The Next Era of Consumer Competition: Four Trends Leaders Can’t Ignore

Companies have faced persistent cost pressures and increasingly value-conscious consumers in recent years. Now, AI, social platforms, and other shifts in the consumer landscape are changing how consumers discover, evaluate, and buy products. As a result, consumer behavior is more dynamic and unpredictable than ever. During a McKinsey Live webinar, Senior Partners Clarisse Magnin and Danielle Bozarth, coauthors of McKinsey’s State of the Consumer 2026 report, explored the four trends reshaping consumer behavior and discussed the implications of those trends for companies. Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome 2:19 - State of the Consumer 2026 trends 5:51 - GenAI and shopping 7:39 - Trust of social media and gen AI is lower than in other channels 9:07 - Only 1% of the sources cited by LLMs come from brand-owned websites 11:04 - Globally, consumers value their health 12:46 - Yet many are not achieving their wellness goals 14:30 - About half of consumers are reducing their consumption of artificial ingredients, alcohol, highly processed food, and sugar 15:47 - If given extra cash, 60%+ of consumers said they would splurge on experiences 17:28 - Nearly a third of consumers say they struggle to afford the foods they want 18:55 - Cost pressures are driving consumers to buy less, use products longer, and embrace DIY 20:51 - What does this mean for leaders? 24:21 - Q&A 27:32 - Wrap-up Learn more about McKinsey Live webinars and register for upcoming sessions: https://mckinsey.com/live Explore past webinars: https://mck.co/McKinseyLivePlaylist Subscribe to our channel: http://mck.co/YouTube Subscribe to our newsletters: http://mck.co/Subscribe About the guests: Clarisse Magnin: https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/c... Danielle Bozarth: https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/d... **Find us on** Facebook: http://mck.co/Facebook Twitter: http://mck.co/Twitter LinkedIn: http://mck.co/LinkedIn Instagram: http://mck.co/Instagram