“Me” Mentality

Consumers are eager to re-focus on themselves, and brands can help them take center stage. In recent years, consumers have had a community mindset, putting their own needs on the back burner to prioritize public health and safety. People are now emerging from eager to re-focus on themselves, and brands can help them take center stage in 2023.

Identity is built on the daily routines and habits that accumulate over the years. The pandemic disrupted much of this routine, leaving people with an opportunity to redefine who they are. Brands are recognising this growing need for people to solidify and celebrate their individuality.

They are responding by offering new opportunities for experimentation and self-expression. Brands can lean on trial periods to help encourage new routines as consumers begin to act on the idea that they do not need to be the same person they were in the past. Consumers may want to stand out rather than blend into the crowd but might not know how to do so.

By celebrating the interests that make consumers unique, brands can help give consumers the assurance they need to try something new or even help them rethink who they are. Consumers are ready for a confidence boost, and brands can provide this to them in the form of new experiences or products that feed their curiosity as they form new tastes, routines and preferences that align with who they are or who they want to be. As consumers look to build up new parts of their identity, brands can help fill in the gaps with offerings that help them grow their skills and gain mastery in new areas.

Consumers want to quickly move forward and make up for lost time, diving into their preferred pursuits with gusto, seeking personalized products and services that match their skill level. At the same time, consumers will look for ways to become more resilient to change as they prepare for the uncertainties of the future. Demand for mental health and wellness-focused products will grow as consumers look to understand their blind spots and actively work to overcome them.

Brands can address this desire for clarity about the future by tapping into the spiritual practices or moral beliefs that consumers follow and engage with, even turning to the interests of astrology-obsessed consumers for inspiration. As consumers build familiarity with virtual technology, they will want to control which parts of themselves live in these digital spaces. Consumers will use the emerging metaverse to develop unique identities that match their digital surroundings.

This will result in fragmented identities, where consumers build out and express different parts of themselves online depending on the platform or context they’re working within. With this, there will be a stronger movement towards data privacy and consumer protection as consumers’ digital footprints become more robust and layered..