Like virtually all aspects of modern life, the market research industry has undergone an explosive change in our COVID-19 pandemic era. While most of the principles of market research remain intact, brands worldwide have had to refine and modify their research methods as part of this “new reality.”
Generally speaking, market research starts with a “wide-angle” look at the spheres of influence upon a market (including new and changing customer behaviours, emerging industry trends, etc.), then zooms in on specific nuances within a target audience.
The data collection and analysis gained from in-depth market research offer brands “a clear and detailed understanding of what your customers want, what they already like, where they conduct their own research, and much more.” Understanding the broader context of a market enables companies to:
- Gain insights into how customers use their products or services
- Differentiate their offerings from competitors
- Lay the groundwork for successful product upgrades or launches
- Identify new opportunities for growth
These insights gained can set the tone and messaging for a brand’s marketing efforts both now and in the year to come.
Here’s a look at key trends in the market research industry today and what lies ahead on the horizon for 2022.
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Trend #1: Agility and Technology
Despite the changes wrought by the pandemic and other global forces, one factor remains constant: the continual evolution of technology underpinning advanced market research.
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, for example, enable researchers to gather information from an increasingly wide range of distinct sources. These advances also contribute to a new emphasis on agile research and speed of insight. Various elements include:
Automation of routine research practices. Automating the more routine facets of research facilitates a speedier analysis and interpretation of findings. This helps researchers save considerable time and effort while winnowing down to what’s truly essential in their work.
Shorter and smarter polls and surveys. Employing surveys that can be positioned and distributed quickly (and which take respondents only a short time to fill out) are a further boon to the speed of analysis and insight. This approach involves identifying a “mobile-reliant” population that will actively engage in a poll or survey upon request, and within a brief period of time.
Ongoing research. Agile research equals ongoing research. In a global marketplace that’s continuously in flux, the insights garnered from one survey can dramatically change by the time a new survey is undertaken. In the same respect, researchers can expand on findings garnered from one survey to craft a new, more specialized survey that focuses on changing factors in the marketplace.
As we have stated before, “when you know your offerings suit current and emerging customer needs, your business will develop a reputation for being wholly customer-centric that your competitors can’t match.”
Trend #2: AI, Machine Learning, and Emotion
If 2021 is any guide, we can expect the avalanche of raw data to keep increasing in the year to come. The vast array of sources promises to generate more information than researchers can ever hope to compile and analyze on their own. That’s why AI and machine learning are invaluable for research purposes.
Emotion AI, for example, seeks to “decode” human emotion by analyzing voice patterns, eye movements, facial expressions, and a range of non-verbal cues—all designed to generate data that enhances a brand’s capacity for linking emotion to consumer behavioural patterns. By evaluating consumer responses to a proposed upgrade or new product launch, emotion AI can more precisely “read” human feelings and gauge the success or failure of a new venture.
As MIT Sloan notes, “New artificial intelligence technologies are learning and recognizing human emotions, and using that knowledge to improve everything from marketing campaigns to health care.”
Trend #3: Social Listening
Interacting directly with customers often yields the most pertinent data for marketing trends. But engaging in social listening can be an equally effective research method.
Social listening involves analyzing social media conversations and trends related to your brand to your industry. This extends beyond monitoring basic metrics such as “likes” or “mentions” or “followers,” with a focus instead on the buyer’s mood behind the data.
Customers frequently express their sentiments about products and services on popular social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.). Market researchers can look at this as real-time feedback about customer preferences, brand awareness, the inroads made by competitors, etc.
In this respect, social listening offers a beneficial way of gauging customer sentiment (what they like and don’t like about the purchasing experience, preferences regarding how a purchase is made, and so on).
For effective social listening, research methodology can include the following actions:
- Search on the most popular social platforms for branded keywords, phrases, or product names.
- Explore customer review sections on platforms.
- Learn about customer sentiments regarding competitors.
- Anticipate potential new trends using Google Trends or other social media listening tools.
- Identify relevant or industry-specific social media influencers.
