10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010

Trendwatching.com has released their annual consumer trend report for 2010. It's well worth checking out (here). A summary of these 10 trends is below:

1. BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL | Forget the recession: the societal changes that will dominate 2010 were set in motion way before we temporarily stared into the abyss.

2. URBANY | Urban culture is the culture. Extreme urbanization, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and far beyond will lead to more sophisticated and demanding consumers around the world.

3. REAL-TIME REVIEWS | Whatever it is you're selling or launching in 2010, it will be reviewed 'en masse', live, 24/7.

4. (F)LUXURY | Closely tied to what constitutes status, which itself is becoming more fragmented, luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months.

5. MASS MINGLING | Online lifestyles are fueling 'real world' meet-ups like there's no tomorrow, shattering all predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future.

6. ECO-EASY | To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals in 2010, corporates and governments will have to forcefully make it 'easy' for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives.

7. TRACKING & ALERTING | Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new INFOLUST services that will help consumers expand their web of control.

8. EMBEDDED GENEROSITY | Next year, generosity as a trend will adapt to the zeitgeist, leading to more pragmatic and collaborative donation services for consumers.

9. PROFILE MYNING | With hundreds of millions of consumers now nurturing some sort of online profile, 2010 will be a good year to help them make the most of it (financially), from intention-based models to digital afterlife services.

10. MATURIALISM | 2010 will be even more opinionated, risque, outspoken, if not 'raw' than 2009; you can thank the anything-goes online world for that. Will your brand be as daring?