CivicScience continually tracks current and anticipated consumer trends. Here are three key insights marketers should know this week. All insights are derived from the CivicScience Social | Political | Economic | Cultural (SPEC) Report, a weekly report available to clients covering the latest news and insights. Start here to learn more.
1. Americans place increasing emphasis on a balanced diet and protein consumption.
The market for food and beverage products that provide additional benefits to health, energy, or sports performance has grown in recent years. At the same time, consumer priorities when shopping for these products have shifted as well. Compared to a decade ago, Americans who are trying to lose weight are 11 percentage points less likely to prioritize lowering their overall caloric intake and six points more likely to focus on a balanced diet and protein consumption.
One key factor that is continually influencing food and health trends is the emergence of Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The Ozempic and GLP-1 Consumer Tracker by CivicScience is monitoring these impacts as they evolve. Start here to learn more.
Take Our Poll: Are you currently working on increasing your protein intake?
2. Concern over the impacts of deepfakes on the election grows among Republicans.
Artificial intelligence is already being used to try and influence elections – both in the United States and abroad – through the use of “deepfake” images, videos, and other media. Forty-five percent of Americans say they are very concerned about the use of deepfakes and other fake news having an impact on the 2024 election, similar to the 46% reported in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
However, the partisan nature of this concern has shifted ahead of the upcoming election this year. For instance, Republicans are more likely to be very concerned about the influence of deepfakes on the 2024 election, while severe concern has fallen by eight percentage points among Democrats, though 50% still hold strong concern.
3. Nearly a third of Americans feel the use of Gen Z/Gen A slang in ads negatively impacts how they view the brand or product.
A recent Jeopardy! episode sparked discussion online after a Gen Z / Gen Alpha slang term appeared in a clue, stumping contestants. Among a handful of slang terms, according to new CivicScience data, Americans are most likely to use “Cap” and “Rizz” (12%). Additional data show when brands use these Gen Z / Gen A slang terms in advertisements, consumers are more likely to say it has a negative impact on their opinion than a positive one, but the majority say it has no impact either way. Unsurprisingly, Gen Z indexes as the most likely generation to view it positively, whereas nearly half of adults 55+ view it negatively.
Join the Discussion: Do you think the word “rizz” has staying power as a mainstream word?
Want to see more of the in-depth consumer insights found in this report not covered here? Clients receive the SPEC Report in full, plus access to real-time insights driven by our database of over 500K questions. Contact us now to see it in action.