Social listening should be “a critical component of any company’s marketing strategy, as it allows you to react and respond to customer sentiment — and gather data to make improvements in the way your business runs,” notes Reputation.com. In essence, social listening is like “your very own perpetual focus group, rich with constantly updated and actionable business intelligence.”
Trend #4: Longitudinal Studies
There has been a steady increase in longitudinal studies for long-range market research, and the trend will continue in 2022. This approach works most effectively when a brand wishes to continuously monitor a fixed sample of its target audience over a pre-determined timeframe.
Longitudinal studies, also known as continuous research, tracks consumer and market attitude trends over extended periods. To do so, researchers gather information from the same sources through a long-term methodology that yields insights into buying habits or consumer response to a new product or service launch.
Trend #5: DIY
Another emerging trend is the do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to market research. The proliferation of agile or smart research tools enables in-house teams to conduct surveys and other research activities, often using a centralized online platform. Types of DIY market research include:
- Interviews with existing and potential customers through surveys, questionnaires, or focus groups
- Segmentation of the target audience into clearly defined groups (demographic, behavioural, psychographic, and geographic)
- Product testing, in many cases, before a brand reaches the initial production stage
- Measuring satisfaction with loyal customers
DIY research should aim for gaining “insights into how happy your customers are and any specific areas they like or dislike.” This enables brands to:
- Identify any areas of current (or potential) concern.
- Drill down to core issues by identifying (and then interacting with) dissatisfied customers.
- Determine what’s needed to improve customer attitudes and experiences.
One caveat worth mentioning regarding DIY marketing. As Forbes notes, “if you go to a third party [for market research], you’re going to likely get a different perspective than what you would get from your own team. There’s also a greater chance that the perspective you receive is an unbiased one, which is healthy” and potentially more insightful about what a target audience truly cares about.”
Trend #6: Aligning Brand Mission and Values with Customers
In 2022 and beyond, market research will continue to explore the value of aligning a company’s mission statement and the values of its customer base.
Gone are the days when a brand could tell consumers what it stands for and leave it at that. Today’s savvy customers do their research to determine if a brand “walks the walk,” particularly concerning those values consumers hold dear—be it the environment and sustainability, income inequality, racial harmony, and so on.
Consumers who prefer brands aligned with their values often become very loyal once they identify that brand. However, if and when customers detect a lack of consistency between what’s expressed in a mission statement and what actions a brand takes, they may abandon that company and seek out more compatible businesses to support.
In 2022, brands are encouraged to take a fresh look at their mission and values and how these are communicated to a target audience. Monitoring social media conversations around these values can illuminate the process of refining a company’s mission statement. It’s also an excellent opportunity to look into making a fresh commitment to support the causes and initiatives that a brand’s audience considers most valuable in their own lives.
Market research trends come and go, but the end result remains consistent from the past to the future. The primary objectives are always:
- Improving products or services
- Generating more sales
- Delivering expected results
- Enhancing customer service
- Boosting customer retention
Market research supports the need for brands to maintain agility in an ever-shifting marketplace. Customer needs never remain static. If a brand meets current needs—and, better yet, anticipates future customer needs—its place in the global market will be stronger and more durable than that of its competitors.
Opponents of cannabis legalization often cite concerns about cannabis’s effect on public health, warning that increased accessibility will likely result in an increase in the abuse of cannabis and other substances. However, for a country in the midst of an opioid crisis, with an estimated 47,600 opioid-related deaths in 2017, research is needed to understand the relationship between cannabis and pharmaceutical use, as cannabis is often cited as an alternative to opioids for pain management. Research conducted by Kadence International, a global boutique market research agency, indicates a nation-wide increase, in the past year, in adult use of cannabis to treat pain and other medical issues, often as a substitute for pharmaceuticals or alcohol.
