In two recent columns, here and here, I wrote about two of the three consumer economic trends that are and will dramatically change consumer and buyer behavior well into the 2020s.  In this column I address the third major consumer economic trend, moving from an ownership to a rental society.  This trend as with the prior two will be prevalent primarily in the developed world and then spread globally in a decade or so.

Four years ago I started to suggest that in the United States, the reorganizational recession of 2007-2010 might have broken the aspirational, patriotic …

Since 2010 I have been speaking about what I see as three new consumer economic trends that will alter consumer behavior in the developed countries of the world.  A number of aligning forces are significantly increasing the influence and impact of these three trends.

In a recent column here, I wrote about Conscious Capitalism, one of the three new dominant trends of consumer behavior for the Transformation Decade 2010-2020. Conscious capitalism is when a company takes on an altruistic cause, charity or practice and applies revenue to that endeavor.  In that column I profiled two companies, Tom’s Shoes …

[This column was first published in Shift Age Newsletter #22]

One of the three major consumer trends I have been speaking about during the past few years is conscious capitalism.  Conscious capitalism is when a company takes on an altruistic cause, charity or practice and applies revenue to that endeavor.

Initially this behavior was mostly about creating a feel good halo around a brand.  Donating to or underwriting a charity has long been a way to allow a company to point to something that it was supporting to benefit it’s hometown community or a national charity.  Supporting a …