Insight – inspiration – vision. Those were the some of the magic words mentioned at the Informed Consumer study research in Stockholm. The study is conducted by a Nordic insight agency Kuudes and the content consists of current and future trends and motives underlying consumer behavior. The results of the study were first presented in the beautiful Fotografiska museum on Valentines day 2017, and in addition to the release of the results fantastic quest speakers were there to inspire the enthusiastic international audience.

The first speaker, Chairman & Advisor from Berghs School of Communication Pär Lager woke everybody up by stating that “The opposite may also be true”. His big question was how to constructively find our the other possible truths that exist in every problem and solution. Insights play a big role in finding the opposite truths, and Lager framed that as outside driven company culture, which means that consumers, their behavior, motives and consumer trends should always come first.

An example used by Lager was Amazon. In the 2009 financial crisis they were able to grow substantially, and did that by selling something that has always existed in a channel that was not new. What was new however was the way they were able to capitalize on the consumer behaviors and to build new offerings by combining existing technologies to build a unique marketplace. The example is of course revolutionary and often cited, but it clearly states what can be done with a clever use of insights.

According to Lager, insights need openness to change, and without that they are useless. It’s good to remember that even though the world is moving fast, many things still evolve very slowly. Because of that there is a great risk to get stuck in the old ways, and that is of course to be avoided at all cost. And again, this is where the alternative scenarios come to play!

Next up Head of Consumer Design at Alra, Tytti-Lotta Ojala inspired us with her talk about brand-led innovation and the role of insight in that. From a real-time survey done during her speech, it was quite clear that what’s missing from organizations when it comes to making good innovations are bold decisions. Those can be done by backing them up with clear insights and vision about the consumer and the future. Ojala stated that in order to have successful insights, they need to be defined somehow. Organizations need to think about what insights mean for them, and what do they try to capture with insights. Only then can the organization talk the same language.

For Ojala, insight is a vessel for engaging creativity. It is not a fact, but rather a vision, and indeed needs visionary mindset and creativity to be successful. Insights should inspire people in the companies to build brands their consumers grow to love. Ojala also stated that the stronger the value proposition of the product is, the less you need to do to get noticed. A strong proposition stands out from the competitors and catches attention, but you have to think big and try to change the game. This is the way to create love from the consumers.

Last but not least was time to release the findings from the Informed Consumer study. The results contain 7 consumer segments and 3 underlying trends in consumer mindsets: significance, self-importance and moderation.

Significance is the need to understand our purpose, and in consumption behaviors that means that the consumers are looking for significance in their choices. This is often done by grounding daily choices to personal values, which can of course vary greatly. Brands that are able to take a stand and be authentic are interesting to people looking for significance, and in fact 58% of consumers want authenticity form their products!

Self-importance is more about creativity and self-expression, and according to the study 54% of consumers value creativity and trendiness in daily life. Consumption is then focused more in creating meaning and experiences, not just fulfilling basic needs. Individuality and status are drivers for consumption.

Moderation is about loyalty, modesty and longer relationships with brands. Consumption is often cautious and consumers want to make smart choices. Routines play a part of this trend, and 75% of the consumers say that they make choices based on routines. Minimal but still good quality is important, and cutting down on less important things can be considered a pleasure in itself.

There results presented were from the Swedish study, and obviously there are differences between cultures. Kuudes has previously conducted a similar study in Finland, you can find the results here. A highly recommended read!