• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retail_trends/a/bl_trends2005.htm
Strengthening and Evolving Consumer Trends
from Hallmark's Marita Wesely-Clough
2005 Retail Trends and Counter Trends
While attitudes, perceptions and behavior continually evolve into trends, and as individuals, the nation and the worldadjust to change, some trends become cultural characteristics, observes Hallmark's trends expert Marita Wesely-Clough."A social trend becomes a component of a culture when it lasts five to eight years or more – bargain hunting, for example," Wesely-Clough says. "Of course, countertrends can surface, strengthen and eventually supplant anestablished cultural trend.”Other strengthening trends include the pursuit of happiness, the desire for more and more, Eastern influences,shifting boomer behavior, and polarization of attitudes.Understanding the consumer is the first step in creating products that are on target, and is essential in developingrelevant products that help people express their emotions and strengthen relationships."A number of trends are continuing and intensifying – some that dramatically affect the way we think, live, and shop,"Wesely-Clough says.
Evolving Trends and Counter Trends for 2005 and Beyond
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
 Recent studies in the realm of positive psychology, continuing research of "happy" or normal people rather than"abnormal" people, will increase the belief that happiness is attainable. Though points of view may vary on howhappiness is achieved, or even what one considers the state of happiness to be, there will be broader acceptancethat a true state of well being is accessible to everyone. Using new discoveries via the study of well being from "thecup is half full" perspective, efforts will be made to teach how to become happy.
OSTENTATION NATION: More is More
 Watch for the continuous and intensified drive for aspirational luxury. People will be searching for the most upscaleand most fabulous handbag, suit, car, dog, vacation. There will be increasing pressure on the part of well-to-doconsumers to distinguish themselves from the masses. Watch these consumers go for the high end on products,goods and services, as they search for the most unique in what they want to drive, where they travel, what theychoose to wear. Handcrafted and customized, or rare, almost museum quality super luxe items will be in greater demand by high-end consumers.
Counter Trend:
Enough is Enough
 That the standard of living in the United States is far better than many other places fosters an understanding that we"have enough." Watch for people of all ages to scale down and simplify, to insure they have time to invest in whatmatters – friends, family, giving back, their legacy. Boomers approaching retirement will lead this trend.
PAST PERFECT
 Consumers’ insatiable desire for new, new, new will drive fashion, architecture, furniture, textiles – in fact, all visualdisciplines – to mine past design practices. As companies become more focused on giving consumers somethingnew, fresh, unique, they look to the past for reference. Lucky are those companies that can draw upon their own pastproduct successes to generate present-day profits. Watch as companies draw upon days gone by to bring about the"new" longed for by retailers and shoppers alike.
Counter Trend:
The Power of Now
 Those wanting to break away, find freedom from the common, the mundane will welcome a look to the future with
 
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retail_trends/a/bl_trends2005.htm
new technologies, new uses and new materials – light-emitting diodes (LED) and translucent cements, for example,to create new reality-altering atmospheres and sturdy structures.
Consolidation and Collaboration: Partnering Supersized
ECONOMICS SHAPING CULTURE
 Look for business collaborations among a broad range of racial and ethnic groups to pave the way for significantpartnerships in other areas. Watch for greater equality in many areas of society to emerge, once mutually beneficialbusiness relationships have been established. There will be positive changes in arenas like education and housing asmore and more of these newly forged profitable business alliances meet with success.
PARTNERING SUPERSIZED
 A new kind of brokering had been brewing and emerged strongly in 1999, and we called it "collaboration" in 2001. In2005, the desire and necessity to join forces continues into full-fledged mega-mergers so commonplace that rather than shock or surprise, speculation centers on who will follow Sears/Lands End/K-Mart, Federated/May andSprint/Nextel.
Counter Trend:
Enter the Entrepreneurs!
 Look for a wave of small to mid-size entrepreneur-owned businesses to spring up in the next five years. Watch for these new ventures to thrive. The energy, originality, vitality, and direct-to-consumer approach embodied by the nextgeneration of business owners will give big boxes a run for their money.
EASTERN SUN RISING
 The influence of China and the Pacific Rim will increase significantly going beyond the realm of philosophy or theaesthetic. Political and social issues born in the East will impact global financial markets to a greater extent than inthe past, with China's low-cost manufacturing model rendering hi-tech manufacturing methods obsolete.
Counter Trend:
Countless Countertrends
 Caught off-guard and stunned into inactivity like a deer in the headlights, the U.S. culture may see chaos inseemingly countless countertrends jostling in the fray to hold back the tide of consumers addicted to bargains;companies compelled to outsource; lip-service to “keep jobs at home,” "buy American” and other shopworn slogans;emerging Asian middle-classes smelling the concept of “group collective;” and outsourcing the outsourced.
CULTURAL COLLECTIVE
 The nation is the neighborhood and the world is just next door. The human desire to bond, to be a part of, to support,is playing out in new ways as instant communication extends to everyone. New scientific inroads, medical successes(such as the successful separation of conjoined twins), the excitement worldwide generated by space missions, andnew discoveries about our universe will be cause for celebration, breaking the arbitrary confines of national borders.In time of national catastrophe, see cities, states and nations give rise to spontaneous compassion and action. Thisempathy also manifests as collective grieving, when tragedy becomes a wall for public mourning – photos, notes, theplacing of mementos. What once was family is now public, national and global, as a pattern of social behavior emerges and becomes part of the cultural collective.
Counter Trend:
Individual Isolationism
 An endless parade of personal, national, international, and natural disasters in bold headlines with nearlyincomprehensible impact on individuals has left some feeling like an exposed nerve that no longer can function.Senses so dulled with a pervasive paranoia that the next hit is catapulting our way could leave people choosing towithdraw, unable to focus on one more horror, unwilling to give to one more relief effort.
Migrating Boomers and Other Consumer Trends
SLEIGHT OF HAND SOCIETY
 If you're not caught, it didn't happen... in the classroom, on the highway, playing field, or the tax return. It's less aboutinnocence or guilt, but who has the better legal team. The end easily can justify the means, and people always will dowhat they can get away with. Experience, along with anything that generates a sensational media story, will continueto shape a society where justice is played out like a sporting event.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...