In a world of garbage trends and cherry-picked futurisms, which insights will unlock your next big idea? Award-winning consumer insights practice Canvas8 spoke to 48 global experts to uncover the behaviours set to disrupt and define 2023.

Now in its ninth edition, preview the research to uncover the consumer shifts and brand developments set to shape your business in the coming year and near future.

expert outlook preview 2023

The Age of Instinct

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

Featuring insight from 48 global experts

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 the research and analysis. As the final layer of our research methodology, we partnered with two speculative fiction writers to create the Age of Instinct Scenarios. These supercharged 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 behaviour change, 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

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

Cultural Trends. Foresight & Futurism. Innovation Research. Marketing Strategy. Online Dynamics. Strategic Communications. Consumer Behavior. Emerging Social Shifts.

Head of Global Foresight

ZINE

Lecturer, Researcher, and Writer

Black diaspora

Digital culture

Feminism

Influencer culture

Subcultures

Writer and Reader in Digital Media Studies

Article reflecting on the rising popularity of emo vinyl releases and what has prompted peak emo nostalgia

food trends

Founder

My Instagram page with all my content

Editorial director

Christmas food and drink directory

Fashion & culture journalist

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

Social influence

Associate professor

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

Editor-in-chief

Generational trends

Family

Future of Wealth

Contemporary values

Sunday Times’ Bestselling author and historian 

Intergenerational Expert and Historian Dr Eliza Filby Explains How the Bank of Mum and Dad Is Shaping the Future of Power, Privilege and Financial Decision-Making

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

Policy

Forecasts

Professor of global economy

Analysis of the outlook for the global and UK economies

American politics and society

Politics 

the global radical right

globalisation and development

Labour unions and industrial relations.

Adjunct professor

Landing page for two recent studies on the global radical right

Climate breakdown

Logistics

Employment

Cities

Associate professor in human geography

Transitions in Energy Efficiency and Demand (editor)

Video games

Digital media

Production cultures

Lecturer in communications and media

Independent Videogames: Cultures, Networks, Techniques and Politics

Netnography

Transformation

Marketing

futures

Head of Centre Professional & Economic Development

Research and publications

Future

Community

Strategy

Co-founder and managing director

The Red Bull Music Academy Ecosystem

Personal finance

Consumer affairs

Affordable travel

Relationships

Author and journalist

Money: A User’s Guide

Real estate

Home-ownership

Cost of living

Managing debt

Economy

Investing

Head of editorial

Australians are mad at the RBA: should they be?

Author and founder

Retail

Placemaking

Branding

Experience

Managing director

Future-Ready Retail: How to Reimagine the Customer Experience, Rebuild Retail Spaces and Reignite our Shopping Malls and Streets