What Trends are in Store for us in 2022?

Marketers need to be able to monitor trends with an eye towards predicting what consumers will want next. While it is hard to predict the future, we can examine the current environment with respect to what might happen next.

In its yearly predictions report, international research firm Euromonitor forecasts what consumers will want and need. Companies then can use these predictions to consider the strategies that they might pursue.

Lifestyles in 2021 made radical shifts as populations continued to be impacted by the pandemic. To no one’s surprise, COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continue to be very important to the immediate future.  Marketers and businesses must evolve quickly to keep up with new demands.

Ten  predictions for consumers in 2022 include:

1. Rethinking the supply chain.
2. Climate change – a low-carbon world.
3. Senior citizens and their digital adoptions and usage.
4. Controlling personal finances.
5. Prioritizing personal values and individual goals.
6. The metaverse moves to reality.
7. Increasing adoption of second-hand and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
8. City dwellers want advantages of living outside of cities.
9. The importance of self-care and happiness.
10. The hybridization of being social.

These trends provide guidance for companies and marketers. Using these, we can gain insight into consumer values and behavior. If 2021 was a year that required us to be adaptable and resilience, then what does 2022 indicate?

What trends will impact you?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

1. The full Euromonitor report can be accessed at: https://go.euromonitor.com/white-paper-EC-2022-Top-10-Global-Consumer-Trends.html?utm_source=WSJ&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=CT_22_01_18_WP_Top%2010%20GCT%202022%20EN
2. Discuss the importance of environmental scanning and conducing SWOT analysis.
3. Show the Euromonitor report to students.
4. Divide students into teams.
5. Have each team select one of the top 10 trends and prepare a discussion for the class.
6. What industries and companies will be most impacted by that trend?
7. What should marketers do to address the trend?

Source: Alcantara, A-M., (January 17, 2022). Ten trends that will shape the way we shop, eat and live this year, Wall Street Journal; Euromonitor International (January 18, 2022), Top 10 global consumer trends 2022.