Businesses must shift strategies based on changing behaviours during COVID-19 pandemic, report finds

Brands should re-think their way of doing business after nearly two years of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people approach work, consumerism, technology and environmentalism, according to a new report.

Accenture Interactive has identified five different societal behaviours that could change the ways companies strategize around design, innovation and growth as a result of changes in things such as employee expectations and the scarcity caused by supply chain problems.

"Don't underestimate the degree of relationship change we are seeing," Mark Curtis, head of global innovation and thought leadership at Accenture Interactive, said in a news release. "The choices that businesses make next might affect our world and its structure in more ways than we can imagine, and it all points to shifts in people's relationships with colleagues, brands, society, places and with those they care about."

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The first changing behaviour noted in the report is a growing sense of agency in the workplace. People are questioning who they are and what matters most to them, the report says, with rising individualism that could have implications on how companies treat and assign value to employees.

Canadians, for their part, have expressed a desire to maintain workplace flexibility afforded by the pandemic, according to research.

Next, challenges related to supply chain shortages has meant empty shelves and rising prices for some products and services. They may no longer be as easy or convenient to acquire, and businesses must address the availability anxiety experienced by consumers as a result. Scarcity also means a shift toward being more nature-conscience could be helpful, the report says.

The metaverse is poised to be a new frontier of the internet, combining all the existing layers of information, interfaces and spaces with which people interact, the report says, offering businesses a new way to grow and make money. It may include places in the real world that interact with the digital one.

Mark Zuckerberg brought the concept of the metaverse into the spotlight when he announced a re-branding of Facebook in October to “Meta.” Microsoft has also expressed interest in converging the digital and physical worlds.

Another changing behaviour, the report says, involves access to information at the push of a button or through voice assistance programs such as Alexa and Google Assistant. There are many ways for consumers to get immediate answers to their questions these days. How businesses answer them can drive up trust and offer a competitive advantage.

Finally, self-care, care for others and the delivering of such care, both digital and physical, has become important to consumers, according to the report. Businesses may want to consider ways of providing room for employees and customers to practice care.

Mental health has been a big topic of discussion over the past two years. A number of studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic have reported increased depression and anxiety with concern among workers and youth.