Acceture Song’s 17th annual Life Trends report featured insights from the global network of designers, creatives, technologists, sociologists and anthropologists
Accenture Song presented its annual Life Trends report, which found that half of the people in the world are changing their life goals, prioritizing job stability and retirement over getting married or earning a university degree.
According to Accenture, this change in mentality, caused in part by the rapid advancement of technology, is placing society in continuous change, in addition to creating a level of uncertainty and fragility for companies, as people are now deconstructing everything in their lives. lives, as they try to discover their place in the world.
We are entering a decade of deconstruction spurred by shifting consumer values, the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence, and the relentless speed of change. This is making business leaders wonder where do we start? considering these challenges. It all starts with a call for excellence and space for the pursuit of human ingenuity and creativity to flourish, said Mark Curtis, global sustainability lead at Accenture Song.
The report had more than 15 thousand interviewees in 21 countries to highlight the five global macrocultural trends that should change the way companies and leaders remain relevant to customers.
Is the customer always right?
According to the survey, the correlation between customer experience and revenue growth has led organizations to keep the customer at the center of decisions, but now economic considerations are forcing cuts in companies, creating friction in the relationship between customers and brands.
The report found that almost half of customers feel less valued when they face difficulties in contacting or speaking to a customer service that does not offer effective support.
Furthermore, the document also pointed out that reductions in quality or size (shrinkflation), drops in service (skimpflation), deficiencies in customer service and unwanted sign-ups are increasing the feeling that brands are silently reversing their promises.
Interface changes
Another point raised by Accenture is that, with 77% of people familiar with conversational AI, it has become a technology with mass cultural awareness.
According to the data, generative AI is upgrading people’s internet experience from transactional to personal, with language models (LLMs) being used to organize intelligent, two-way conversations, giving people solutions to How queries rather than How to queries. simply What requests.
The company also found that 42% of consumers would feel comfortable using conversational AI like ChatGPT for product recommendations, 44% for completing tasks at work, and 33% for wellness and health advice.
Meticulous operations are required to play a meaningful and relevant role in customers’ lives. Today’s consumers are not linear, they are changing faster than companies, so keeping pace is a constant challenge”, highlighted David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song.
“Mediocrity”
According to company information, in the past, the main goal of creativity used to be to inspire an emotional response through imagination and human connection. Now, with algorithms and technology standing between the creator and the public, the goal has become a matter of “playing the game” or risking not being discovered.
In entertainment, data showed that consumers are fed a steady diet of movie extensions and franchises, and overall, 35% of respondents feel that app designs are indistinguishable across brands, a sentiment that rises to nearly 40% among young people aged 18 to 24.
Accenture Song also pointed out that the challenge of mediocrity will not resolve itself and may worsen as generative AI becomes a greater player in creative processes.
Human request limit
The survey showed that people’s relationship with technology is at a critical moment and almost a third of consumers say that technology has complicated their lives as much as it has simplified them.
According to survey respondents, technology seems like something that happens to them rather than to them, demanding too much and often failing to make a positive impact on well-being.
In response to this information, consumers stated that they are tightening the reins on the use of technology. Among those surveyed, a third indicated that they are removing notifications, one in five are imposing screen time limits and a quarter are removing applications and devices completely.
Therefore, the Accenture study points out that organizations must be aware of how the use of technology fits into people’s lives and what this requires of them. Brands that offer people greater power of choice over how they use (or not) technology to interact should occupy a place of trust with customers.
Decade of deconstruction
According to the data presented, traditional life paths are being redirected by new limitations, needs and opportunities, significantly changing demographics and causing people to challenge long-held ideas and shape new ways of thinking, acting and living.
The report showed that 48% of respondents make plans for their lives less than 12 months in advance or not at all. In the last three years, there has been a drop in the value attributed to traditional milestones, including marriage (from 30% to 21%), completing college (from 30% to 24%) and moving out of one’s parents’ home (23%). to 17%).
According to the survey, these new mentalities will trigger different perspectives on products and services and companies that adapt, creating continuous experiences, will remain relevant to the evolving consumer.
“These trends are a window into the interaction between people, their behaviors and their general attitudes towards the ever-changing world – whether in business, technology or other social changes – helping our clients understand the motivations of their customers in ways that can catalyze growth, added Droga.
