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By Human Renaissance Institute, Japan; Jonna Olsson, Mexico; Marie Claire Maxwell, China
Kairos Future asked their Research Associates in China, Mexico and Japan to reflect upon consumption trends, big or small, for the next year.
By: Annika Hylmö, the Interchange Group
If there is anything that we have learned from 2008, it is that there will always be unforeseen events impacting how we live and work beyond our imagination. Who would have thought that there would be such an extreme global economic meltdown?
Kairos Future is happy to announce our new collaboration partner in the US: The Interchange Group, which is a U.S. based talent strategy firm specializing in generational issues in the workplace. Global demographic shifts are challenging the ability of organizations to attract and retain top talent while remaining competitive and profitable. The Interchange Group provides targeted cost-effective talent management solutions that align with business strategies. Services include:
• Employee engagement surveys
Mats Lindgren, CEO Kairos Future Group, will be joining a prestigious panel of speakers in Madrid October 6-7.– The newsletter is published and distributed by Kairos Future International AB
Issue: 7, year 2008
Date: July 25, 2008---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Heléne Olsson
Will the future Spanish Youth develop in different paces? How will this impact on Career, Living and Life Styles?According to the survey Global Youth performed by Kairos Future in 2007, Spain was the country in Europe with highest bipolarization between Young Hedonists and Young Future Entrepreneurs.
Hedonists, because 28% of the enquired youth declared to prefer an easy-going life with few obligations, less career focused with a preference of future work in public administration and sufficient income to consume day to day luxury as clothes, travels and entertainment and without any intention to leave their parents in the close future.
Entrepreneurs, because 24% of the enquired youth stated a clear interest in creating their own company in the next years, preparing themselves carefully with education and experience.
Spain has undergone a dramatic change with a high increase of economic welfare since 1975 and the young Spanish born after Francos’ death are today excelling in consumption, education and environmental concern, one of the highest in Europe. The high rate of immigration of more than half a million of new young foreign people into Spain during the last five years, most of them with a low rate of education from Latin America and Africa but with a strong will to succeed, is also blending the future Spanish Youth culture.
Tribalization exists in Spain in big urban areas like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Sevilla, but is still not as fragmented or dominating as in other European countries, showing more homogeneous youth life styles and big groups. The clearest urban tribes in Spain are alternative groups like; “Okupas” (young people occupying empty buildings), “skaters” (urban skating at public spaces) and “skinheads” (extreme right underground movement). However, the big volume of youth is bipolarized in welfare between local low ambitioned youth and global high ambitioned youth.
The trend of continued Individualism, eclipsing collectivism and associate life, brings a big challenge for politicians and companies to design their future strategies towards this target. The Spanish youth has little faith in politics and they consider themselves capable of influencing more in the immediate and local future than in the global perspective.
It is evident that the Spanish Youth in the next ten years will undergo a big change, with many different paces simultaneously and it will become more and more complex to understand and grasp.
For further information, please contact Mrs. Heléne Olsson by e-mail!
Xinhaonanren, or “new good men”, are slowly becoming available for Chinese women who know what they want. With more money and challenging jobs, women are postponing marriage and exploring new family constellations. Some are simply demanding divorce from the old stereotype men, as increasing divorce rates prove.
Young people’s opportunities to live the life they dream about are increasing. To meet the new demand, the availability of new good men is on the rise. Like their counterparts in the West, these “metrosexual” men put family first and they do not mind sweeping floors or putting hot dishes on the table. This is a middle-class phenomenon starting to spread in Asia where men’s biggest goal used to be a fat paycheck. Nevertheless rising incomes are a key factor in the growing number of xinhaonanren, but the trend also correspond very well to the ranking of post-materialism as a key trend among youth in a recent survey conducted by Kairos Future and its Futuretrackers network. Another study by the Communication University of China shows that men in major cities now are in control of the household budgets, something we are only seeing the initial effects of.
This new breed of sensitive men, who are playing with children and shopping groceries, represent a change in a society where traditional gender roles left child raising and housework to their wives. The trend started in Taiwan around year 2000 and is now spreading to China’s big cities. In Japan, Brad Pitt was similarly the new cover hero when popular British Dads magazine, Father’s Quarterly launched last year. Magazines, blogs and websites like www.allcoolmen.com are also helping men to transform into considerate, helpful and good looking new ones. In Hong Kong, more flexible parental leave is possible amongst bigger corporations, but legislated paid paternity leave is far from being implemented.
The old smoking, drinking macho men who think the enlightened ones are just under the thumb of their partners might have to rethink when they find themselves alone. Questioning old Confucian values and adapting to a society where women are not just accepting their fate, will be inevitable in order to get a wife in the future! However being a new good man does not mean that you are weak, or less manly, but it will not stop you from buying a family car, make-up or household appliances either. When consumption is such an important way for young people to express their identities, advertisers should look out for xinhaonanren’s - soon pushing prams in Beijing. The stereotype Asian man, only being interested in his career and self-satisfaction is in fact becoming more responsible to the family and to society. Soon they will be seeking parenting advice, shopping and posting baby pictures online, being part of the big social world we live in today.
