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The 10 Commandments of New Consumerism

The 10 Commandments of New Consumerism
LONDON, United Kingdom — For decades, a brand’s only priority was to create the best possible product at the most competitive price to ensure sales. But as consumers develop a more comprehensive understanding of issues like sustainability, authenticity and transparency, brands and retailers are being forced to change the way they sell in order to survive. This change in consumers’ attitudes has a term — “new consumerism” — coined by research firm Euromonitor. “[Its] about today’s consumers reassessing their priorities and increasingly asking themselves what they truly value,” says Sarah Boumphrey, Euromonitor’s global lead of economies and consumers. As customers reassess their priorities and question what they truly value, BoF outlines the 10 factors that define new consumerism, and what this change in shopping habits could mean for fashion brands and retailers. 1. Transparency is now more of an expectation than an option, says Reformation founder Yael Aflalo. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

The Forces Shaping the New Consumerism Today’s consumers are redefining their values and priorities, leading to the birth of the New Consumerism. This New Consumerism unites many of the key consumer trends of our time and is impacting on a whole host of industry sectors, from fashion to food to travel to transport. These trends, which on the face of it may seem disparate, in fact share many of the same drivers. The Drivers of New Consumerism Thrift Post-recession, consumers embraced the “thrill of thrift”. Sustainability Sustainability is more and more integral to the business model of consumer goods companies and becoming increasingly important in the minds of consumers. Technology Technology is enabling and facilitating many of the features of the New Consumerism. Authenticity Authenticity – and the move towards conscious consumption – over and above conspicuous consumption – also drives the New Consumerism. Wellbeing Simplicity Simplicity is also central to the New Consumerism. Freedom Why does this matter?

The Dogma of Advertising and Consumerism | HuffPost UK What Freedom Are We Calling For? Part 4/5 It’s not clear how many advertisements we are exposed to every day. Taking into account the average hours of TV viewing, radio listening, newspapers/magazine reading, internet surfing, public street and transport use; common estimates range from around 250 per day on the conservative side, to 3000 and above. As well as showing us products, adverts also present us with values, ideals and social standards. A common psychological principle used by advertisers is that repetition constitutes mental conditioning. There’s nothing inherently wrong with such methods. The link between psychology and consumerism was expanded on in the early 20th century, when Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, used Freud’s ideas regarding primitive hidden sexual and aggressive forces to show corporations how to link purchasable products to unconscious desires. The values being presented to a nation through major advertising come in all shapes and sizes.

Julie Gilhart on Conscious Consumerism NEW YORK, United States — As one of the fashion industry’s most influential consultants, Julie Gilhart takes joy in connecting designers and retailers to create concepts that offer more than making a simple sale. The former fashion director of America’s most influential department store, Barneys New York, Julie has been working with Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, for the past three years, advising them on how they can begin to engage with luxury e-commerce. Here, she discusses the most significant developments in high fashion’s approach to sustainability and what’s in store for fashion’s near future. XC: When was the first time you merged your personal passions for environmental issues with your professional life, and what prompted that specific moment? JG: It was at a couture show in Paris that someone told me it cost over a million dollars to produce. XC: What do you consider to be the most important moments of sustainability within the high fashion world?

Responsible investing is becoming the new normal | Julius Bär partner zone Sustainability is attracting ever-greater public attention. The topic already ranks highly on the legislative agendas of most governments, especially since the groundbreaking agreement reached at the Paris climate talks last year. This growing public awareness of sustainability signals an important shift in global priorities. It is pushing consumers, governments and business leaders to pay more attention to environmental, social and governance issues than ever before. This shift will also have a fundamental impact on the way companies are run and perform. The Volkswagon emissions scandal is just one example of how the management of social and environmental issues can have a deep, bottom-line impact for corporate performance. This growing investor focus is perhaps most evident in the rapid growth in signatories to the United Nations-sponsored Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI). This approach, however, can be completely turned on its head.

Why is Mental Illness on the Rise? | HuffPost UK New findings from the European College of Psychopharmacology reports that 164.8 million Europeans - 38.2% of the population - suffers from a mental disorder. However the recognition and medicalization of mental illnesses is now more prevalent then ever; doctors are accused of too hastily classifying ‘abnormal behaviour’ as a mental ailment. This is cited as one of the reasons for the ‘increase’ in mental health. Furthermore, the stigma attached to mental disorders is nowhere near as heinous compared to previous decades. Only 50 odd years ago, those who struggled with mental disorders were locked up in a clandestine environments, today, thankfully, we’re much more willing to admit that we have a problem and receive a diagnosis. The findings also tell us that women suffer disproportionately more from mental disorders than men do. There are a couple of factors relating to mental health that time and time again seem to evade public attention.

What is ‘Conscious Consumerism’? – Age of Awareness Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want. ― Anna Lappé ‘Conscious consumerism’, ‘conscious lifestyle’ and ‘conscious living’ are relatively new phrases featuring in almost any sustainability related narrative. Lately, this over-use of the word ‘conscious’ (as someone who is also deeply interested in the hard problem of consciousness) has started to ruffle my feathers. From a language editor’s perspective, ‘conscious consumerism’ doesn’t really mean too much to me as a phrase. I do believe that to live a balanced life, we must strive to align our intentions, thoughts, words, and actions. Identifying the (my) Problem Looking up the word ‘conscious’ in the learner’s dictionary, I find that definition number 4 (not 1 or 2 or 3 but 4) matches the context in which it is being used: 4: [more conscious; most conscious]: caring about something specified She is environmentally conscious. ‘Socially conscious’ ‘Environmentally conscious’ ‘Ecologically conscious’

No wonder we aren't buying clothes – we don’t need anything new | The Independent Bad news for planet fashion: retail analysts reckon we are falling out of love with buying clothes. Retail spending after the Brexit vote dipped but has rallied in recent weeks. Consumers are parting with their cash again – but not on stuff to wear. We have shifted our attention to spending money on drinking and eating, and there are signs that the boom in cheap clothing is coming to an end too. There is a world of difference between the “seasons” that fashion editors talk about, with different styles offered up to four times a year, and the real world, where people put on layers and just don’t see the need for a new coat every October. Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Marks & Spencer, our biggest clothing retailer, is failing to shift apparel and continues to report lacklustre figures. At the posh end of fashion, business goes on as usual. We are offered skirts of every length, long or cropped trousers, bomber jackets or baggy coats. Reuse content

How Social Media Has Changed Consumerism | Socialnomics Social media is everywhere. There are 2 billion users on Facebook, 700 million on Instagram, and despite dropping numbers, Twitter has 68 million users in the United States alone. All that is to say, social media is incredibly popular, like radio and television before it. New Advertising Spaces Before the advent of the Internet, retailers used billboards, newspaper, magazine spreads, radio spots, and television commercials to advertise their wares. Unlike radio or television, which entails a whole lot of guessing and a bit of luck when it comes to advertising and marketing, platforms like Facebook allow retailers to market directly to their target customer demographics. New Customer Relationships One of the most unique elements of social media is that customers (and would-be customers) can voluntarily opt into a retailer’s marketing channel. This phenomenon has resulted in all new retailer-customer relationships. New Shopping Experiences Like this: Like Loading...

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