapologetic Activism’ (feeling a responsibility to call out injustice and discrimination) is an emerging trend for 2021 in most markets studied, meaning that consumers identify with the trend, but are not acting upon it yet. "There is an opportunity here for brands that can positively impact a cause and call out deep-rooted discrimination in society," adds McKnight.

The report also breaks down the attitude and behaviour of NextGen consumers compared to the general population. For ‘Reimagined Interactions’ (the need for new ways to interact with people), the NextGen score is 75% compared to a general population score of 66%.

Joeri Van den Bergh, co-founder and NextGen expert at InSites Consulting, says: “Gen Z has never craved face-to-face interactions as much as they do today. The lockdowns have taught them the importance of living in the moment and the value of in-person interactions. This is because they know that the simple things in life can be wiped out overnight."

With over 2 000 subscriptions for today’s digital launch event, the agency aims to replicate the research and report on a yearly basis, striving to provide brands with continuous insights into what’s next.

For more information, visit www.insitesconsulting.com. You can also follow InSites Consulting on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.