Accenture Song uses its global network of designers, creatives, technologists, sociologists, and anthropologists in more than 40 places to find out about business, technology, and design trends every year. The Accenture Life Trends 2023 study (formerly known as Fjord Trends) is based on personal observations, evidence-based research, and client work. The paper investigates how individuals are altering their lifestyles and using developing technologies to fulfill their shifting demands.
Following many years of global unrest, the research demonstrates that people are receiving more access to developing technologies such as AI, Web3, and tokenization, which are promoting the next generation of creativity, community, and data privacy. According to the research, firms and executives should brace themselves for adjustments in business models as a result of shifting consumer habits as they place growing value in new, emerging technologies. The terrain of daily living has shifted from learning to exist in perpetual crises to seeking belonging in online networks, missing work’s intangible advantages, and leveraging upcoming technologies such as AI to accelerate creativity. This transformation will require firms and executives to function in new environments.
The following are the five rising trends that will change the power balance between brands and consumers in the next year and beyond:
We are in an ongoing crisis, but we will adapt
The globe is lurching from one catastrophic disaster to the next. People use four reactions to adapt to uncertainty and instability: fight, flight, concentrate, and freeze. Such reactions influence what individuals purchase as well as how they perceive businesses and employers. Companies must be prepared. Consider the present financial strain on individuals. Families struggling to make ends meet are cutting down on non-essentials such as media and subscription services, culminating in the “Great Cancellation.”
The future of loyalty
During times of uncertainty, individuals seek locations where they feel they belong. Modern brands will be designed as communities first, changing brand involvement and loyalty. The three threads are being directed by emerging technologies to allow this concept.
a. Belonging communities: on sites such as Reddit, Discord, and Twitch.
b. Token-gating: access is restricted to “token holders only.”
c. Collectibles, which include digital artwork, autographs, trading cards, and other items.
The value of labor intangibles
Returning to work has not been a triumph for many – there is still work to be done. Most people have felt the loss of intangible office perks like chance meetings and constant, direct supervision of subordinate talent. Companies risk losing mentoring, creativity, culture, and inclusivity if they do not participate in-person. Workplace design must keep up with changing employee demands. Leaders will need to rethink their strategies and devise reasonable, mutually beneficial initiatives.
AI is becoming people’s co-pilot for creation
AI is now in the hands of the average user and is a new tool for the creative process. The availability of neural networks is required for the creation of language, pictures, and music. A few instances are given in the report. Based on a language model with 175 billion parameters, neural networks are employed to build sentence structures in text. Jukebox is a neural network that makes music in a range of genres and aesthetic forms, including basic singing. Companies must consider how they will stand out amid a sea of AI-generated content.
Digital wallets have the potential to solve the digital identity dilemma
Personal information has been utilized and abused. It is far past time for a change. Transparency and trust in online brand encounters are rapidly eroding. Soon, the user may regain control of their data. People will be able to determine how much data they share with or sell to businesses using digital wallets holding tokens (representing payment methods, ID, loyalty cards, and more). That’s fantastic news for brands. In a cookieless future, data that consumers do pass over will be much more valuable than third-party information that is no longer gathered.
As leaders, employees, customers, consumers, and creators, people look for ways to get back in charge. Because of changes in attitudes and evolving technology, the consequences will seem different – a new image of development — than what we’ve seen previously.