Morgan Fincher, Lilah Trinh, Alix August, Julien Noel, Nouhaila Bat, Jakob Bornemann, Sofia
Samaha
Article:“21st-century consumers will change capitalism for the better”

Consumers are changing their shopping habits
Consumers are moving from the west to Asia (Alibaba, Taobao)
a.
b.
Asian consumers are driving retail innovation (live streaming shopping, unique retail
concepts)

Ethical and value driven consumption
a.
Purchases are made based on environmental sustainability and supply-chain
standards.
Modern shoppers are making decisions to support good causes.
b.
c.
Companies are responding by aligning their practices with consumer values, we can
take for example veganism and eco-friendly fashion. This shift is reshaping capitalism

Digital transformation
a.
Consumers are now eligible for more choices and options. (You can buy online or in
store)
b.
Technology is changing shopping practices by bringing consumers and producers
closer through ads, platforms and individual brands.
c.
Technology is helping small businesses sell their products without needing a big
platform
Shopping is becoming more flexible and customizable to one's liking.
d.
Ted Talk

Millennials and Gen Z will inherit 30 trillion dollars


Will also inherit issues such as political instability and climate change
One of the keys to bettering the world is environmental social governance (ESG)
investing

Piece of data that investors consider when investing
Morgan Fincher, Lilah Trinh, Alix August, Julien Noel, Nouhaila Bat, Jakob Bornemann, Sofia
Samaha

Eg. investing in an electric car company

Half of institutional investors consider that the benefits of ESG are unclear
 Some investors believe that a company cannot be sustainable and profitable at
the same time

A lot of what happens in financial markets is down to psychology and expectations


John Maynard Keynes underlined those expectations “animal spirits” played
an important role in market
In Venezuela, expectations created realities (inflation expectations, people
think that prices will go up in the future)
Solutions

Making ESG mainstream requires societies expectations to change greatly

This could be done by standardising ESG metrics, due to diverging opinions
currently on what matters most etc.

A Harvard study highlights that companies which address ESG issues can outperform
companies that don’t by 9%

Add new ways to calculate financial forecasts and data

Companies need to be trusted in order for ESG investing to work

Millennials and Gen Z need to start thinking about their savings and assets today in
order to create a better future
Morgan Fincher, Lilah Trinh, Alix August, Julien Noel, Nouhaila Bat, Jakob Bornemann, Sofia
Samaha