In a national survey with over 2,000 adults, Kadence found that one in five (20%) adults report they have used cannabis in the last 12 months. Of those cannabis consumers, eight in ten (81%) use cannabis for at least one medical reason, an increase from 72% in 2018. Compared to 2018, significantly more adult cannabis users reported using cannabis to help treat anxiety (48% to 58%), sleep issues (39% to 53%) and pain or inflammation (40% to 49%). Many say they use cannabis for more than one of these therapeutic reasons.
While the vast majority of adult cannabis consumers believe that consumption of cannabis is safer than alcohol (92%), people who say they use cannabis for at least one therapeutic reason are more likely to state that their alcohol consumption has decreased as a result of their cannabis use (51% pain users, 48% anxiety users, 49% sleep users vs. 42% average). They are drinking less because they perceive cannabis to be less harmful, healthier and state that cannabis helps them feel better than alcohol. When asked whether they would prefer to consume cannabis or alcohol while doing different popular activities, the vast majority of these users would prefer cannabis over alcohol in nearly all situations. How else do these therapeutic users differ from the average cannabis consumer?
More than 1 in 4 (27%) adult cannabis consumers report that they use cannabis as a substitute for at least one prescription or over-the-counter medication. They are most commonly replacing pain medications with cannabis (21%), followed by sleep aids (17%) and anxiety medications (17%). Many choose cannabis over traditional pharmaceuticals because they feel it effectively relieves a combination of their symptoms. A notable 14% of adult cannabis consumers are using cannabis as a substitute for prescription pain killers/opioids, largely due to perceptions that cannabis is a “much safer”, “more natural” way to treat pain with “fewer side effects”. Interestingly, although there is no difference between opioid replacers and other cannabis consumers, with three in four living in states where cannabis is at least medically legal, opioid replacers may be obtaining their cannabis from the black market more than the average US cannabis consumer, as 61% said they usually buy from somewhere other than a dispensary, compared to 52% of total cannabis consumers.
Kadence’s data indicates there may be an opportunity for medical professionals and dispensaries to help combat the opioid crisis by targeting these black market cannabis purchasers, particularly in light of the recent vaping illnesses, thought to be coming more from black market products than regulated products available in dispensaries.
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Across all of these findings, there are no significant differences between cannabis consumers in medically or recreationally legal and non-legal states. Furthermore, the research found that not only cannabis consumers but the majority of adults nationwide believe that we are just beginning to discover the power of the cannabis plant for medicinal purposes (69%) and state that cannabis should be taken off the schedule 1 drug list so that its medical benefits can be explored more freely (69%).
The key point is this: regardless of whether or not they live in legal states, the data shows that adult consumers are already turning to cannabis for symptom relief, often choosing cannabis over pharmaceutical treatments or alcohol. With increased accessibility, product sales could be more effectively converted from the black market into legal channels where they can be regulated appropriately and taxed handsomely. This also makes more thorough research possible for pharmaceutical companies, medical professionals and public health researchers, and expands product innovation opportunities for brands and manufacturers across a wide range of categories. After due diligence, ultimately, the potential health and well-being benefits of cannabis can be made available, through appropriate channels, to more adult consumers in need.
Download the full research to learn more about trends in cannabis usage in the US.
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The pandemic has led to irreversible changes in consumer behavior. As consumers stayed home for the better part of 2020, they have formed a new set of preferences, habits, and F&B expectations.
Today, what consumers are looking for from the food and beverage industry is very different from pre-pandemic times, and these new expectations are here to stay beyond 2022.
The “Food & Beverage Trends to Watch in 2022 and Beyond” report examines the trends that will shape the food and beverage industry in the years to come. In this report, we look at four emerging trends around the globe:
- Plant-based foods,
- Immunity-boosting ingredients,
- Tastes of home, and
- Transparency, safety, and sustainability.
Trend #1: Plant-based Foods
While there is considerable evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products as far back as 2,000 years ago, today, 4 billion people live primarily on a plant-based diet.
Globally, the plant-based meat market will be worth $85 billion by 2030. The pandemic has only pushed the meat and dairy substitute product growth.