As the rumour goes, most new good men can be found in Shanghai – finders keepers, but beware of copies!
For further information, please contact Mrs. Marie Claire Maxwell by e-mail!
– why do they beat the emos?Tribalization, life-style based social groups, is becoming increasingly common in Mexico, at least according to the number of newspaper articles published in the last few months. This spring, the media have been flooded with headlines about the phenomenon of urban tribes, such as fresas, darkis, punketos, darketos, salseros, poperos, rastafaris, ravers, eskatos, hiphoperos, and, above all, emos.
Emos, those young skinny kids dressed in tight jeans, striped t-shirts and a pair of Converse or Vans, with a long fringe and black make-up around their eyes, listening to groups such as 30 Seconds to Mars or My Chemical Romance, have had a tough time in Mexico this year. The culture is relatively new to Mexico, according to themselves they have been around for something like three years in Mexico City, and until now nobody has really noticed. But after this spring, everyone in the country knows about the emos.
It all started in March this year, when the news media published reports and footage of an emo-bashing in Queretaro, a city in central Mexico. Hundreds of youths flooded the main plaza, kicking and punching the emos in an attack allegedly organized over the Internet, shouting “Kill the emos”. This emo-bashing was followed by similar events in Mexico City, Durango and Colima. The dailies reported about emos feeling frightened to walk around in the city alone, about a young emo boy attacked by punketos who cut his hair, and about parents with emo daughters and sons worrying about their kids’ security.
Meanwhile, emos in Mexico fought back. Pro-emo, pro-tolerance rallies and demonstrations were staged, and commentators and city officials called for tolerance and peace.
But why do they beat the emos? There are a lot of urban tribes in Mexico, and, until now, the different groups have been if not welcomed then at least accepted. But for some reason, the emos are victims of violent outbursts, and it seems like all the other groups agree – the emos are a problem. But why?
The media have feverishly been trying to answer the question by interviewing emos as well as punketos and darketos, by talking to professors in youth culture, by quoting social workers and teachers, and by visiting the emo headquarters in order to describe the culture. The answers differ, though. In a televised interview a punketo, as an answer to the question why they beat the emos, simply explained: “Because they copy our style”. The punketos and darketos accuse the emos for not having any proper culture, just copying the others.
Others search for answers in the Mexican society. One of the most popular theories is that the emos challenge the Mexican “machismo”, because of their androgynous style. The emo boy sometimes wears make-up and dresses effimenately, still a provocative thing fore many people in today’s Mexico. Hence, according to an anthropologist from the country’s largest university interviewed in La Jornada, the fighting against the emos could be an expression of the rising conservatism in the country.
But maybe it is as simple as Rodrigo, a 25 year old who defines himself as “fresa alternativa” puts it: “Everyone is beating the emos, because the emos cannot defend themselves. They are helpless. They are all 15 or 16, skinny and fragile, while the punketos are at least 20-something.” Rodrigo himself wouldn’t ever beat an emo, but still, between him and his friends, the expression “it smells of emo” is used when talking about something unpleasant, uncool, and pretentious. The urban tribes in Mexico are many, and they do not all like each other.
For further information please contact Ms. Jonna Olsson Engström by e-mail!
...but there are examples of the trend "Tribalization"
By: Per H Nilsson
Tribalization exists in Malaysia among young people but is not as common as in the West. In general, individualism is not encouraged in society, family and friends set the standards for acceptable behavior. This is also emphasized in the schooling system where the students are seen as a collective and not as individuals.
But there are examples of Tribalization even in Malaysia, one being the notorious “Mat Rempit”, a Malaysian term for individuals that participate in illegal street racing with motorcycles and scooters. They usually travel in groups late in the evenings and ride their motorcycles in a dangerous, provocative manner. A search on YouTube will display several examples of this behavior.
However, youth in general do not try to distance themselves from their parents’ generation as many of their peers in the West; instead they tend to blend in with the rest. Family ties are very strong; parents have high expectations on their children and play an active part in their education and career choices. In Malaysia like in the rest of Asia respect for elders and authority figures like teachers is the norm, youth listen to them and are expected to follow their advice.
The National Youth Survey 2007 published by the opinion research firm Merdeka Center showed that the majority of Malaysian youth do not see themselves as being able to make a difference within their community. Youth are not inclined to join clubs or associations, only one out of every five in the poll reported being member of a group.
Malaysia today is a middle income country with strong economic growth. The objective is to be a fully developed country by year 2020. The growth is to a large extent consumer driven, Kuala Lumpurs’s many shopping centers lure people to spend their hard earned money. Post-materialism is not prevalent, to show success it is important to wear designer clothes and expensive accessories like brand name watches.
For further information please contact Per H Nilsson by e-mail!
The Hindu Business Line writes about Kairos Future's survey Global Youth:
"...A Swedish strategy group ‘Kairos Future’ conducted a global youth survey in 2007 covering 22,000 respondents from 17 countries belonging to both the developed and the developing world.
The survey concluded that the Danes and the young Indians were among the most optimistic people looking forward to the future of their societies with a great deal of hope and self confidence. The vast majority of our population is below the age of 35. "
