In a world of garbage trends and crystal-ball gazing, which insights will unlock your next big idea? We spoke to 45 global experts to uncover the behaviours set to disrupt and define 2023. Uncover the consumer shifts and brand developments our Access experts are anticipating.

expert outlook 2023

Anti-establishment sentiment is peaking. Communications are chaotic. And people are bracing against crisis after crisis.

The Age of Instinct

Canvas8 Expert Outlook 2023_ The Age of Instinct [for site]

WHAT COMES AFTER THE CHAOS? 

In the tumult of 2023, we’ll see people act on their instincts to preserve their sanity, protect themselves, and safeguard what they care about. For some, the Age of Instinct will intensify group allegiances – a reaction to the past two years of atomisation, with data from 2020 suggesting that 

 of global citizens rated their social cohesion as 'weak'. Others will be on the hunt for creature comforts – whether it’s striving for 

 of Gen Z buy now, pay later users in the UK have accumulated debt across platforms, coping mechanisms will override measured responses to crises, and short-term gratification will win out over long-term responsibility.

But as individuals self-soothe, businesses won't be let off the hook. Three years on from the 2020 Expert Outlook, Hear Me! – and following citizen-led movements like #MeToo, Extinction Rebellion, and Black Lives Matter – people understand where individual agency hits its limit and where industry responsibility becomes essential to securing a better future. While 

 of people believe companies must act for the good of the planet and society, 71% don’t believe the promises they make – underscoring the cynicism around the CSR status quo.

Last year’s Expert Outlook – Opt In/Opt Out – identified three anti-establishment mindsets vying for power: the Culture Stewards, Systems Sceptics, and Contrarians. Over 2022, we saw our predictions play out...

Culture Stewards would work towards rebalancing power and influence from the ground up



: In 2022, inclusion and representation became the status quo across industries from beauty to sports. But even as some community bonds strengthen, Culture Stewards are challenged by vocal reactionaries – and growing cynicism around brand involvement when it comes to personal politics and cultural heritage.

Our 2022 prediction

Systems Sceptics would rethink technology, governance and finance – and try to turn others against the status quo

: In 2022, Systems Sceptics soared high – and crashed hard. Crypto scandals, from NFT scams to the FTX collapse, levelled the reputations of so-called world-changers. Yet aspirations to change the rules we live by still hold strong among everyday activists – from climate change to the cost of living, the stakes are higher than ever before.

Contrarians would find a pressure valve with happy-go-lucky hedonism and 'post-woke' profanity

: Amid growing cynicism, burnout, and fatigue, the Contrarian mindset took off across mass culture – paving the way for the irreverence, regression, and indulgence that will rule communications in 2023. From gaming to fashion, Contrarians made a case for living for the fantasy.

States of crisis put people in shock – and shock increases irrational behaviour that can be difficult to predict. As professor of political communication Stephen Coleman notes, “when our minds are geared towards instability or a kind of ontological insecurity... things start to get shaky.” The 2023 Expert Outlook is your map to firm ground amid unstable terrain. Strengthened by the pillars of behavioural science and informed by 48 experts across industries, we identify the key trends, motivations, and tensions set to shape consumer behaviour over the next year, equipping you with the insights to confidently approach strategic decision-making during the Age of Instinct.

What is the Expert Outlook?

If the past year has taught us anything, it’s been that sudden crises can switch up priorities and buck steady trends. This year, we’ve taken a new approach to research and analysis. For the final layer of our research methodology, we partnered with two speculative futures writers to create the Age of Instinct Scenarios. These stories – fortified with quantitative evidence, expert insight, and real-world case studies, and decrypted by our in-house analysts – anticipate the reach of high-impact events and surface the connections behind behavioural changes, helping you plan for the unprecedented.

Speculative fiction

Through our evidence-gathering, expert insight, and analysis, the Expert Outlook will help you feel prepared and confident in your decision-making for the year ahead. It will provide clarity on the key attitudes, behaviours, and tensions set to influence people in 2023 and connect you with the 48 global experts who underpin the research. While our scenarios are set in the near future, the implications can be used to sense-check your planning today.

What’s in it for me?

