In the recent French elections, support for Le Pen’s far right party was highest among 18-34s. So much for the famous idea that ‘if you are not a liberal when you are young, you have no heart’.
Topsy turvy behaviours
Humans have a knack for behaving in unexpected ways.
The youth vote has traditionally been left leaning: advocating climate action and social justice. But in Germany, the far right AFD is actually most popular among younger voters (especially men) – helped by smart use of social media and the promise of plain speaking politics.
When Designer Jeremy Myerson was working at Heathrow Terminal 5, he discovered that older people didn’t always go to the toilet for the obvious reason: they went to hear flight announcements. “They have trouble listening to and reading information in large, busy, open concourses, while ceramic-clad toilets have perfect sound and close-up graphics.”
In Japan 78% of music sales are still physical CDs. But it’s not because consumers love the audio quality – it’s because CDs allow fans to engage with artists, who will bundle them with perks such as concert ticket vouchers, invitations to meet-and-greet events, and voting cards.
Sending Christmas cards is a dying tradition, but it’s being kept alive by the social media generation. In a 2024 survey, under 35s were most likely to send at least one card, and the majority planned to send more than in the previous year.
In the 2024 election, Donald Trump made gains of +14 points among Latino voters, despite his condemnation of certain immigrants as “drug dealers”, “murderers” and “rapists.” It turns out that ethnicities don’t always predict attitudes, and the promise of low prices is more important than people think.
It isn’t actually a brand for dudes – 50% of its buyers are women, who choose the brand over traditional toilet paper mostly because it cleans better.
In America KFC is a fast food chain, but in Japan it represents a sacred Christmas tradition. Restaurant sales are 10x higher than normal on Christmas Eve, any many customers now pre-order their chicken dinners months in advance to avoid hours of waiting in line.
Lego’s research revealed that its toys weren’t just appealing to curious children, but adults who wanted to relive their childhoods. A series of 18+ product innovations have since become bestsellers; including the 2,048-piece ‘Friends apartments’ (based on the sitcom), a 11,695-piece ‘World Map’, and the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. In fact adults now account for 25% of sales in the wider toy industry, according to the NPD group.
Forget the link between loneliness and the elderly – it’s highest among those in their 20s. It’s an odd finding, given this age group is more likely to have see friends, families and colleagues, but perhaps physical contact doesn’t guarantee emotional fulfillment. As writer David Robson points out, it’s perfectly possible to be living in a large household without feeling any of those people understand you.
Received wisdom is that premium brands are bought by affluent consumers. In reality, affluent consumers are just as likely to buy mass market products as they are premium products – it’s not all about the money.
Quorn initially targeted their products at vegetarians and vegans. After all, who else would want to buy plant-based meals? But they soon discovered that these meals also appealed to health conscious non-vegans. This insight led Quorn to rebrand as a ‘healthy food’ company, famously partnering with openly meat-eating Mo Farah, and helped them massively expand their buyer base (and sales).
Think again. Over 55s are leading the charge in alcohol and drugs usage, sexually transmitted diseases and arrests – a result of having more disposable income, looser social attitudes, and fewer childcare responsibilities.
Fitness app Strava has inadvertently become a platform for artistic expression. Strava Art has become a global movement, ever since users realised they could use the GPS tracking line to create unique drawings.
Services like Netflix have started to include a cheaper, ad supported option to their offer – but interestingly, compared to the ad-free version, it’s not attracting people with less money.