By Shavari Alape 

UM, the marketing and media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, announced the launch of Remix Culture, the first culturally focused iteration of its annual Wave X study that tracks social and digital media usage in 81 countries. 

The study concludes that resist, retrograde, reglocalize, and recreate are the four major trends that shape the modern consumer behavior.   

“Remix Culture reveals the path forward on cultural connectivity by going deeper into the types of content that informs cultural identity and influences consumer behavior,” said Deidre Smalls-Landau, Global Chief Cross-Cultural Officer at UM. 

“These insights help our clients understand cultural trends and better navigate their digital presence at a time when online trust continues to drop, and it’s more important than ever to make their brands culturally relevant,” Landau added.

The first finding, the resist movement, is due to consumers’ interest to hold brands accountable and voice their concerns on social media when brands do not play that role well. 

Moreover, consumers are leaning further towards content and culture from previous decades, reflecting a retrograde behavior. The study shows that 72 percent in the MENA region prefer watching movies and listening to music from the previous decades. Hence, the study concludes that as past generational trends are gaining more focus in the present, consumers prefer brands that create nostalgia.  

The study also finds that the reglocalizing trend is gaining momentum as consumers are looking into local brands to appeal to their sense of individuality. Around 61 percent of consumers believe that local brands and products are more authentic. 

According to the research, consumers are more inclined towards brands that appeal to multifaceted identity factors that help consumers recreate their identities.