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6 Forces Shaping Consumer Behaviour In 2026 And What They Mean For Business

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By Kate Hardcastle

At the close of 2025, a familiar story emerges from the data: consumers are living with contradiction, they want certainty from technology and comfort from humanity; they crave personalised routes to ease, yet they recoil when systems feel opaque, intrusive or overly engineered. This isn’t a phased fad. It’s a sustained behavioural shift that has defined the past few years and will define 2026. Across global studies, nearly every major insight framework points to the same underlying dynamic: people want progress, but they want it to feel like choice, not coercion.

This tension, between algorithmic convenience and human agency, frames the six forces below. Each already shows up in how people search, evaluate, buy, feel and remember. But in 2026, these forces will not just be trends; they will recalibrate value, trust, identity and the very purpose of brands.

1. The New Algorithmic Contract: Personalisation Demands Explanation

Last year, AI clearly moved from novelty to expectation. Hyper-personalisation ceased to be optional and became a competitive baseline, brands that failed here struggled to retain relevance. Studies suggest upwards of three-quarters of consumers now expect tailored experiences, yet a growing segment will only accept them with transparent choice and control.

Already, retailers like IKEA have pioneered AI-guided discovery that doesn’t just recommend, it enables co-creation. Their virtual room design tools let people experiment in real space before deciding, collapsing the gap between inspiration and execution.

At the same time, companies are embedding AI deeply into beauty journeys, offering personalised diagnostics and real-time product recommendations that feel less like automation and more like digital empathy.

The emerging insight here is clear: AI that replaces human judgement erodes trust; AI that enhances human choice builds it.

2. Unfiltered Authenticity: Because Polished Can Be Hollow

For the past decade, brand communication prized glossy perfection. But people are fatigued by imagery and messaging calibrated for algorithms rather than lived experience. Cultural patterns, from the shift away from fleeting micro-trends in fashion to the embrace of hyper-personal style, reveal a deeper longing for individuality, not conformity.

In experience design, this is visible in the way communities have rallied around offline gatherings, pop-ups and moments that feel un-curated and unscripted. Narrative frameworks that celebrate context over polish outperform formulaic storytelling, because they feel earned and recognisable.

3. Rewired Wellness: Relief, Function and Biological Agency

Wellness has shifted from future aspiration to present-tense utility. Across food, fitness, sleep science and emotional regulation, people are seeking interventions that deliver measurable relief now rather than a vague promises of “better later.” This is why trends such as enhanced sleep solutions, nervous-system support, and personalised nutritional approaches have traction: they speak directly to the lived experience of stress, fatigue and cognitive strain.

Concurrently, there’s a noticeable behavioural interest in biologically-oriented modalities that lie at the intersection of health, performance and longevity. Medically guided therapies such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which alter appetite and glucose metabolism, have entered mainstream cultural awareness not just through clinical outcomes but through lifestyle dialogue.

Alongside these, NAD+ precursors and other metabolic support supplements are gaining attention for their potential roles in cellular energy and recovery pathways. These developments reflect a deeper consumer drive toward biological agency, the desire to understand and influence foundational aspects of well-being rather than merely treat symptoms. What comes next may be less about chasing perfection and more about expanding the language of everyday health with tools that are scientifically credible, accessible, and ethically framed.

The implication for brands is profound: wellness is no longer a nice-to-have aesthetic overlay. It’s a domain where science, behaviour and emotional security intersect, and where people expect transparent explanation, measurable outcomes, and responsible framing.

4. Value Reinterpreted: Confidence Over Accumulation

Economic pressure has not disappeared, but consumers are defining value in emotional and cognitive terms, not just monetary ones. This is why simplification matters as much as affordability.

Major consumer research underscores a split in behaviour: while people will pay more for alignment with their values, they still prioritise clear, tangible returns on spend.