Click here to see the extraordinary increase in plant-based meat sales in the USA during the nine weeks ending May 2, 2020, as the pandemic caused meat shortages and price spikes, shutting down meat-packing plants.
Read the full report to find out how the virus caused regular meat-eaters to make the switch, with many becoming permanent converts.
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have become very popular and are a force to reckon with in the plant-based meat industry. While they are not the first in the market, they have created meat substitutes that taste like real meat.
Plant-based foods such as snacks, dips, sauces, cheese, spreads, and creamers will see a double to triple growth within the following year.
Read the full report to discover plant-based attitudes and trends worldwide, including India, U.K., China, and the U.S.
Trend #2: Immunity Boosting Ingredients
The market for functional foods has been growing for years. However, demand has boosted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As COVID-19 made the immunocompromised population more vulnerable, consumers became more interested in healthy foods that boost their immune systems.
Known as “functional foods,” these ingredients claim to possess an additional function. For gut health, examples include probiotic foods that contain beneficial microbiota, including fermented foods like kefir, yogurt with live active cultures, pickled vegetables, tempeh, kombucha tea, kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut. For inflammation, ingredients like turmeric, honey, green tea extract, fish oil, and ginger provide relief.
According to Beneo, an estimated 75% of consumers plan to eat and drink healthier due to the pandemic. The global market for these ingredients is expected to grow to $117 million by 2021.
Read the report to learn more about the demand for functional foods or nutraceuticals around the globe, specifically in the E.U., USA, and India.
Trend #3: Tastes of Home
During times of unease, unrest, and uncertainty, consumers seek comfort in foods that remind them of happier, less turbulent times.
According to The International Food Information Council, many consumers are re-creating the restaurant experience at home by using meal kits, restaurant-branded products, and more sophisticated or flavorful ingredients from artisan food producers.
- Meal-kit service: In 2017, the industry was valued at US$4.65 billion, representing a 300 percent growth over the previous year. Read the full report to discover the estimated growth potential of this market by the year 2022.
- Speedy appliances: Another popular trend reveals many consumers purchased in-home appliances to make meal preparation easier.
The dinner with the family trend seems cemented in our behaviors and habits. Before the pandemic, 18% of households ate dinner together at home every day. Read the report to see the percentage of households that eat dinner together now, post-pandemic.
Trend #4: Transparency, Safety, and Sustainability
According to a 2020 Innova Consumer Survey, three in five global consumers say they are interested in “learning more about where their food comes from and how it is made.” The term ‘clean label,’ therefore, goes beyond ingredients. There is a need for transparency around the food being organic or additive-free, and companies need to show consumers they produced the food sustainably and humanely.
An increasing number of technologies are emerging to improve transparency, including radio-frequency I.D. tracking of ingredients throughout the supply chain and wireless/ smart technologies such as invisible barcodes.
Read the report to find out how food producers increasingly use blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to provide information to consumers.
Now that F&B producers and consumers are more experienced living with the pandemic, the focus is expected to shift toward sustainability.
ADM, a food technology company, observed that nearly two-thirds of consumers want their food choices to impact the environment positively. Lux Research’s report The Food Company of 2050 also lists “increasing sustainability” as a critical factor for increasing brand awareness and market share.
Read the full report for critical insights and consumer trends impacting the Food & Beverage industry in 2022 and beyond.
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The automotive industry has a clear, shared vision of a dramatically transformed future with electronic vehicles, autonomous vehicles, connected cars, shared ownership, and subscriptions. But are consumers ready to transition just yet? The pandemic has changed how much people travel, and this leaves us with the big question: how will the economic damage caused by COVID impact the car industry?
To further understand where consumers stand and what economic recovery looks like for the automotive industry —one of the hardest hit by the pandemic —we looked at five significant trends. We explored what’s at stake for each of these five trends, evaluated the rate of progress, and put the spotlight on innovative brands and solutions leading the way.
- Post-COVID caution: A battered industry navigates massive uncertainty.
- Plugged In: The electronic vehicle revolution is happening but still powered by subsidies.
