Anjali Lai

Senior Analyst

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Blog

Economic Uncertainty: Here’s How Consumers Are Responding

Anjali Lai July 13, 2022
The economic turmoil trailing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is roiling. CMOs cannot simply dust off their recession playbooks from years past and expect to understand — let alone serve — customers today: The unique combination of social, economic, and political tensions in this moment will shape when, where, and why consumers are […]
Blog

What’s Next For Digital Consumer Behaviors?

Sara M. Watson May 12, 2022
Read why you should eschew “new normal” thinking when it comes to consumer behavior. We’re in a deeply unsettled, volatile moment—and change is here to stay.
Blog

Consumers Crave Authenticity, And CMOs Can Deliver

Alex Schanne April 5, 2022
As the age of misinformation and slew of dubious corporate claims threaten consumers’ trust in brands, consumers are desperate for authenticity. While conventional wisdom suggests that authenticity means “being yourself,” that quickly breaks down when CMOs translate the sentiment into action. In our new report, The Algorithm Of Authenticity, we synthesize consumer data, industry case […]
Blog

What Peloton Forecasts Got Wrong

Anjali Lai January 21, 2022
Yesterday, Peloton announced that it is temporarily halting production of its connected fitness products in the face of waning consumer demand. The surge of explosive growth in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — to the point that product delivery barely kept pace with the influx of purchase orders — established the company as […]
Blog

Predictions 2022: Weary Consumers Seek Immediate Happiness And Comfort

Anjali Lai October 27, 2021
In 2022, consumers will continue testing new ways to fulfill their needs with an eye towards long-tail pandemic disruption. In the process, their new behaviors will create new economies.
Blog

US Consumer Pandemic Recovery Outlook, August 2021: Ongoing Uncertainties Caution Consumers

Anjali Lai October 14, 2021
In the wake of chronic caution fatigue, US consumers are looking to their most trusted brands to provide a sense of stability and reliability.
Blog

Creative Consumers Demand Your Creative Response

Anjali Lai October 11, 2021
More consumers are open to trying new brands, products, and experiences. Learn the three key implications of this trend in this post.
Blog

Post-Pandemic In-Store Shopping: Consumers Reconsider The Value Of The Store

Anjali Lai July 15, 2021
Now that consumers have experienced the convenience of online purchasing, shoppers are rethinking the purpose of the in-store experience.
Blog

Emotionally Charged Consumers Are Ready For New Experiences

Anjali Lai July 1, 2021
A reemerging sense of community has rekindled consumers' enthusiasm. Brands should match that enthusiasm to maintain strong momentum.
Blog

US Consumer Pandemic Recovery Outlook, June 2021: Health And Financial Fears Linger

Anjali Lai June 30, 2021
Sixteen months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and more than a year after the US reached the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths globally, consumers are grappling with a mix of conflicting emotions. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s relaxation of restrictions, the biggest vaccine campaign […]
Blog

Post-Pandemic Travel: Consumers Seek Variety And Adventure Within Safe Circles

Anjali Lai June 30, 2021
Our data over the course of 2020 revealed the internal consumer tension between desire and fear. On the one hand, consumers expressed an ongoing appetite for adventure and variety of experience. On the other, closed borders, stay-at-home mandates, and pervasive consumer fears brought the travel industry to a grinding halt. Now that pandemic restrictions have […]
Blog

Post-Pandemic Media Consumption: Online Streaming Accelerates A New Content Experience

Anjali Lai June 21, 2021
When the COVID-19 pandemic triggered stay-at-home orders and canceled social plans, consumers turned to online media streaming to fill the void. TV/video streaming services touted exclusive content and low prices to lure viewers, and by June 2020, 48% of US online adults had subscribed to at least one streaming service. Our multimodal consumer analysis shows […]
Blog

How To Make Sense Of Consumer Behavior After The Pandemic

Anjali Lai April 2, 2021
Although it’s tempting to view the pandemic as a finite period in time and bucket consumer behaviors into “pre-pandemic” and “post-pandemic” states, over two decades of deep global consumer research remind us it's not that simple.
Blog

A Consumer “Tech-celeration” Is Advancing Behaviors But Straining Emotions

Anjali Lai February 2, 2021
The crises of 2020 turbocharged consumers’ technology adoption and usage. Yet in 2021, consumers are struggling to make sense of their need for technology and their hesitation to rely on it.
Blog

Empowered Consumers Call For Sustainability Transformation

Anjali Lai January 19, 2021
While consumer conversations about the climate have ebbed and flowed for decades, 2020 marked a turning point that sparked unprecedented urgency around the climate crisis. Learn how this will impact consumer trends in 2021.
Blog

Consumers Ride A Rising Tide Of Consumer Energy Into 2021

Anjali Lai December 22, 2020
Consumer energy is rising again. The latest pulse reveals that, over the course of the past three months, overall consumer energy has moved from 39 up to 43, and consumer energy has grown along every key emotional dimension.
Blog

Trust In The Age Of The Customer

Anjali Lai November 20, 2020
We all know that consumer trust is important, but it’s extremely challenging for companies to know when they have it, when they violate it, and how to cultivate it. Discover the components needed to grow consumer trust.
Blog

Predictions 2021: Divided Consumers Will Wrestle With Escalating Individual, Community, And Global Tensions

Anjali Lai October 16, 2020
Escalating tensions will influence consumer behavior in 2021 as we move beyond crisis mode and see the new patterns forged from the current crisis. Read our consumer predictions for 2021.
Research Collection

CMOs: Understand The Ebb And Flow Of US Consumer Energy Through 2020

Anjali Lai October 14, 2020
“Change is constant” is an adage that haunts 2020, and consumer emotions are fluctuating with every shock to the consumer’s world. Forrester’s Consumer Energy Index reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing US consumers to feel measurably more fragmented and disconnected, doubtful that people and organizations will follow through on their promises, distracted, and vulnerable […]
Blog

Consumer Energy Fizzles To A New Low As Consumers Approach Q4

Anjali Lai September 23, 2020
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that we’ve been measuring precisely how the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing consumer appetite for commercial exchange. We do this by applying Forrester’s Consumer Energy Index, our data-driven framework that captures how ready and willing consumers are to reach out to brands. After a […]
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