In practice, this has elevated brands that make decisions easier, not just cheaper. For example, hospitality brands that tie premium experiences to restorative respite see disproportionate engagement because consumers feel they are not just buying a service, they are buying a pause from complexity.

Confidence, the sense that a purchase will do what it promises, is increasingly the card consumers are willing to spend.

5. The Experience Reset: Memory Beats Momentary Immediacy

The “experience economy” has evolved away from surface spectacle towards meaningful memory creation. People still want moments, but they want moments that truly matter, and memories that last past the social media post.

This shows up in how consumers allocate leisure spend, favouring premium culinary rituals, intentional travel segments, and culturally rich outings over mass entertainment or commoditised immersion. It is the difference between being transported and being performed to.

This shift matters because it reframes brand investment: it isn’t about being seen; it’s about being felt. Experiences that deepen emotional resonance, not just digital engagement, build the strongest brand loyalty.

6. Proof Over Promise: Sustainability as Verifiable Confidence

The language of sustainability is no longer enough. Across consumer research, people show clear expectations for evidence and not rhetoric. They want visibility, traceability, and material accountability.

In 2026, tools such as Digital Product Passports are emerging as the new currency of trust, giving consumers documented confidence that a brand’s claims are reflected in a product’s lifecycle.

People are willing to accept imperfection, as long as it is shared transparently. They want to buy smarter and greener.

This turns sustainability from a marketing asset into a decision heuristic, one that defines whether someone chooses, trusts, or advocates for a brand.

Where This Leaves Brands

After years of acceleration, 2026 is not a step change, it is a recalibration. Consumers no longer want fewer choices or more convenience; they want clarity, presence, agency and trust.

• Technologies that explain rather than obscure will outperform those that optimise without accountability.

• Wellness offerings grounded in measurable relief will displace those that trade on vague aspiration.

• Human-scale authenticity will outlast polished mimicry.

• Confidence in choice will outweigh price savings.

• Meaningful experiences will eclipse transactional engagement.

• Proof-enabled sustainability will be the hallmark of credibility.

The brands that lead this year won’t just be efficient or innovative. They will be emotionally intelligent, transparent by design, and relentlessly human in how they connect technology to lived life.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Kate Hardcastle

Find Kate Hardcastle on LinkedIn and X. Visit Kate’s website. Browse additional work.

Sourced from Forbes

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The generation is maturing, causing shifts in consumer preferences and priorities.

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By Elizabeth Doupnik

What Millennials want, Millennials — should — get. The demographic is increasingly influential as it matures and gains more spending power. With the aging of the demographic come big life events like marriage and having children, which is shaping their shopping behavior. According to a new report, “Building Loyalty with Dynamic Shoppers,” by Valassis, 47 percent of Millennials and 57 percent of Millennial parents have opted to visit a specific retailer for particular types of items.

“The competitive retail climate has made it crucial for brands to differentiate and prove their value to customers,” said Curtis Tingle, chief marketing officer of Valassis. “There are a number of variables that impact a consumer’s decision on where to shop. Discounts, offers, communication frequency, channel of engagement and more, all play a role in determining which brands become preferred retailers and reap the rewards of a loyal customer base.”

To collect the insights, Valassis in conjunction with NPD polled 1,200 U.S. consumers earlier this year. As current brand loyalty becomes strengthened over time, it will be difficult for competitors to draw consumers away for their preferred shopping locations. “Shoppers reported that to earn their loyalty, it’s critical for retailers to safeguard and protect personal information (76 percent); reward them with personalized discounts or special offers (73 percent); and interact with them through their preferred communication channel (55 percent),” said a Valassis spokesman.

Champions aren’t created overnight. The report said in order to hit home runs during key shopping seasons like back-to-school and holiday, retailers need to be dedicated to building loyalty throughout the year. Seventy-three percent of consumers will patronize merchants who have contacted them outside these blockbuster-shopping periods. Just be sure the messaging is purposeful and personalized.

