Brave New Consumer Changing Behaviours, Consumption & Customer Expectations in the Next Normal No One Thought Health Would What Have Become Wealth
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Latest Thinking www.pwc.com.tr/experience Brave New Consumer Changing Behaviours, Consumption & Customer Expectations in the Next Normal No one thought health would What have become wealth. The entire world has unwillingly we gone welcomed complete isolation or some form of it in order to survive the COVID-19 outbreak. This kind of through? separation from the outside world has pushed humanity to transition into a new period, where conscious decisions and actions of individuals become determinative of collective health. Within days, we changed. It began with basic routines. From washing hands to dealing with social distancing. Yet, within weeks, we started seeing radical changes in human behaviour and the way people consume. New, isolation-induced habits have emerged and have had short term impact, and it is suspected they will have long term consequences for consumers and businesses. The digital world is thriving. While everyone is staying home, digital screens have become magic windows into the world. People are coping with COVID-19 thanks to fast-paced digital technologies. The pandemic has become an accelerator of digital adoption and a driver of digital transformation in business. This is a great time for entrepreneurs to launch new digital products and for businesses to implement their agendas. It is a good reminder that in any breakdown, there is always a chance for a breakthrough. Although we have high hopes for a swift end to the pandemic, the question remains: are its implications for consumers here to stay in the next normal*? *Breakthroughs born out of the pandemic shine a new light on our lives, putting everything into a different perspective, and behavioural adaptations resulting from this paradigm shift mark the start of a new period we call the “next normal.” This edition is an attempt by PwC Turkey's Experience Consulting to put forth a perspective on this question. Brave New Consumer 3 OUR PERSPECTIVE CHANGING BEHAVIOURS Remote Working Lean Living Self-sufficiency Exploration Transparency CHANGING CONSUMPTION Frugality Social Consciousness Contactless Subscription-based CHANGING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS Care Guidance Presence Collaboration Pleasure 4 Brave New Consumer CHANGING BEHAVIOURS Scenes from post-apocalyptic sci-fi Definition of bravery has movies have entered our lives. People are not able to leave their homes, and even shrunk. the most mundane outdoor activities and errands require bravery. We can no longer Yet the definition of bravery has shrunk to travel, go out for a fancy lunch at a nearby the point where even stepping out of our restaurant, grab a quick coffee on the way homes can be considered a heroic move. to the office or drop our kids at school. Consequently, this emerging awareness The fragility of life has become more may lead people to act more “bravely” in noticeable as a result of the lockdown, and certain aspects of life without leaving the this new awareness constantly requires safety of their homes. And when people people to be more brave in certain are pushed to do things differently, the situations. next normal becomes a breeding ground for new habits and behaviours. If the new habits are here to stay, we expect to see the following trends in human behaviours in the next normal. Changing Behaviours 5 Remote Working Living spaces can be multifunctional. Conferences are now being held virtually During this time, people have transformed and documents are signed electronically. their homes into multipurpose living spaces, with online tools enabling all sorts A new CNBC Workforce of remote activities, from working to schooling. As a result, people may leave Survey shows that over activities that involve crowds in the past 25% of tech sector and prefer to do them in solitude at home. workers prefer For example, during the pandemic, the usage rates of online meeting tools such as permanently working 2 Google Meet and Zoom have skyrocketed.1 remotely. Zoom, in response, has lifted the 40-minute time limit for schools to help In response, companies are questioning with online learning, while Google has the necessity of physical work spaces and given everyone free access to its premium may seriously consider opportunities to video-conferencing features for a time. permanently adopt new ways of working Quickly adapting, the majority of that are remote, flexible and do not employees have already begun working involve commuting. remotely at home. 6 Changing Behaviours Lean Living Although the importance of As a result, social media and digital tools socialization and togetherness has been for communication are being used more emphasized in the past, more individual, than usual, as they enable people to cautious lifestyles have now had to be continue doing remotely most of the adopted to preserve health. People started things they did physically in the past. This living leaner as the social and physical provided a huge opportunity to small