- In Control: Artificial Intelligence is enhancing, not replacing, human driving abilities.
- Connected Vehicles
- Older Drivers, Younger Drivers
Ｄownload the full report and read the summary of the top 5 trends shaping the future of the automotive industry, with a spotlight on the brands that are capitalising on these trends with their cutting-edge innovative solutions.
#1 Post-COVID caution: A battered industry navigates massive uncertainty.
According to analysts, Jato Dynamics, global new car sales fell by over 12% in 2020, that’s around twice the drop recorded in IEA figures for the worst year of the last financial crisis (2007-2008).
While this drop was only 2% in China, the automotive industry felt a heavy blow globally. France, Germany, the UK, and Brazil saw declines of over 20%.
Consumer behaviour changed dramatically, and while new car sales declined due to the pandemic, the automobile aftermarket flourished as people tried to preserve their existing vehicles. Consumers started putting off purchases of luxury cars, hybrids, and EVs.
The early COVID-19 spread brought with it a new innovative trend —virtual showrooms, whereby consumers could move all or at least some part of their car buying experience online. In many parts of the world, COVID restrictions will become a part of life indefinitely, and therefore, this trend is here to stay.
Learn more about how the pandemic has reshaped the automotive industry here by downloading our free report.
#2 Plugged In: The electronic vehicle revolution is happening but still powered by subsidies.
As with much of the electronic vehicle (EV) revolution, subsidies and regulation may be needed for mass EV adoption.
In Norway, subsidies and tax breaks make the cost of an EV virtually identical to that of a non-electric car. 74% of the new cars sold in Norway are EVs, whereas it’s just 2% in the US. In the USA and China, EV sales plateaued when subsidies were reduced or phased out.
In 2021, US President Joe Biden took a step toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions signing an executive order aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric, a move made with backing from the biggest US automakers.
Amazon is started testing electric delivery vans in 2021. The vehicles were developed in partnership with start-up Rivian, which raised $8 billion from investors, including Amazon through its $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. The fund includes an agreement to purchase 100,000 electric vehicles from the start-up as part of its ambitious push to make Amazon’s fleet run entirely on renewable energy. Each van has a range of 150 miles per charge.
Before consumers join the EV revolution, they want to know there is a plan for infrastructure for charging stations.
A Deloitte study showed that consumers were putting off plans to buy EVs due to price and driving range. With ranges for EVs now often well over 400km, that is taken care of, but there needs to be a visible EV infrastructure in terms of charging stations. Therefore, at the moment, innovators need to tackle the two most critical factors —price and infrastructure.
Wireless charging stations are an essential solution. Although the technology exists, firms don’t want to build the infrastructure without enough cars; and manufacturers don’t want to create more expensive wireless options without that infrastructure.
Learn more about how Electronic Vehicles or EVs are perceived and the challenges ahead here by downloading our free report.
#3 In Control: Artificial Intelligence is enhancing, not replacing, human driving abilities.
Even though Tesla has made huge strides with its self-driving cars, the adoption is still slow due to consumer trust issues.
Moreover, driverless cars pose problems —of AI, of laws and ethics, and public perception.
In this scenario, autonomous vehicles with Driver Assistance Systems are becoming the norm in many markets.
The ultra-high-end Cadillac Escalade Platinum, launched in Summer 2021, is the first vehicle to boast GM’s Super Cruise technology. The vehicle handles your highway driving for you on major mapped roads. However, your car monitors you and will warn you if you stop paying attention to the road for more than five seconds before switching back to manual.
AI is set to become more prevalent in vehicles, learn more about the challenges for these enhancements here.
#4 Connected Vehicles
So far, automotive and infrastructure innovation has happened chiefly at the individual car level. However, traffic jams and rush hours occur at a network level when all those individual cars interact.
We see a change in this direction as businesses and transportation planners recognize the idea of the “mobility ecosystem” —where software platforms can connect, manage and mitigate network-level inefficiencies between transport services and their users.
