Key life trends that will reshape brand and consumer relationships

As technology continues to evolve and disrupt digital experiences, consumers are beginning to react and adjust their relationship with brands to ensure it serves them. Right now, trust online is in the spotlight and consumers are increasingly scrutinising what they see and what they believe. This in turn affects how consumers behave towards the businesses trying to reach them.

In its latest report titled "Accenture life trends 2025", Accenture found that consumer trust is waning amid a flood of scams and generative AI content. In addition, brands are finding it crucial to enhance transparency and authenticity online. Below, Accenture explores how people are feeling and are responding to business, technological and societal changes - and what it means for brands.

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1. Cost of hesitation

Hesitation is becoming a reflex as people can no longer automatically trust product images, reviews, marketing campaigns and content they're served online.

In the past year, 52% of people have seen fake news or articles. The survey also found that 48.6% of people often or always question the authenticity of the news. This is especially since its becoming harder to distinguish fact from fiction and to identify what has been written by a person with relevant credentials and what has been generated by a well-trained machine.

Further, computer-generated images often misrepresent the quality of a product and the detail of its features, sparking social media trends showing "What I ordered vs What I got". According to the research, 38% have seen fraudulent product reviews online in the past year, and 52.8% often or always question the authenticity of product reviews when they see them.

At the same time, fraudulent behaviour and scams online aren’t new but put them together with generative AI, and people whose aim is to commit crimes online now have a tool that makes it much easier. Saying that 33% have experienced deep-fake attacks or scams for personal information and money.

Moving forward, platforms should evolve and invest to modernise their content moderation value chain to address the known exponential influx of content that is harmful and deceitful.

Brands also need to establish and communicate clear methods for customers to verify their authenticity. If the volume of deep-fake scams continues, insurance companies may want think through new types of products, similar to the identity theft products launched years ago.

2. The parent trap

One of today's biggest parenting challenges is helping the next generation shape a safe relationship with digital technology and finding ways to protect them from the harms posed by unfettered online access.

In fact, 56% of those aged 18-24 agree that social media significantly impacts how they think about their identity. Conversely, 23% of those over 55 agree that social media significantly impacts how they think about their identity. Meanwhile, 65% globally think parents should limit the time their children spend on social media.

Parents and children are huge demographics, so this trend is crucial for numerous organisations, stated the report. In fact, business and brands could be witnessing the start of a significant shift in dynamics where marketing channels that have been reliable for over a decade could become significantly less effective, and people could start living more —and expecting brands to engage with them— in the real world.

Brands need to be ready for a world in which the next generation has been well shielded from smart devices and social media.

They should develop engaging, offline experiences and products that encourage creativity, humanity and real-world social interaction. 

Moving forward, if reaching younger people matters to a brand, it will be crucial to workshop a less digital or social media-dependent strategy. Alternatives include putting retail (and retail media) in the mix, going old school with on-the-ground promotion in shopping malls, a greater weighting towards events on television and streaming services, and sponsorship.

At the same time, if limits on child- or teen-focused apps and devices are imposed, it will be necessary to redesign or create services that don’t depend on smartphones. Alternatively, experiences can bypass controversial content domains or be ring-fenced in more content-limited interfaces.

Organisations should ensure they stay on top of what is culturally relevant. If parents’ gatekeeping role for children and young people expands, brands should consider how to create parent-friendly propositions that help build an affinity with wary parents and create relevance for their children too.

3. Impatience economy

For many people, the pursuit of health, wealth and happiness feels slow and tiresome.

The power of the crowd—and its strong, person-to-person affinity—is satisfying their impatience for new avenues and mindsets on how to navigate the pillars of a fulfilling life. 55% of people prefer quick solutions over traditional methods to achieve their health and financial goals and 29% trust their company's leaders to have their best interests at heart. In addition, 49% hear "improving productivity" messages more than those around value or workforce development.

At the center of this trend is the fact that people are being more impatient, proactive and assertive in how they navigate life. Their new approaches to pursuing health, wealth and happiness are challenging the status quo for businesses. The role of influencers started with product recommendations and has moved on to helping people solve their life problems and offering them alternatives, said the report. For the past twenty years, tech start-ups have spotted gaps in the market and filled them, but now it’s the power of the crowd.

In 2025, brands should check the experience delivery, stated the report. This means looking for aspects of the experience that could be minimised—in other words, automated or seamlessly handled through invisible interfaces.

Enhancing experiences with a human touch will likely set brands apart. The aim should be to deliver a fluid experience in which the offering is deeply tailored to each person, making it more relevant and engaging.

Additionally, it will be important to reinvent the organisation with customer-centricity at the heart. It involves identifying channels and influential voices through which the brand can help people pursue their goals when they’re disengaged from institutions. At the same time, the crowd’s power to navigate alternatives shows that there are unmet needs. If a business only thinks in terms of products instead of customers, it’s missing a valuable opportunity. Data will enable organisations to anticipate needs and proactively provide useful, relevant experiences.

4. The dignity of work

The dignity of work is a critical pillar of a healthy workplace, but it’s increasingly being shaken by business pressures, technological advances and evolving human dynamics.

Around 52% prize work-life balance most highly and 29% trust their company's leaders to have their best interests at heart. In tandem, 49% hear "improving productivity" messages more than those around value or workforce development. Rapid advances in AI and automation are reshaping workforce dynamics across all industries, taking on a new leadership mindset

That said, people want to feel like their contribution to work matters. In 2025, the workforce needs to be re-energized starting with leaders. Leaders will have to facilitate authentic human connections—whether face-to-face or remotely— to revitalise teams, foster trust and boost engagement. People need to be treated like people and machines like machines—and AI shouldn’t be personified, explained the report. Employees should have their voices heard and respected when it comes to AI adoption too.

5. Social rewilding

In the coming year, people are seeking depth, authenticity and sensory richness in their experiences.

They want to engage with the world in meaningful ways, finding textural experiences that connect them with their environment and each other. This is known as social rewilding.

Globally, people are increasingly embracing experiences that reconnect them with nature, enable them to create using their hands and foster genuine connections to their surroundings and other people. This offers opportunities for change in the role organisations play in their lives.

Over the past 12 months, 48% of respondents are spending time outdoor or in nature while 47% hang out with friends in real life. 47% are shopping in physical grocery stores and 36% are shopping in other retail stores. Interestingly, 30% are reading physical books or magazines.

To address social rewilding, brands should seek out non-digital ways to authentically connect with customers in the moments when they're looking for textural, face-to-face experiences. Organisations also need to understand what people value in simpler.

This, according to the report, creates an opportunity to go local without the clichés.

Brands can build affinity by sensitively connecting with local cultures—without stooping to stereotypes—and highlighting the texture and nuance of specific cities and regions in events, content, advertising and experiences.

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