Three major trends reshaping the face of tomorrow’s consumer
Following a study of customers attitudes and behaviours, CitiBank declared that 75% of their customers had changed as a result of the economic turbulence of the past few years. The report’s finding was correct in one sense; the economic uncertainty is influencing peoples’ behaviour. But the turbulence is also masking three much bigger and more powerful disruptive social forces: Older, female, and urban. Most companies are only just becoming aware of these forces and very few are actively researching and strategizing what needs to be done. Let’s explore these three trends further – Here are interesting insights we’ve uncovered:
The Silver Surfer Tsunami
- By 2050, the share of the world’s population over the age of 55 will have nearly doubled, from 15 percent to 28 percent! That is a staggering demographic shift.
- In the U.S. alone, there are expected to be 2.2 million more people over 55 every year between 2010 and 2020.
- In China, the population over 55 will grow from 18 percent to 38 percent during that period. An ageing population is not just a developed market phenomena
- An ageing population is driving a massive change in consumer markets.
Female
- Women now control about $12 trillion in global spending and on average, seventy percent of household spending, in developed countries.
- Worldwide, working women are expected to increase global income by more than $1 trillion per year, making them the fastest growing market segment.
Urban dwellers
- In 1980, only 40 percent of the world’s population lived in cities.
- By 2030 that percentage will be over 60 percent and this figure will be closing in on 70 percent by 2050
- Between 2010 to 2050, the urban population will grow by 3 billion more inhabitants
- Many villages and country houses will get deserted as a consequence.
- Every week 1.2 million people move to cities which means there are more than 60 million new urbanites each year.
- That’s a population the size of the UK moving to cities every year!
- Overwhelmingly, tomorrow’s consumers will be city dwellers.
Is your team researching and exploring the impact these three massive disruptive social and demographic forces? Are you debating and analysing the threats and opportunities? What is your business plan?
TomorrowToday has a team of global experts who have developed highly acclaimed frameworks like TIDES of Change , SCRIPTing Your Future and the many others. We can help you understand and develop strategies to capitalise on these changing forces. Please contact James Dunne to learn more.
Professor 
Sir 
Would you say that our technological connectivity would/should be a 4th major trend?
Although I agree with the article, like Adi, I think that technology is having an even bigger effect on consumer behavior.
In my day, you are met with someone, wrote a letter and did most of your shopping in a shop. Today lots a folks would much rather not meet people, have lost the art of writing and do most of their shopping on-line.
I was even there for the revolution that was cell phones; but even then we used them to make phone calls. Now it is all about sending text messaging, using IM, and surfing the Web.
Then of course along comes social media – is there anything done any other way these days other than through tweeting, Facebook or YouTube? My teenage daughter finds all she wants to buy by surfing, asks her friends what they think about products on Facebook, buy where she can online and complains like crazy if what she buys doesn’t come up to scratch. I’m not sure she has ever written a letter, my phone bill has gone down and she keeps up with what is going on in the world using social media
So indeed the demographics might be changing dramatically over the coming years but so is consumer behavior and communications – companies and governments that want to be successful most take all of this into account.