by ConsumerShift identifies the changing consumer values and external trends that are remaking the consumer landscape. Five key themes form the core of these changes, making “A CASE” for change. Fifth, is “E”: Enoughness.
Think of enoughness as voluntary simplicity with a bit of an edge to it. Whereas voluntary simplicity suggested a benevolent, altruistic adoption of a simpler lifestyle, enoughness gets to a similar end point, but only partly from choice, as necessity in the form of the Great Recession is mixed into the equation. The recession has forced people to confront their consumption patterns.
People are accepting and even embracing a need limits—“maybe growth can’t continue forever?” There is a sense of “having enough” or being fed up with the status quo. It goes beyond material goods to the real precious resource of the next decade: time! People feel their lives are getting out of control, and they want to take back that control and set limits. The recession has provided the “perfect” opportunity to experiment with doing with less—stuff and activities. It may turn out in hindsight, that this is the most impactful of the five thematic changes in the consumer landscape. Organizations counting on population growth and a continued desire for “more” to meet their growth numbers are going to lose on both counts in the emerging consumer landscape. Andy Hines
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