The report noted that not every consumer will realistically be able to enjoy a tech detox. — Freepik
It won’t be a Birkin bag, the new iPhone, or the Shark FlexStyle Hair Styler.
This year, the biggest indulgence for consumers will involve a different kind of checking out. Instead of piling up their shopping carts with new outfits, beauty products, jewelry, or the latest TikTok trend, people will be prioritising how they spend their time – namely, using much less of it for doom scrolling and performative posting. That’s if they can afford to.
“Logging off is the new luxury logo,” says WGSN, a global consumer trend forecasting company that has counted major brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Gap, Gucci, and H&M, as clients. The London-based company staked this claim in its annual top trends forecast, which was released earlier this month.
The report noted that not every consumer will realistically be able to enjoy a tech detox.
“People who are able to disconnect without sacrificing their career or social standing will view it as a status symbol,” says the report, which summed up this dynamic as “digital privilege.”
To capitalise on this trend in the year ahead, WGSN suggested that brands consider designing “digital detox experiences, boredom-positive spaces, and offline sanctuaries that spark creativity and presence.”
Plenty of founders have already been tapped into the growing sentiment. Consumer brands have been investing in tangible experiences that bring customers together in-person. Last year, when Inc. asked more than a dozen executives how they would spend an additional US$1mil (RM3.94mil) on marketing, all of them, regardless of industry or size, cited live events and experiences and said that IRL connection would become even more valuable in the age of AI. As Joust, a game night social club, has grown its attendance over the past two years, founder Safi Aziz has purposefully avoided launching any sort of app or online component to accompany his curated social experience.
But if this new high-end habit of logging off really does take hold, that will not come without some downside for consumer companies, particularly those that have built their brand by going viral on TikTok or becoming the hot, new place to post from.
As WGSN says, “Going on vacation without sharing a single Instagram reel? You’re now the king of cool.” That could be bad news for every restaurant, hotel, bar, and locale that would’ve gotten a shout-out on the carousel in years past. – Inc./Tribune News Service