Expert Outlook 2023

Content Strategy Director

48 global experts – 15 sectors

We spoke to 48 experts across 15 sectors, including experts in economics, geo-politics, and the environment – each with a distinct and forward-facing perspective. We mined their thoughts on the year ahead, distilling their input into core 

Prevalent themes from the expert panel and the Canvas8 Library were cross-analysed with our Sector Behaviours and Macro Behaviours. Our analysts mapped the key 

drivers, tensions, and trend trajectories

 set to influence consumer behaviour in 2023.

Speculative futures writers extrapolated near-future scenarios from our research findings, surfacing unexpected outcomes and areas of impact. Canvas8 analysts ‘decrypted’ these stories to reveal cross-industry 

Key events identified in our trend trajectories and expert agendas make up the Horizon Radar, where 

 will reveal which implications should be prioritised as we move through 2023.

Methodology

Future Scenarios

Insights from the research were transformed into three near-future scenarios. Read the stories and explore the annotations to understand the insights and data behind the fiction.

Embrace openness to build trust

Expanded value

Open to imperfection

Brand implications

What's happening?

Why it matters

Watch this

Decrypting the scenario

Drivers

Tensions

Emerging Developments

Endangering the Future

Scenario 1

Build thriving communities

Commit to equity

Focus on the long-term

Watch This

Decrypting the Scenario

Emerging developments

Community, What?

Scenario 2

Augmented shopping

Visual processing

Influencer information

Hauling Freedom

Scenario 3

Tabbed Scenarios

Trend forecasting

Brand identity

Creative arts

Make-up artist

Make-up portfolio

Consumer goods

Cosmetic science

Product development

Beauty scientist and product developer

A beauty scientist goes to Cosmoprof North America

Cosmetic chemist and founder

Coaching

Future of work

Co-founder

Career support toolkits by Amazing If

Leadership

Leadership development

Emotional intelligence

Engagement and belonging

Founder and CEO

What makes a 'strong' organisational culture?

Generations in the workplace

Higher education

Teens and young adults

Professor

2017 Ted Talk: Generation Z: Making a Difference Their Way

Youth culture

Food equity

Diversity and inclusion

Corporate responsibility

Sustainability

Campaigner

Interview with THRED looking into Christina Adane's food activism

SDG impact

Sustainable business

Innovative financing for development

Impact investment

Tech for good

Head of exploration

The role of ESG in restoring global economic wealth we have

Cultural theorist, cyberpsychologist and marketing strategist

Marketing strategy

Business transformation

User experience

Online culture

Social psychology

Media theory

Memes

Virality

Trends and strategy lead

Zine

Lecturer, Researcher, and Writer

Black diaspora

Digital culture

Feminism

Influencer culture

Director

Meet the lecturer documenting the digital lives of Black people (Bustle Q&A)

Influencer

Founder

My Instagram page with all my content

Editorial director

Christmas food and drink directory

Fashion & culture journalist

Luxury

Fashion

Society

Culture

Fashion and culture journalist and author

Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes (2022)

Metaverse

Innovation

New technology

Digital diversity

Digital fashion

CEO and co-founder

Making the metaverse happen: the rapid rise of IoDF

Urban Mobility

Public Transport

Accessibility

Shared Mobility

Transport Policy

Associate professor of public transport

Uber both competes with, and complements public transport

Urbanism

transportation

planning

infrastructure

parks

Journalist/researcher

In Times of Crisis, Bikeshare Rolls On

Healthcare technology

Digital health

Wellbeing

Loyalty

Eco-systems

Senior executive, Live Better and Wellbeing

Consumer behaviour

Sports and entertainment marketing

Customer experience

Digital consumption

Consumer empowerment

Social influence

Associate professor

The digital fitness boom is closing gender gaps in health and wellness

Editor-in-chief

Generational trends

Family

Contemporary values

Writer and speaker

The generational gap is one thing, but the family never has been stronger 

Gender equity

Gender mainstreaming

Finance

Inclusion

Longevity economy

International marketing and branding specialist

Millennial Parenting

Founder and CEO of Dr Gummer's Good Play Guide

The Power of Play

HNWIs

Wealth

CEO and head of research

Affluent Consumer Research case studies

Professor of marketing

Ethical fashion interview on News Hour

Macroeconomics

Developments

Policy

Forecasts

Demographics

Professor of global economy

Analysis of the outlook for the global and UK economies

American politics and society

Right-wing populism and extremism

Globalisation and development

Adjunct professor

Expert panel 2023