But heightening efforts during key shopping events will have a better chance of drawing Millennial parents away from their typical destinations. According to the report, 49 percent of Millennial parents are more amenable to visiting new retailers during these shopping periods. Targeting this consumer set throughout the work day will likely improve loyalty, too. “Sixty-two percent of Millennial parents often make purchases during work when they see an email, online ad or mobile notification from a retailer,” said the spokesman.

Arguably less groundbreaking, Millennials will shop a good sale when they find one. “Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of consumers admitted they can be swayed by advertised promotions and sales for where to shop and what to buy. Forty-seven percent of consumers say receiving an offer will drive them to visit a store or web site they don’t typically shop,” said the report.

Feature Image Credit: A Target on Black Friday. REYNOLD/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

By Elizabeth Doupnik

Sourced from WWD

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What Consumers Buy to Feel More Powerful

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By MediaStreet Staff Writers

It’s all about the face.

Research has found that people prefer wider faces on products if they are seeking to show dominance or would like to project importance. People are typically averse to wider human faces because they elicit fears of being dominated. However, consumers might like wider faces on some products they buy, such as watches or cars, when they want to be seen in a position of power in certain situations, according to a new study led by a marketing researcher.

“When consumers are motivated to dominate others, or when they use the product in public, their liking will be heightened toward high-ratio product faces,” said Ahreum Maeng, assistant professor in marketing at the KU School of Business.

In five experiments, respondents examined photos of human faces that varied from low width-to-height ratio (narrow) to ones with a higher ratio (wider) to establish the perception of dominance when seeing higher-ratio faces. The researchers also had respondents view photos of products that might have a design resembling a human face, such as watch and clock faces and automobiles, from low to high width-to-height ratios.

“These kinds of things are automatically going on in people’s brains,” Maeng said. “When we see those shapes resembling a human face in the product design, we can’t help but perceive it that way.”

Researchers have established that people are evolutionarily adapted to read facial cues, especially those signalling dominance, and the width-to-height ratio of face is a cue to attribute dominance to the face. In the notion of anthropomorphism, scholars have found people often attribute human traits to non-human entities, such as products.

In addition, the researchers had participants view the images while they thought about different scenarios, such as preparing to encounter either an old high school bully or a former sweetheart at a 10-year-old high school reunion or a business trip that might require a difficult negotiation.

Their main finding was that when people felt they were in a situation where they might want to be perceived as dominant – such as that business negotiation or when seeing an old bully at a high-school reunion – people were inclined to select the wider product design for a watch or car they might be renting for the trip.

Maeng said this differs from how people tend to see dominance in the human face. They typically become averse to a higher width-to-height ratio because they feel threatened or intimated.

“But when it comes to a dominant-looking product face, they really like it,” she said. “It’s probably because people view the product as part of themselves and they would think, it’s my possession. I have control over it when I need it, and I can demonstrate my dominance through the product.”

In scenarios where participants did not feel the need to project any dominance, such as a more laid-back time with their children or family, the width-to-height ratio of the products became less important, the researchers found.

Maeng said the findings have important implications for marketers of products that might resemble a human face, such as watches with a circular face and cars. They found consumers’ preferences for dominant-looking product faces is not the same as people’s preference simply for luxury or expensive items.

Also, typically, product-design efforts have focused on visual aesthetics and ergonomics, an assumption that beauty and functionality covers the entire canvas of product design. However, more recent contrary findings by marketing researchers suggest that product design can signal a specific personality trait about the product.

Maeng said this type of preference means that manufacturers and marketers would be able to charge higher prices for products that have wider faces. They have already found a positive relationship in examining 2013 prices of automobiles based on the width-to-height ratio, and their study likely supports those types of decisions.

“Brand managers and product designers may be particularly interested in these findings,” the researchers said, “because a simple design feature, namely product face ratio, can have marketplace impact – by significantly improving the company’s bottom line.”

 

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