The Andersen Library Blog

Euromonitor, the provider of the Passport GMID, has shared their top ten articles of 2011*, which provides insight into the main growth areas and concerns in the current business environment.

*shared with permission from the publisher

• Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2011
  The 2011 consumer is branching out: mobile and online, making time for self-care to stay ahead and well. Consumers are reaching out to higher-end products, greener consumption if the price is right and experience-based consumption while considering purchases more. Brands need to tap into the on and offline cultural zeitgeist to best connect with their existing and potential customers.
• What’s New with the Emerging Market Consumer?
  Euromonitor International’s consumer comment bulletin tracking new consumer trends in emerging markets. Understanding the fast-moving trends shaping consumer attitudes and behavior in these difficult-to-reach markets is key to successfully capturing the hearts of these prized consumers. This bulletin spotlights consumer trends in BRIC countries and other emerging nations every two months.
• Monthly Economic Review of Emerging Market Economies
  Countries & Consumers brings you the latest monthly update on emerging market economies. In December 2011, the IMF highlighted the increasingly important role of emerging markets as part of a solution to global economic problems. As governments from emerging market economies deal with challenges of decelerating economic growth, currency depreciation and capital outflows, they will also face rising expectations to help bring stability to the global economy in the coming months.
• Web 2.0 and Consumers
  This monthly bulletin on all things Web 2.0 listens in to consumption as consumers themselves see and tell it online when “2ing.” News and trends are covered under the following topics: Internet shopping & “sellsumers,” citizen advertising and crowdsourcing (brands working with consumers to promote themselves, co-create and relate,) frugalistas & consumer vigilantes , micro-blogging, tech-savy Generations Y & Z, social networking, mobile onliners, and the blogosphere.
• In Focus: The Biggest Global Trends Influencing Consumer Markets
  Euromonitor International has identified the five most important global trends to 2020 and beyond. These trends are set to intensify in the next decade and will influence business environments and consumer markets of the future. Although the trends will present some challenges, embracing the developments will enable businesses to identify the target markets of the coming years and help strategize for changing demands.
• Recession: Shifting Consumer Responses
  Euromoinitor International’s global consumer tracker designed to help you keep in touch with consumer responses to the recession all over the world and more crucially to map signs of recovery via shifting consumer purchasing behaviors and attitudes in 60 developed and developing countries as they emerge. We explore the latest news within consumer themes including the newest thrift news, shifting consumer loyalty and downsizing and the extent to which consumers are trading up or back to normal.
• China’s 12th Five-Year Plan Looks to Domestic Consumption and Sustainability
  China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) is expected to remodel the economy by booting domestic consumption through socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth. While the plan will benefit high-tech manufacturing sectors and encourage greater consumption, it faces the challenges of wide income disparities, a rural/urban divide and a social inclination towards high savings.
• Special Report: Short-term Forecast of Global Real GDP Growth
  In its September 2011 update of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF lowered its global real GDP growth forecasts to 4.0% for 2011 and 2012, down from its June 2011 estimations of 4.3% for 2011 and 4.5% for 2012. Growth has significantly weakened in advanced economies due to financial strains caused by the financial crisis in the Eurozone and the USA. In developing and emerging countries, growth remains solid but should moderate due to weaker external demand and capacity constraints.
• Special Report: Global M-Commerce Set for Strong Growth Potential
  The constant rollout of newer technologies in the sphere of communications, the growing saturation of the global mobile phone market and the increasing affordability of information technology and associated devices are allowing for the expansion of new retail market areas. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is one such sector and it holds the potential to revolutionize the way consumers conduct their shopping, while allowing businesses to extend their marketing reach to a ready client base.
• Special Report: Global Economic Prospects for 2012
  The world economy faces exceptional – perhaps even unprecedented – uncertainty as it enters 2012. The rebound in output among developed countries has proven feeble, yet fiscal austerity is being launched, especially in the Eurozone. The collective austerity of developed economies will likely bring on one of the most severe fiscal contractions in many years. These effects will be partly offset by developing countries, although growth is moderating as global financial conditions deteriorate.

UW-Whitewater affiliates can access more information on these topics and much more through Passport Reference & Markets, an excellent source of international business information.

Thanks to Sean Griffin from Euromonitor for sharing these insights!