The feeling of uncertainty has become part of everyone’s lives, not only in Germany and Europe, but on a global scale. Acting in uncertainty is no longer limited to the stock markets. We all make decisions in objective uncertainty. The certainty of uncertainty has become normality. Unfortunately, the society cannot relax and simply adapt to the uncertainty associated with the future. Just on the contrary, it has to be flexible and prepare itself for potential surprises. In decision-making situations we are urged to look for alternatives.

We act in the face of this condition and need to assume an attitude towards it. Oscar Wilde had such an attitude when he said: “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” However, not everyone is so relaxed about it.

The crisis is changing our world view

The global financial and economic crisis has also thrown numerous professional experts into deep doubt: the “wise men”, a council of economic advisors as well as analysts, journalists, politicians and other “symbol analysts” did not see this crisis coming. Slowly but surely it becomes certain that neoliberalism and the unrestrained deregulation of capital markets and living conditions may have contributed to this crisis. Why is the world view of capitalism, which triumphantly succeeded after the breakdown of communism, now collapsing like a soufflé when opening the oven door?

The traditional economic theory teaches that basically, free markets are perfect and stable. According to this school of thought, any intervention by the government would be detrimental. If people acted rationally and pursued their self-serving economic goals, in an economy that consists of perfect markets they would use all mutually beneficial opportunities for producing and exchanging goods. But they do not.
Because this theory by Adam Smith does not take into account that people are also driven by non-economic motivations, they also act irrationally and pursue wrong ideas. In a nutshell, human behaviour is also influenced by “animal spirits” (Akerlof/Shiller) and therefore creates inconsistency, ambiguity and uncertainty in the markets. People’s actions are mainly driven by trust and a desire for fairness, and are also influenced by the occasional disposition to corrupt behaviour as well as the habit to view reality through the glasses of their personal subjective reality of life and life story.

By incorporating those “animal spirits” into economics, the economy and its crises could be explained better. At the same time, turning away from the sole company goal of shareholder value and from the image of man as a purely rational Homo Economicus will result in an improved understanding of the human being as an employee and customer.

Nervousness: between flight and attack

People react to emotional stimuli. Emotions are excitation patterns in the central nervous system and therefore basic human driving forces. It is this tension that activates a human being, provides the organism with energy and puts him in a state ready to perform. However, these excitation patterns do not form the basis of a definite direction on how to act.

We live in a state of mind that in instinct theory is called appetency, a search and orientation behaviour that precedes our readiness to act: we sense danger or prey. We are faced with the decision to take flight or to attack. Our daily lives are full of examples.

• The euro crisis makes shareholders nervous. Because of the dangers or the opportunities?

• The metropolitan middle class reacts nervously to school reforms. Is this status panic or the search for the best opportunities for their own children?

Especially in crisis situations, a large amount of nervous tension can build up at the societal level that often goes hand in hand with a kind of emotional fatigue of the society (depoliticization, decline in civic commitment, reduced to consumption). In the face of such nervousness, a downward spiral could get started. Stagnating markets will bring about nervous and worried consumers.

However, being nervous does not only have an adverse effect: it increases our awareness. Nervousness is not simply a decrease in calmness, but often a productive situation of tension. Some people feel pressured much more quickly, while others become multitasking talents when under pressure. There is also a nervousness of vitality and creativity. Moments of panic and hysteria have always been the engine of the avant-garde.

The sociologist Georg Simmel talks about anxious classes. He describes a new type of consumers: “In fashion – the alternating and contrasting form of life – anxious classes and individuals pressing for change see a reflection of the pace of their own emotional flow.” Simmel adds that “today’s fashions are not as flamboyant and expensive as they were in previous centuries” and, given the fact that many goods cost less, fashions “have a much shorter lifespan”. What Simmel describes here is the basic element of a distinction process – the devalorisation from “the front”, the “masses” advancing and the escape movement of the “avant-garde”.

Today, the economy is faced with an ever more restless audience. More and more people show multitasking consumption behaviour. These days, many people consume TV and the Internet at the same time and TV programme producers are not the only ones to be concerned about this restless consumption behaviour – it can also be found in the consumption of other things.

Yet, this change in behaviour does not simply result from stress and restlessness. It also has to do with the new and confident self-image of the consumers who see the new possibilities as a liberation from paternalism. The consumers are more restless, and, at the same time, more self-confident. They refuse to buy a product if they find its advertising annoying. They show only limited patience with online shops. On the other hand, they spend a lot of time at places where they can expect a social reward: around the world, social networks are growing in appeal. And the Internet is increasingly accessed from mobile phones.

The economy has to adapt to the nervous consumer (and employee). His restlessness has to do with stress as well as his new self-confidence and attitude towards life: Flow.Control.
The coming years will be shaped by a dynamic, flexible and rapidly accelerating environment and the challenges it will present to consumers and companies. The mega trend is called “Flow.Control. Self-determination instead of system domination” and will be the key topic of the 15th German Trend Day.