Key Consumer Trends For 2014

Gearing up for the changes that drive the market is the name of the game when gauging consumer behaviors. 2014 is a year of marked differences in the wants and needs of the people purchasing our products. Consumer expectations are reaching new levels; they demand state of the art technology that is faster, more efficient and more pleasing to the senses. Here are six of the emerging trends that researchers have identified as key determinants of the preparations business must make to rise to those consumer demands.

1. Sensory Interaction

Products and service that provide more sensory stimulation improve annually. Visual, audio and educational experiences have risen to new levels. Some examples include games featuring enhanced graphics and player interactions that bring the experiences to very intimate levels of involvement.

Continual technology upgrades have moved the masses from rotary dialing to a simple one touch connectivity. Instead of passive viewing, consumers have grown accustomed to a constant influx of upgrades in interactive technology. Their expectations will continue to grow as companies compete to provide more intelligent technology that feature increasingly intense interactions with programs.

2. Smart Technology Efficiency

Speed, ease and precision are now requirements. Programs delivering solutions for streamlining most functions of life are the norm. Health and fitness information complete with diet and workout plans are accessible at a touch. Massive research information translated into simplified terms are standard. Communications devices are more lightweight, capable of completing more functions for life applications. They can also store larger amounts of data. The demands for new technology will continue to rise.

3. Twenty First Century Industrial Revolution

The digital age has opened technology access to lay persons. More advanced programs are accessed by consumers through user friendly processes. What once took an expert to decipher is greatly simplified. Creating art, music, literary and educational masterpieces can be done quickly and efficiently through digital media. Instead of purchasing pre-printed business documents, programs with spectacular graphics and high speed printers are used to manufacture whatever is desired, from business cards to frame-able art. Promoting goods, services, hobbies and ideas is being done through more refined platforms. When consumers reach plateaus in their activities, they look for further enhancements to boost their creative efforts.

4. Escape

Increasing responsibilities in the workplace and higher demands on consumer time are byproducts of the technological explosion. This makes speed and efficiency in production necessary in all sectors of society. The cultural shift creates the need for escape to a more pleasant place. Indulging in a few moments or hours of fantasy and sensory enjoyment provides the needed break from the fast paced and turbulent world that we live in.

5. Ethical Awareness

People are separating themselves from the stimulation of the internet during their leisure time. They’re looking for meaningful experiences that will not only contribute to their own health and well being, but also that which contributes to improving the environment, community and the greater world around them. This is becoming evident in the shift towards buying green products that are safer for the environment, taking measures to conserve energy and participating in extra-curricular activities such as running in marathons to benefit a particular cause.

6. Personalizing

Consumers crave intensity from products and services that meets their wants and needs quickly and efficiently. Smart technology is advancing in predicting what a user is looking for and providing it. Marketing software promotes items recently viewed on internet shopping sites within social media information bars. People are quickly developing expectations for having their desires met instantly.

Manufacturers will need to continue to use smart technology that predicts consumer preferences with accuracy in a culture that is changing the landscape of sound business practices.