Unveiling 2024: The Nextatlas Annual Report

Little Treat Culture

2023 saw the emergence of a trend that encouraged scaling down, heralding a shift towards an ethos of mindful consumption as sustainability became an essential value for consumers (this was one of the key trends we accurately predicted in our annual report for 2023). Despite admirable efforts, a persistent consumer weariness and an pursuit of personal gratification endure, even despite these environmental challenges and ever-growing economic constraints. While navigating these conflicting forces, consumers seek solace and a sense of control by moderating both their indulgences and splurges. This landscape has given rise to a burgeoning phenomenon we call the "Little Treat Culture," where individuals derive solace and contentment by cherishing the simple and mundane aspects of life.

In this "treat culture," consumers continue to spend their resources to boost their self-esteem and happiness, but this time with moderation. The high cost of living is also expanding the definition of a treat beyond a physical product, and everyday activities like walks, morning coffee, or an evening bath transform into treats. Thanks to this flexibility, the influence of the "Little Treat Culture" reverberates prominently across various sectors, notably within Food & Beverage, Retail, and Beauty & Cosmetics. This cultural movement finds particular resonance among the younger demographics of Gen Z and Millennials, although it still holds a degree of allure for Gen X.

The "Little Treat Culture" thus stands as a multifaceted phenomenon, offering a nuanced understanding of how consumers will continue to navigate their desires in 2024, finding fulfillment and pleasure through measured indulgence and an appreciation for the ordinary.

Age of Messiness

One of the key facets that will be crucial in the upcoming year is the concept we’ve termed “Mindful-Mess". Consumers are actively rebelling against the minimalist, meticulously organized, and curated lifestyle that has long dominated social media and design spheres. Rather, they are seeking identity and comfort in spaces and aesthetics that might appear disorganized or unconventional. This move towards embracing messiness and rawness is emblematic of a larger cultural revolution that questions traditional symbols of status and aspiration, presenting novel opportunities for brands and products to redefine their positioning.

Within this trend, consumers embrace randomness and the unexpected as a form of resistance against societal pressures to perform and comply. Once predominantly seen as a sign of disorganization or lack of care, messiness is increasingly being reframed as the ultimate form of self-expression. Playing with established conventions introduces unpredictability and relatability, offering not only a sense of novelty but also relief to consumers jaded by the 'been there, seen that' sentiment.

This trend manifests in different ways, "from low effort aesthetics to more spontaneous or deliberately contradictory purchasing habits", as our Senior Trend Researcher, Elena Marinoni, highlighted in our annual webinar. "It’s about the rising popularity of mis-matched outfits, the rise of the TikTok trend “cluttercore”, it’s about serendipity and becoming a sought-after element in an era that is more and more overwhelmed by algorithms and predictability", she said.

For instance, the Miu Miu AW23 show notably championed an undone, frizzy hair aesthetic, signaling a departure from the perpetually styled, shiny hair paradigm. This deliberate move towards an anti-beauty aesthetic emphasizes personal expression over a uniform, polished standard, with frizz symbolizing a powerful reclamation of authenticity in a world saturated with filtered faces and staged perfection.

Post-Real Curation

In an era marked by the transition from human-driven creation to AI-generated content, the human role is shifting from primary creators to stewards of artificially generated outputs. As AI progresses in mimicking human creativity, the concept of authorship blurs, dissolving the traditional boundaries between reality and illusion. Domains once exclusively human-centric have now become arenas for artificial intelligence, ushering in entirely new genres and categories. This evolution, driven either by resistance to AI or by a desire to harness its capabilities, demands fresh skill sets and frameworks for humans to curate, contextualize, and infuse AI-generated outputs with a human touch.

The incorporation of artificial intelligence into creative and design realms is profoundly altering society's conception of creativity and the functions of creators. With AI taking on an increasingly dominant role in generating content, human engagement now revolves around curating, arranging, and presenting AI-created content in purposeful ways. This transformation extends beyond the traditional human-centered assessment of AI outputs, demanding a complete overhaul of creative classifications and genres to adapt to this dynamic and evolving landscape. This evolution is exemplified in the Ballarat International Foto Biennale's introduction of the groundbreaking "Prompted Peculiar – International AI Prize 2023." 

This category deliberately highlights the distinctive and often unpredictable outcomes of AI-assisted works, distinctly separating them from conventional photography. Coined as "promptography," this term delineates a clear boundary between human-captured photography and AI-generated art, provoking meaningful discussions about the ethical dimensions of this innovative frontier and initiating a dialogue on the evolving roles of artists and algorithms within the visual art domain.

Navigating The Year Ahead

The insightful exploration of emerging trends and cultural shifts outlined in this blog merely scratches the surface of the comprehensive analysis found within our annual report. This report, a culmination of meticulous research and data analysis by our expert insight team, delves deeper into the transformative directions of change that our AI technology has detected from our 300,000+ early adopters.

Trend lines, data, and information described in this article emerge from the ongoing analysis performed by Nextatlas on its global observation pool made of innovators, early adopters, industry insiders expressing their views on Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit.

To learn more about our AI, discover Nextatlas Methodology here