Navigation apps showing real-time traffic data are already being used widely. We also see more adoption of smart speed limits and smart traffic light systems.
The next generation of connected vehicles goes deeper and broader with tools that allow bikes or mobility scooters to connect to the same systems cars use. Connected vehicles also make fleet management —of buses or utility vehicles, more efficient.
What are the implications for individual drivers? For the mobility ecosystem to work, each car requires a digital identity. They do, however, present the issue of privacy.
Your car’s digital identity can also be linked to your own distinct identity as a driver, which makes the car more secure with keyless entry using facial or voice recognition and biometric sensors.
Our innovation spotlight is on Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturing giant which makes the iPhone. Foxconn is developing an EV platform that any brand can use to bring vehicles to market —in the same way as the Android phone platform. Foxconn bets that the real differentiator in the future EV market won’t be looks or performance; it’ll be the array of connected features and AI capabilities they possess.
A connected mobility ecosystem is one of the trends emerging in the transportation and automotive industry. Download our report to discover more about this emerging trend.
#5 Older Drivers, Younger Drivers
The automotive trends influenced by the ageing population and the changing expectations of Gen Z are creating significant changes. For older people, AI can help extend their driving lifetime. For the young, the big question is whether ownership will decline in favour of sharing and subscription mobility.
Late Millennial and Gen Z consumers are a post-ownership generation —they prefer renting to buying houses or vehicles. Car manufacturers have been trying to introduce the idea of Mobility-as-a-Service solutions, which replaces car ownership with car-sharing or subscription-based offers at a lower cost.
However, while Mobility-as-a-Service has had some successes in the bikes and e-Scooter sectors, especially in busy cities, it’s been tougher ask for cars.
Overall, we see a shift away from the brand to features and capabilities.
If you need more detailed information to help make decisions for your organisation or brand, download the full report here.
To learn more, download the full report: Automotive Trends For 2022
To learn more about how these trends, download the full report. Alternatively if you’d like to speak to us to understand more about how these trends are playing out in your market, get in touch.
Our lifestyle is still undergoing significant transformation in response to Covid. The overseas trend is getting blurred even more. Our Introduction to Overseas Trend’s seminars series is for getting rid of such a problem when considering overseas marketing research.
This time, our local team members from across our Southeast Asia offices introduced the lifestyle changes during the pandemic as well as provided anecdotes and case studies of the products and services that are rapidly growing in the region. Let’s catch up by watching the recordings below.
Watch the session in English
Watch the session in Japanese
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The global health and wellness industry is booming. Already a top priority for many consumers pre-Covid, health and wellness has come into even sharper focus as a result of the pandemic. Research from McKinsey estimates that the global wellness market is worth $1.5 trillion and is growing fast – at a rate of 5-10% per year. But what are the big health and wellness trends for 2021 that brands need to watch?
Four key health and wellness trends for 2021
This blog post summarises 4 key trends from our latest report: Health and wellness trends for 2021. These are:
- My health on my terms. Advances in tracking and testing are facilitating personalized health and nutrition recommendations on demand
- Mental fitness. Consumers will take a more proactive and preventative approach to mental health
- The science of sleep. The global sleep economy shows no signs of slowing down, but innovation in the category will be driven by a new focus on circadian health.
- Function at the fore. No longer limited to just physical health, brands are focusing on products to better the body and the mind.
Read the summary below or download the full report to learn more about these trends and how brands can respond. It contains inspiring cases studies of companies across the world who are innovating to capitalize on these trends.
My health on my terms
One of the most significant developments in health and wellness has been the rapid advances in tracking and testing, which are facilitating personalised health and wellness recommendations on demand.
Wearables are becoming ever more sophisticated. The models on the market now allow consumers to track more granular metrics than ever before, with Mind Body Green hailing this a new era of “micro-tracking”. Not only are wearables collecting a wider range of data, they’re using this to better empower their users. Oura, for instance, the world’s first wearable ring, provides a “readiness score” to help users understand when they are at their best – both mentally and physically – as well as when they should focus on recovery.
