2021 Consumer Trends: The Search for Kindness

Driven by the digital revolution, the consumer market is transforming. 

Consumer behaviour and business strategies are making a tremendous shift as the pandemic influenced, created, and accelerated the market trends. 2021 will serve as a pivotal year for every industry, and tailoring strategies to these new and rapidly changing trends will empower businesses to not only overcome adversities, but also be prepared for the unexpected.

With the rise of social media and digital presence, there is constant pressure to be online, creating content or simply staying connected, that often leads to feeling overwhelmed. As exhaustion and anxiety reach their peak from digital exhaustion, there has been a transition in consumer sentiment – deep kindness

Consumers are seen placing a premium on values, kindness, and social issues. As your consumer base begins to grow, so will the economic impact associated with them – so businesses should begin to take note and take action. As a brand, your purpose needs to shift to a new gear. With the pandemic approaching its one-year mark, consumers have adjusted their values with one key aspect in mind – do you care? Not only are they looking for kindness, but they are also looking for investments in their communities. 

Current Consumer Trends

There are six things consumers are looking for in brands as we move forward in 2021:

  1. How you support(ed) people through the pandemic
  2. Active participation in social causes
  3. How you are addressing your environmental impact
  4. The way you offer value in the price tag
  5. Whether you’re producing high-quality products
  6. How (or if) you are treating your employees fairly 

 

With shopping trends transitioning vastly across the digital landscape, consumers have also restructured what they look for from your brand in relation to customer service. Currently, consumers are most concerned about:

  1. Unsatisfactory customer service
  2. Negative press about your brand
  3. Possessing a poor environmental record
  4. Having sub-standard labour conditions
  5. Low levels of diversity in the workforce, products, and senior leadership
  6. Lack of genuine political and social activism

 

The three major trends consumers are gravitating towards include (or are related to) corporate social responsibility, purpose-driven support, and empathetic relation. Ultimately, your brand needs to be implementing these transitions into every PR and social strategy in order to successfully reach and deliver results within the 2021 consumer market.

Contact us to learn more about how Jive can help you reach these goals.