Consumers will be lured by bite-sized brand offerings in 2013: Euromonitor

• In 2013, consumers will be lured by bite-sized brand offerings aimed at emerging and now developed markets. This will also lead consumers to reduce the risk of trying something new.
• Combined living arrangements are also leading to shifting consumption patterns as people stay or return home to economise even as peers and separated couples are forced to cohabit.
• The report also says that consumers will find it hard to define ‘leisure’ as ‘digital detox’ periods are shared online.
• Gender-specific consumption may be narrowing thanks to unisex technology preferences, new gaming audiences and traditionally female behaviour feted in business situations.
• Localisation will gain momentum in 2013 as more prosocial consumers (those who care about society as a whole) reject commercialism and chain stores. This will lead global brands to court local culture, relevance and tastes.
• Euromonitor’s consumers editor Daphne Kasriel-Alexander notes that technology-driven shopping reveals generational faultlines. Brands are focusing on interpreting consumer lifestyles to reach out to people wanting innovation. Gamification,  Facebook’s piloted ‘want’ button and in-store digital information offerings are all part of this trend.
• Alexander also added that tech-savvy, image-conscious older consumers want to work and spend comfortably for longer as governments and corporations raise or abolish retirement thresholds.

The study, now in its tenth year, explores several themes often culturally-influenced on how consumers conduct their lives. It focuses on working, parenting, travelling, texting, social networking, web surfing, going out, dieting, blogging, watching television, exercising, saving, spending and so on. It relies on statistics from Euromonitor’s database as well as the company’s survey results.

The Emerging Market Consumer

In a separate study published on 3 January 2013, the market research company tracked new consumer trends in emerging markets.

Growing internet use and online shopping in India emerged as the top trend as the number of internet users in India increased from 31.4 million to 121.9 million between 2006 and 2011 contributing to internet retail sales trebling to US $2.2 billion during the period.

The Chinese remained the biggest savers in the world. According to Euromonitor’s data, they saved 38.6 per cent of their disposable income in 2011 or US$3,754 per capita. India emerged as the second biggest savers in the  world.

In other findings, Asia-Pacific consumers reported declining air quality in Asian cities in recent years. Consumers in the region believe it is a growing threat to human health. Clean Air Asia, an NGO backed by the World Bank, aggregated data from 300 cities in 16 Asian countries found that human health impacting pollutants were found in 284 cities.

The opening of the Myanmar market will also play a big role in Asia this year. “Scenting a consumer boom, international brands are salivating at the prospects for growth as Myanmar gradually opens its economy to foreign investment,” the study noted.