Similar developments are happening in the world of testing, with companies springing up that allow users to complete a series of tests at home, and then personalise their recommendations based on this. We profile the best of these in the full report but the really interesting thing about these examples is that, for the first time, they have real potential to enter the mainstream. In the past, in-home testing has been a barrier to personalised health and nutrition, but now, greater familiarity with the concept as a result of the pandemic could open the door to new services which combine tracking with testing to create hyper personalised recommendations at speed.
There’s certainly interest in these kinds of services, with 88% of consumers in the US, UK and Germany prioritising personalisation in health and wellness as much as, or more than, they did in the past two to three years, according to the McKinsey study.
Mental fitness
Over the last decade, mental health has become an increasingly important part of the conversation when it comes to health and wellness. This has come into even sharper focus as a result of the pandemic. The impact of the virus and the resulting lockdowns have seen anxiety and depression skyrocket and, in line with this, mental health has become a key focus. In China, for instance, 87% of consumers are focused on taking care of their mental health, according to research by PWC conducted after the onset of the pandemic.
This isn’t a short- term trend. Research we conducted to determine which of the behaviours adopted during the pandemic will persist in the long-term found that undertaking activities to support mental health is one of the areas with greatest sticking power. Businesses are increasingly prioritising mental health too. Recent research we conducted in partnership with Bloomberg found that 66% of companies are engaging an external vendor to provide healthcare / wellbeing training for their employees and half are looking to support employees with mental health and stress management.
In line with this growing recognition of the importance of mental health, we see the concept of mental fitness coming to the fore. What do we mean by this? This a move towards taking a more proactive and preventative approach to mental health, where consumers manage their mental health in the same way that they manage their physical health. The US is a market that’s really leading the way here. We’ve already seen a whole host of brands gaining traction but one of the most interesting is a company called Coa, which bills itself as the country’s first “mental health gym”. We profile Coa and other brands leading the way in our full report.
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Health and wellness trends for 2021
The global health and wellness industry is going from strength to strength. Already important to consumers before the pandemic, health and wellness have come into even sharper focus, with the industry undergoing significant transformation in response to Covid.
To help brands navigate these changes, we’ve developed a new report exploring 4 key trends that will shape health and wellness in 2021, profiling the brands and innovations leading the way.
Download the reportThe science of sleep
Sleep is big business – with the industry set to be worth a massive $585 billion by 2024 according to Statistica. The impact of the pandemic is fuelling growth in this sector – with consumers placing an increasing emphasis on quality sleep against a backdrop of anxiety and stress.
This is leading to a more scientific approach to sleep. The Global Wellness Summit predicts that a new focus on circadian health will shape the products and services we see in the category. (A number of these – from a smart mattress to connected lighting – are profiled in our report.) Circadian health relates to aligning behaviors with our natural circadian rhythms – 24 hour cycles such as the sleep-wake cycle, which are influenced by external factors like natural light and temperature.
Shifting the way we think about sleep to place greater emphasis on circadian rhythms could have broader implications when it comes to other behaviours, for instance, disconnecting from devices before bed or the way we care for our skin, making this an interesting space to watch.
Function at the fore
The fourth and final big trend we see is a growing interest in functional food and beverages that support better physical and mental health. The most evident application of this is in the field of immunity boosting food and drink. According to research from Innova Market Insights, 60% of consumers globally are seeking out food and beverage products that support immune health and we’ve seen a seen a slew of product launches in this space as brands seek to capitalise on this trend. Increasingly, we’re seeing innovation extending beyond this to food and beverage products that support the mind. We feature the best of these in the full report. For brands looking to tap into this trend, this is a relatively nascent category so there’s real potential here, as well as for cross-over products to improve both physical and mental health.
To learn more, download the full report: Health and wellness trends for 2021
To learn more about how these trends, how they are evolving and the brands leading the way, download the full report. Alternatively if you’d like to speak to us to understand more about how these trends are playing out in your market, get in touch.
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