Consumer Insights – A forecast of future

The more GenAI takes over our lives, the more implications it has in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes we often wouldn’t know what we are about to think in the next moment. It might sound crazy, about a year ago, but when we look into the sky in 2025, when a crazy alien object is approaching towards us, we are rambled and more turning towards the GenAI for answers.  But the proposed war between GenAI and Aliens, as we imagined, is not gonna happen in the physical realm, but is going to happen in the virtual realm when we are farther away from Mars when they are passing by the red planet.

But as Sherlock Holmes said, What the deuce is it to me? you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon, it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.

The world-renowned trend forecasters  WGSN, who are famous for their accurate predictions about the crazy forecasting of human emotions, which shapes the collective behavior of the future, is predicting 3 key human emotions.

1.Strategic Joy:  Coupling joy with purpose. Emotion of 2024 was “Awe”, 2025 is “Imagination”, and 2026 is going to be “Glimmers” and “Strategic joy” for 2027.

This will be attributed to 3 emotions: dysregulation, stress, and boredom. As the challenges of the globe rise, people will be more in need of the feeling of inclusivity in a broader cultural narrative, a feeling of serendipity, and deep inspiration towards the world.

2.Witherwill: Witherwill is the longevity of feeling free from responsibility that arose out of great exhaustion stemming from Covid-19 peaking around 2021-22. Witherwill is a word coined by John Koenig, author of Obscure Sorrows. Firms and businesses are already adopting with this term through retreat, for example, Both Sides, a retreat that embraces in Europe. Witherwill will be attributed by sense of being overwhelmed with responsibility, empathy and propelling through aspirations of becoming carefree, curiosity, and love

3.Suspicious Optimism : 2024 was the year of tragic optimism where 2026 would be fear of Rational optimism reflecting the idea it is better to be optimistic than pessimistic in a changing world. State of suspicious optimism would be driven by awe at the potential of new innovations, fear of intended consequences and dissolutionment from past dissapointments and expectations. These drivers will propel us towards aspirational states of wisdom, balance and trust.

For brands to engage with these emotions of the future, they have to integrate play and joy into the products and processes to improve the health and happiness of customers. As people will feel more pressure on multiple fronts with fewer responsibilities, engaging narratives is essential for brands to create meaningful equity and elements for success. Source : WGSN