environment around them simplified. Due players like Zoom and Houseparty, and to to physical isolation or total lockdown in social media giants like Whatsapp and some parts of the world, the number of Facebook, as they have created virtual people encountered during a day connections, which has been the most decreased sharply. widespread solution to loneliness in isolation.3 Consequently, physical In our new lifestyle we have more valuable isolation bred social relationships with family and friends due isolation in the first days to the simplification of our physical of pandemic. manner of living, and it seems these strong bonds will remain after the People spending time in isolation felt a pandemic. This transformation in human longing for authentic human connection relations can infuse the habits of more strongly than ever. As individuals individualistic lifestyle - such as living were reminded of the importance and alone, into collectivist one. value of social relationships, they started putting extra effort into exploring ways to keep in touch with family and a limited number of friends. Changing Behaviours 7 Self-sufficiency As many organizations switched to Consequently, online channels creating dormant mode and almost all service self-education opportunities have become providers are physically closed, people popular during the pandemic. As people have had to fulfil their needs on their own. upskill and use their creativity, new virtual Now, people are cooking at home more roles will be defined such as e-teacher, and meeting their personal care needs e-coach and e-designer. Therefore, new through their own efforts. Families seem business opportunities will emerge for to be embracing creativity while playing companies that want to leverage this with their children or redecorating their self-sufficiency and digitalization homes. Because of these shifts in behaviour during and after the pandemic. behaviours, “How to” videos explaining do-it-yourself (DIY) concepts have been in demand during the pandemic. According to a recent Google Insights analysis, people have become more creative and self-reliant, so their at-home needs around self care, beauty, food, and home decor are being fulfilled through self-learning and self-development.4 8 Changing Behaviours Exploration The more time spent in isolation, the Although the recipients of these more exploring people do. A Google experiences were at first considered to be Insight analysis, derived from Google digitally-savvy users, digital services are searches, revealed that as immediate being used across entire customer needs stabilize, people look for new ways segments. to spend their time at home during 4 lockdown. Most are more open to change Adoption of digital than ever before. Many brands have already made use of this opportunity and channels has grown have provided extended trials for their considerably, even products/services. For instance, fitness among the most digitally companies are deploying a strategy of extended free trials for their online classes resistant customers. as app downloads and new sign ups have Gen X (those born 1965-1979) is now grown tremendously in recent months. enjoying virtual museum tours and online Nike has seen a 100% increase in weekly shows. Baby boomers (those born active users of its Nike Training App in the 1946-1964) are also exploring digital U.S., while an 80% increase is reported for banking, e-commerce and home delivery. NTC workouts in China in the latest As a response, most conventional service quarter.5 providers have begun offering online products and services. These recent habits may persist as we move into the next normal. Changing Human Behavior Changing Behaviours 9 Transparency People are already used to sharing This behaviour may expand to other personal information on social media. services such as travel and Social openness and transparency come accommodations. However, it raises the easily when sharing private life details question of how the collected data is being such as location, lifestyle and moments of used by these service providers. The happiness with their social circles. answer may be Digital ID & Certification. However, with the spread of COVID-19, As Microsoft founder Bill Gates this joyful and arbitrary sharing among highlighted the emergence of digital social circles has expanded into necessary certificates in healthcare in a Q&A session tracking by authorities due to public with Reddit, a further increase of digital safety concerns. certificate usage across various sectors can be expected.7 Many countries have developed their own COVID-19 apps which allow legal Therefore, for people who place authorities to track their citizens. In importance on privacy and personal data addition, Apple and Google have recently protection, the post-pandemic life may be released a software tool that will make it hard to accept. Altough apps and possible for nations to release coronavirus underlying digital enablers might remain, contact-tracing apps.6 it is anticipated that the continuous tracking and data sharing of the pandemic Due to health concerns, might not remain as privacy norms in the next normal.