A Turn To The Physical And The Tactile
A Turn To The Physical And The Tactile
Social & Consumer | Jan 2025
Inferential Focus
Auto, Balance, Books, Broadway, Cars, Clothes, Commercial Real Estate, Consumer, Consumer Behavior, Consumer spending, Dials, Digital, Entertainment, Experience, Fashion, Film, Internet, Knobs, Malls, Metaverse, Nostalgia, Online retailing, Photographs, Physical, Physical retailing, Pictures, Publishing, Real Estate, Retail, Social, Social Change, Tactile, Technology
Not every product revival is driven by nostalgia. New-old clothing styles and new-old kinds of exercise clubs suggest to some an aching desire to revive a past that seemed “better.” We see something different. Humans are taking a second look at things that were, in the rush to all things digital during the pandemic, deemed out-ofdate, old-fashioned or even dangerous, and finding those that meet their personal and psychological needs. Following the end of restrictions on their freedom forced by the novel coronavirus and the turn away from a metaverse that claimed all experiences could be had online, individuals have been focusing on finding a new-old way to interact with their environment. While we have discussed this transition before, we have recently observed two responses that deserve a closer look: Physical Contact and Tactile Sensations. They are expressions of several needs that have become more important to individuals since the pandemic: A Need for Feedback; A Required Participation in Society; An Ongoing Desire for Balance; and A Wanted Feeling of Control. These needs will spread into consumer and employee behavior in the months and years ahead.