Are We Liquid People?

I came across this 2020 trend report put out by Fjord, which is the design consultancy from Accenture.

The main goal of a report like this is to get a foot in the door of big companies, so I take these predictions with a grain of salt.

But reading through the report, I found the concept of Liquid People pretty interesting.

Liquid People

It’s about people’s reassessment of themselves, the lives they lead and their impact on the world around them. We’re all starting to question what it means to be a customer and an employee. What’s beyond consumerism? What’s beyond the notion of work simply as a means to make a living?

We still want to buy, but we’re starting to move away from using material objects to define ourselves.

How do climate change, mental health, living sustainably play into the choices you have to make?

How much do these choices influence our identity?

For example, here were some thoughts I had thinking about how food influences a person’s identity:

• Being a meat-eater: Sourcing the premium cuts. Order the extra-large portion of steak. Want to be stronger? More manly? More paleo?
• Shopping at an organic store: people make a conscious decision to buy organic produce. Because they want to be healthier? Because they want to support local food?
• Eating less meat: They want to be environmentally friendly? Healthier? More ethical?

These are just some ideas, but if this trend persists and people show status less with a big car or a nice watch but more with (pseudo) values, these things will become more important.

How can companies use this trend in an ethical way?

Are initiatives such as meat-free burgers in fast food chains the first indicator of more meaningful things to come?