The monthly trend monitor provides a unique data-driven overview over the most important global consumer, industry, and society trends. How it works: We use the SONAR trend radar, which tracks the volume of written scientific and journalistic publications on a certain trend, to find out what the top five trends are in these three categories. Utilizing intelligent algorithms, SONAR analyzes a continuously growing database of more than 40 million publications from academic journals, expert blogs, mass media, and patent registers to gain unique insights on global trends.

SONAR can sort trends by Volume (number of articles relevant to a trend and relative to the SONAR index), Growth (YoY growth, volume of the last 12 months vs. previous 12 months) or Momentum (MoM growth, volume of the last month vs. volume of the previous month).

Each month, we present the top 5 consumer, industry, and society trends by Momentum.

Top 5 Consumer Trends May 2021

Many experts have projected that an increased consumer inclination towards a slower pace of life could be one of the lasting effects of COVID-19 pandemic. The strong momentum displayed by the Slow Movement trend in the SONAR universe appears to confirm this assumption.

Top 5 Industry Trends May 2021

Artificial Intelligence is May’s top industry trend, both in terms of Volume and Momentum, followed by Deep & Machine Learning, which also includes AI-related publications. Functional & Enriched Food almost triples its momentum compared to the previous month.

Top 5 Society Trends May 2021

Remarkably, Global Threats, last month’s number one society trend that includes publications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, is not featured in this month’s top five list. Climate Change is the new leading society trend, boasting double the momentum of Diversity & Inclusion, the second strongest trend.

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