Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour to June 2012
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The 10 Hottest Consumer Trends For 2013
The consumer experience continues to change rapidly. It's getting more digital, more mobile, and many more companies from around the world are competing for shorter attention spans. In a series of reports , trendwatching.com has been tracking what consumers are demanding, and how brands are giving it to them. Here's what they think the 10 hottest consumer trends will be in 2013, and the businesses that are getting ahead of the curve.
10 June 2012 Last updated at 19:28 ET The number of cases of food poisoning peaks in the summer as germs grow at a quicker rate People are taking more risks with their food as finances become tighter, a Food Standards Agency survey suggests.
People 'taking more food risks'
Probably can't be used as an insight as it comes from the FSA, but one to be aware of. by Jun 12
Locavores destroy the planet
Mick Keogh: Australian Farm Institute ‘Local food’ is an increasingly common concept used in food magazines and restaurant menus, and a local food movement seems to be quickly emerging in Australia, encouraging a greater focus on foods sourced from within a particular region. For farmers and food producers, some of whom are under siege from imported products due to the effects of the high Australian dollar and relatively high labour costs, a move by consumers to favour local foods is welcomed.
Forget Google Glasses: Our ‘Smart Phones’ Will Soon Be Contact Lenses | Think Tank
This month’s buzz award was won by Google’s secretive Project Glass, a concept in development by Google X Lab that promises to replace our smartphones with augmented reality glasses. It’s anticipated that this exciting futuristic eyewear will be available next year in stores. But Google Glasses are Sony’s Walkman compared to what’s expected to be consumer-ready in the next 5 to 10 years: Project contact lens. You wake up in the morning, rub your sleepy eyes.
Could also be one for technology - I put it here because of the impact this type of technology is likely to have on lifestyle - constanty connected - always able to source info etc. Could be another major tech advancement by May 25
In Virtual World, Phone Game Controls You!
Social control can be done in lots of ways: laws, advertising, culture and peer pressure. Now we can put gaming and mobile phones on the list. John Rula, a graduate student in engineering at northwestern University, and Fabian Bustamante, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, came up with a way to get people to go places they might ordinarily not go. The concept is called "crowd soft control," and combines incentives with mobile applications to nudge people in a certain direction. The researchers used a game, which involved "zapping" ghosts on a campus. The concept is simple: you get points for zapping a ghost when your phone's camera spots one.A really interesting way of getting people to change their behaviour. If this kind of scheme was used with an environmental focus it could be really effective. by May 25
One was Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard roommate. The other went to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Together, Joe Green and Jim Gilliam want to democratize the most powerful Internet organizing tools. NationBuilder.com
Politics - Molly Ball and Nancy Scola - The Community Organizing Geeks Who Could Revolutionize Campaign Tech
This type of software may help to give consumers more of a "voice" - and help individuals orgabise their movements online. Facebook, twitter and other social media already do this. The difference is that this is specifically a campaign site. It takes money, organises events, tracks top recruiters to the web, has all the built in analytics etc. by May 25
General Electric recently released an online campaign encouraging Chinese entrepreneurs to partner with them to address China’s most pressing environmental and resource challenges. A noteworthy aspect of the campaign, titled “Future Folklore”, is how environmental issues are grounded within Chinese history and culture. This departs from a persistent stereotype which encourages local consumers to fight against Chinese tradition to achieve environmental outcomes. The typical tone is often condescending – where normative behaviour is inevitably Western and Chinese are asked to “get in line” and “abandon ancient thinking”.
Added Value – Source » Using Culture as an environmental ‘call to arms’
Forestry Commission England’s free app, Forest Xplorer, has just got even better. Not only is the ultimate guide to the forest now available on android phones, but it has an easy event finder so you always know what’s happening in your local woodland. Visitors will be able to find their local Forestry Commission forest park, search for what events are taking place across the country and download handy trail maps so that you can easily find your way around the forest. Want to stay in the forest a bit longer? Also new for 2012, you can now get back to nature with Camping in the Forest sites or, if you would prefer a bit of luxury, find Forest Holidays cabins on the app too. And don’t forget about the award-winning handy tree identifier!