The Consumer is Dead: Key Trends

Does the concept of the consumer have a future? Here's the problem: The word consumer is one-dimensional, derogatory and out of touch with reality. No matter what the field - biology, marketing or economics - by using the word 'consumer' you are talking about passive feeders - they don't think, they eat. Worse still consumer reads as commodity, people are classified by their fiscal value and their individuality confined to: 'yes I will buy' or 'no, I won't'.

Here a list of trends identified by the author(s) of the blog "Consumer is Dead"

Masses / Social
Advertising resistance, commercial skepticism and declining corporate trust.
Affluenza: The link between consumption and happiness continues to weaken.
End of product passivity; birth of consequence and conscious purchasing.
Bottom-up media revolution, democratisation of production and people empowerment.

Marketing / Commercial
Increasing failure of monologue messaging and marketing attrition within fragmenting media.
Demise of consumer demographics; new age of attitudes, life events and fluid behaviour.
Weakening social capital status of brands; no longer a central cultural commodity.
Entertainment, engagement, conversation and cultural change become key.

As with the rest of this project, this list is work in progress, thoughts, comments and feedback much appreciated.

To read more and share your opinions, visit: http://consumerisdead.blogspot.com/

Para participar en otras conversaciones en español sobre este tema, visita el post: "¿Cómo se posiciona el "consumidor" en tu mente"? - Participa también en nuestra mini-encuesta sobre el tema.