Trends are something that people, companies, or other entities are doing more frequently over a period of time. Clients often need this information to explore new product ideas, improve their current offerings, or capitalize on trending solutions and offerings in their industry.

Minimum Requirements

• Provide a minimum of 2-3 trends per 3-hour request.
• Niche: Not easily understandable or recognizable by a layperson - a new / emerging, highly specialized topic/company/product/industry. Examples: Agricultural law, roofing tile, computer-assisted orthopedic surgery (CAOS), etc.
• Well-known/Popular: A viral, trending, recognizable, newsworthy topic/company/product/ industry with plenty of precompiled information. Examples: Beauty, fashion, wearables, co-working spaces, sports, home design, self-driving cars, AI, furniture, etc.
• For each trend, provide:
  • A description of the trend
  • explain why it is a trend (what qualifies it as a trend?)
  • provide 1-2 examples of companies, thought leaders, or industry experts that have discussed the trend.
  • A minimum of 3 bullet points for each header supported by analysis, statistics, or examples.
  • Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. If possible, add an image for each concept discussed.

Types of Trends

There are three major types of trends. These include market/industry trends, social media trends, and consumer trends.

• A market trend is a major movement within a market or a sector that significantly affects the market. These trends may capture the key innovations and developments by companies or other entities (e.g., regulatory authorities) in the market.
• A social media trend is a topic that a large number of users are discussing or a type of post (e.g., a meme or 5-second video) that is gaining in popularity across one or more social media channels. This can be demonstrated through hashtags, shares, or other engagement figures or metrics.
• Consumer trends capture increased consumer demand or changing consumer preferences that are shaping the industry. Consumer trends are influenced by multiple factors such as product pricing, reach/distribution/availability of products, and opinion of the influencers, among others.

Identifying Trends

• To identify a trend, it's important to demonstrate two things:
  • The event, action, issue, or activity is being repeated, happening more often, or is being talked about by more people recently.
  • Multiple ****companies, consumers, or social media users are participating in this trend.

Note: Market growth is the evidence or result of a trend, but is not a trend on its own. Make sure to identify the actual trend. For example, the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in orthopedics is a trend but the growth of the Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery market at a CAGR of 5.5% is not a trend.

• Always start with a direct search using keywords and search strings. If you cannot find information through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean, and X-ray searches, as well as filters to pull relevant results.

  <aside> 🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods e.g., X-ray and Boolean search are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, mention the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

  </aside>

• Use market research and business databases such as IBISWorld and ReportLinker to find market research reports on your topic. MIT Libraries and UBC Library provide a comprehensive list of industry-specific market research databases.

• Most market research reports identify key trends in the preview of the report, even if the full report is paywalled. Use these reports as a starting point and then corroborate and enhance your findings using reputed news and media articles.