O MANNY's

Marketers and businesses need to be a little concern of a world were consumers live minimalist lives. Since the 2008 great recession, I’ve sensed and observed a generation of individuals grow tired of excessive consumerism. A generations that have learned to resist the “jones effect”, social pressures, and marketing bombardments. I might be wrong however I believe a significant population over the next few years will find ways to buy more for need and rent their wants.

Reality...

The reality is that, we are in an era where a generation like the millennials (especially in developed countries) feel unable to afford a nice house in decent neighborhoods, are avoiding buying a car because of access to ride sharing services like Uber. And because having a car is a constant allocation of cash to fix it, maintain it, fuel it, etc.

Companies have grown eager to utilize temporary workforce which means more and more people need to be proactive in looking out for themselves. The best paying jobs are heading up the chain and the mundane jobs are not seeing their wages increase or will gradually get automated. Individuals will gradually start to adapt their consumerism habits so they are constantly watching their daily and monthly expenses.

In a Gen Y’s (millennials) social circles, you are likely to find most doing jobs not financially secure, not providing career advancement, and likely on contract. Either many accept the reality, do something by becoming entrepreneurs, or just give-up. 

We are seeing more delaying marriage, religion is losing relevance, government and politicians are not as trustworthy. We’ve seen civil liberty threaten from public and private sides, growing acts of terrorism which seem to have multiplied like rats over the years, growing social & economical migration, VR & AR & Drones are growing technological phenomena, yet we haven’t eradicated extreme poverty in our neighborhoods, and we live in our communities not feeling like we are looking out for each other.

What is minimalist

To marketers and business managers, who are constantly being pressured to sell more and perform better, Minimalist are people who are condensing their wants to meet just their needs.

They basically want to simplify their lives and improve the quality.

Some Characteristic of a Minimalist

People feeling overwhelmed by the rapid changes in either technology, relationships, social, environmental, economy, community, transit, sensor stimulation, gender, sex, security, rights, conflicting messages, or just everything


People who enjoy being able to eliminate unwanted things through donations, ebay, yard sale, community exchange, etc

People who can take on more responsibility and important roles however chosen to avoid it and all the stress it will put on them and their family.
People who have accepted they can no longer expect to have the traditional career paths and are happy with that

People who have fewer close friends and striving for the quality in their relationships. They are comfortable staying single longer, and just enjoying going on dates, using apps like Tinder, and don’t feel the need to be tied down to marriage.

People who are less driven by money. For them it’s about their significance, quality life, their contribution, their impact that makes a difference in the world.

People living minimalist lives can give back more to others because they’ve avoided using their limited resources on things that truly can’t deliver lasting happiness.

People who are becoming more financially aware and making better financial decisions by not living beyond their means.


People who understand how they got into bad debt through the years of buying consumerism goods. And who understand good debt from bad dept..


People who don’t care too much for possessions. They have things but usually those possessions serve a functional need and usually bought on sale or at a more favorable transaction.




People who don’t feel the need to show off their possessions. They have great things however the psychological influence or status associate with the item really means nothing unless it enables them to maintain or improve their quality of life. For example, do you think someone wearing a Beats headphones is happier than a Panasonic headphones wearer?

People who are very educated in the psychology tricks, manipulation of companies and governments to get them to do something or think a certain way. These people have a stronger will to resist and be skeptical. They also know every shinning thing can not replace their need for the intangible things such as love which money or the latest iPhone can’t fill.



So how concerned should marketers and businesses be? Very concerned if they are not taking efforts to make sure their services and products are enabling consumers to enjoy what really matters in life. I believe Minimalist will try to consume less on wants and efficiently allocate resources for needs.

I welcome your relevant thoughts




***FREE marketing ebook about future world of marketing called:  The Art of Simple Sustainable Marketing in 2015, 2020, & Beyond