Gender Identity - Consumer TrendSights Analysis, 2023

Trendsights Analysis on Gender Identity analyses how blurring the boundaries between genders shapes the demands of a modern consumer. The trend is a part of the Individualism & Expression and Demographics mega-trends, and focuses on how global consumers are redefining stereotypical gender-focused roles, biases and marketing strategies.

Consumers are redefining and challenging conventional divisions between gender roles, thus blurring the boundaries between ‘for him’ and ‘for her’ products is gaining popularity. To reach wider audience and align with consumers’ demands, brands are now embracing an equal product choice for everyone in the market.

Scope

• Categories such as personal care goods, retail and children’s products can face the biggest growth opportunities within the gender identity trend, as they often use gender-associated colors, fragrances or patterns.
• Young consumers and hyper-connection provided by social media, will drive the relevancy of this trend even further.
• Brands will be able to capture growing demands, as younger consumers voice their needs publicly, expecting global companies to align with them.

Reasons to Buy

• Understand the relevancy of this trend - embracing gender identity as a trend is a way to not only modernize social norms but also increase sales. By avoiding gender-focused marketing strategies and product positioning, brands can access a wider audience and reach out to consumers who were previously outside targeted demographics.
• Identify challenges related to this trend - addressing the topic of gender inequality can be challenging for companies, as they need to show consumers the genuineness and authenticity of these claims, to not come across as only profit-driven.
• Understand market dependencies - some categories might still successfully use gender targeting, however, a growing number of consumers look for gender-neutral options.