It’s natural to expect forecasts at a conference with a name that’s a homophone of “future,” and WGSN President and CEO Carla Buzasi delivered at the FUTR North America event in New York City on Sept. 5. Discussing what will be motivating consumers two years from now, Buzasi called 2026 “the year of redirection,” predicting that people will be looking for coping mechanisms to deal with what she termed “the great exhaustion,” a lingering hangover from COVID-19, political division and culture wars.
As part of her forecast, Buzasi also identified some key psychographic groups of consumers, providing profiles that can be useful to retailers and marketers as they seek to attract and retain customers.
How Consumers will Cope with the ‘Great Exhaustion’
“Following the ‘Great Resignation’ and ‘Quiet Quitting’ will be ‘The Great Exhaustion,’ with many companies making [job] cuts and asking people to do more with less,” said Buzasi, noting that consumers will be dealing with this challenge with three key coping mechanisms: rational optimism, yearning and “glimmers.”
“Rational optimism is a coping mechanism of seeing the world in a slightly more positive way,” said Buzasi. “In truth the world is actually a better place than it’s been — there are far fewer people in poverty and more girls are finishing primary school. In fact, the pessimism [people are feeling] isn’t because of negativity, it’s persuasion fatigue. Consumers are tired of people trying to persuade them that their point of view is the important one, so brands should watch out about telling people things should be a certain way.”
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Yearning, which Buzasi called “the evolvement of nostalgia,” is about “looking back at what seemed simpler times.” It even applies to people too young to have lived through those earlier times, like members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. “Yearning is driven by empathy fatigue,” she said. “When we can’t positively impact something, we’re taking ourselves out of the situation. More people are just ‘switching off’ as a coping mechanism.”
Glimmers, which have been defined as the opposite of triggers, are “little micro moments of joy — a cup of coffee, a purring cat,” said Buzasi. These small but effective remedies to the Great Exhaustion should remind brands that people are seeking fulfillment in ways both big and small, and that fulfillment “doesn’t have to be about big celebrations.”
Psychographic Portraits of 4 Consumer Types
Buzasi also shared four psychographic consumer types that she said will be relevant in 2026 (and possibly even before that).
The Impartialists
“These are people who are fighting against the disinformation crisis with a commitment to truth-seeking and a demand for facts, and it’s tied to the rise of AI-created images and deepfakes,” said Buzasi. “You’ll have to gently persuade them that what you’re doing is authentic, correct and won’t create risk. Use effective labeling and own up to your mistakes; the Impartialists will forgive a mistake, but you need to be transparent about it.”
Buzasi cited Adobe’s labeling of AI-generated imagery as appealing to this group, as well as efforts by resale marketplaces like Ebay to authenticate items such as pre-owned luxury handbags. This group also will embrace biometrics as “the new passwords, because they trust themselves and their faces or fingerprints,” Buzasi said.
The Autonomists
“This group is charting their own path, making their own rules and challenging outdated societal expectations,” said Buzasi. “They care about achievements, but on their own terms. They’re also going to develop new systems to challenge authority, such as gamers using Roblox for activism versus just playing in the metaverse” as a way to evade censorship.
Carrefour is appealing to this group by using in-store signage to identify brands engaging in “shrinkflation,” i.e. selling smaller packages as a way to improve their margins without technically raising prices. “Consumers shopping there see Carrefour as on their side, which makes them more likely to shop there,” said Buzasi.
The Gleamers
This group is the one most likely to celebrate those glimmers as well as “minorstones” (rather than milestones). Brands like Fresh Sends are appealing to these consumers by encouraging customers to send flowers for events like a pet adoption or a sober-versary as well as the traditional birthday, anniversary or Valentine’s Day.
Brands can reach these shoppers by incentivizing them to do something that’s good for them, like eat more healthily or start an exercise regimen. “Gleamers want spaces where they can come together; they’re looking for more IRL [in real life] connections,” said Buzasi.
The Synergists
This group is technologically advanced and also wants to make the internet more equitable and accessible, according to Buzasi, as well as to find a “symbiosis of the real [world] and the metaverse.” She cited the example of Coach, including the brand’s use of virtual reality (VR) “to create new experiences as people walk past the store window, reminding people that in-store experiences can be as good as virtual or digital experiences.”
Additionally, members of this group are likely to embrace tools that allow them to overcome communication barriers, such as ear buds with automatic translation from Samsung that allow people to converse in languages they’re not yet fluent in.
