3 - LATEST TRENDS FROM DYG

DYG is a market research company that tracks and analyzes trends. Each year the company holds a conference for clients in which current trends are identified and discussed. The materials and conferences are proprietary, of course, but some of this year's findings were the basis of a recent column by Myrna Blyth in National Review Online. Here are a few of the themes identified:

Lurch and Learn. According to Daniel Yankelovich, one of the grand old men of polling, Americans tend to "lurch and learn," whipsawing between extremes before settling on a middle course. For example, says Yankelovich, American society lurched from being uptight, conformist and selfsacrificing in the 1950s and 1960s, to the far more freewheeling, hedonistic and self-centeredness of the 1970s and 1980s. We then, and thereby, learned to pull back from the extremes and settled into a more tempered middle way.

Child Centeredness. A new concern with the welfare of children started in the 1990s, and then morphed into different manifestations over the past 15 years. It started with an increased concern with keeping kids safe, then morphed from protection to pampering, and now to rigorously preparing them for a competitive future.

Embracing choice. The American consumer has demanded more and more choices in products over the years. Now, it seems, we have so many choices that we need help to navigate through them and make decisions. Thus the power has shifted from those who provide abundance to those who help us decipher it. Wal-Mart was the star company of the last decade; Google, the next.

The Increasing Power of Women. This is also a long-running trend, but current manifestations are something new. For example, the differences in outlook between young men and women are striking. Young women today are full of confidence, while young men are "lost" (although in their own view, merely "realistic").

Contradiction and Paradox. People today are more informed than ever, but say they feel ill-informed. They are more polled, questioned and prodded for opinions than ever, yet say they feel voiceless and that today's leaders are not listening to them. Seventy percent of people say the country is going in the wrong direction, yet an equal share are satisfied with their personal lives and are optimistic about their own futures.

The Power of Convergence. When a variety of social forces and economic factors intersect and overlap, they may reinforce and compound their cumulative effects. This can lead to a "perfect storm," when important yet unanticipated changes can occur.

Copyright FutureScan Jun 2006
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