Environmental Factors and the Future Consumer
I’m part way through a small research piece for an FMCG company that is interested in exploring the future consumer and what kind of environmental factors might influence their purchasing decisions. Interestingly enough toward the end of last year I had three FMCG firms approach me about a similar challenge, so ‘Future Consumers’ must be ‘flavour of the month’ (pun intended). When talking consumers, an Environmental Factor refers to the things that influence the consumer, especially at point of sale and delving into some of the emerging developments in this space is delightfully interesting.
Without giving too much away before I hand my report to my client, there’s a very distinct sense of change in the food sector that suggests a myriad of possibilities in the products space. There’s examples of how data is being used to engage with customers; examples of product stewardship; examples of functionality and more. But perhaps the biggest challenge is what appears to be a shift in price sensitivity over which OTHER factors are being layered. I won’t say much specific here but offer an example from a different but aligned sector: petroleum.
It appears that over the past 12 months, Petroleum has crossed the ‘must have threshold’. In otherwords, regardless of current price, people were going to fill their tanks. But recent Environmental Scanning has identified that the threshold has snapped. Simply put, a confluence of factors (cost per litre, down-sizing by companies leading to job losses, increased acceptability of genuine job flexibility location options and new technology among others) now suggests that consumers are actively choosing to reduce their need for fuel. The cost has become overladen with other factors that heighten consumer sensitivity to it. Environmental Factors are shifting consumer behaviour away from the incumbent.
This has a whole array of other impacts connected to it – less consumption increases prices charged increases less consumption. Higher prices lead to fewer car sales = slump in imports and on it goes.
Building the systems map for my FMCG client is showing some glaring change over the next five to ten years that will potentially capture many current brands by surprise. In summary, the Environmental Factors that influence consumer behaviour appear to be evolving. Opportunities and Risk abound!
One of the great things about technology (especially of the instantaneous ‘social’ kind) is the ability to attend a conference without leaving your office. Which is a salient point because yesterday I followed a number of the presentations looking at the idea of tele-working or remote workers, and did so by following the tweets of…
Read More >About once a week I get a call from a client or a media group asking if I can tell them what the future will be like. The conversation usually goes something like this – Me: can I ask what you’re trying to discover? Journalist: Oh you know, something really catchy, about how the world…
Read More >Now before any of you rush out and stick your hard earned on anything I say here, please note that a) I’m answering this because I get asked every year and b) My track record is appalling. Still I’ve put a bit of thought into a near term prediction to see who you might like…
Read More >Tonight I have the privilege of being the MC for Blackwood 8’s Celebration of Hope Gala Ball at the Manningham Function Centre in Doncaster. Blackwood 8 raise funds to find a cure of Brain Cancer and are strong supporters of Dr. Charlie Teoh’s Cure for Life foundation. With a crowd of around 300 it’s going…
Read More >‘ve just spent a delightful day learning about digital issues at the v21 Digital Conference at the State Library and my presentation at that conference is now available at the link below. My all too brief summary of presentations is also provided Sessions have covered Branding, Blogging, case studies, education & health; future of…
Read More >When it comes to ‘anti-technology’ thinking, a term often thrown disparagingly at people is ‘Luddite’. Luddites were indeed anti-tech BUT contrary to modern day thinking, they had a particular dislike for technology that would put people out of work. If technology helped keep people employed or created more jobs they were all for it. Which…
Read More >Or is it? …Over the past six years, the mainstream media polls have consistently shown the Liberal Party /National Party Coalition as well ahead of the Australian Labor Party. Those polls turned out to be wrong last time around when Tony Abbott failed to get enough of the vote to defeat Julia Gillard. Or should…
Read More >In my view ALL futures thinking about ‘big issues’ starts with futures thinking about personal issues. The idea that we take for granted the way our lives operate has for millennia been shown to be a high risk assumption. From the food we eat, to where we live, to products we use (and how we…
Read More >What you look at, how you look at it and where you find your information are critical elements for developing far more effective strategy. Futures work is about removing the organisational blinkers to increase awareness of risks and emerging opportunities often through Environmental Scanning (ES). ES comes in all sorts of guises and the key…
Read More >How do you innovate? Where do you innovate? Why do you innovate? How do I start innovating? These and a truckload of other similar questions are often tied to the idea that innovation is the silver bullet or panacea to mediocrity in organisations. And maybe it is. There’s a whole raft of ways in which…
Read More >