The Evolution of New Year’s Resolutions: From Ambitious Ideals to Practical Goals
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What if you could track evolving consumer priorities? Suzy’s tools deliver actionable insights to elevate your brand’s impact.
New Year’s resolutions have long reflected the cultural priorities of the time, and over the past decade, these priorities have shifted dramatically. In 2020, we surveyed 1,000 Crowdtap respondents and found the top New Year’s resolutions were largely aspirational. Consumers sought to live life to the fullest, live a healthier lifestyle, and spend more time with friends and family. These goals were aligned with that period’s cultural emphasis on personal betterment through meaningful connections and optimism. Today, New Year’s resolutions are more practical and tailored to real-world pressures. Consumers are pivoting toward "practical living," where they’re more focused on achievable goals to regain a sense of control amid uncertain times.
New Year’s Resolutions as a Signal for Brands
These shifts don’t just impact consumers; they’re a signal for brands to adapt their messaging, offerings, and strategies to align with ever-changing consumer priorities, attitudes and behaviors. New Year’s resolutions act as an annual snapshot of what consumers are thinking about and planning for for the year ahead, but brands can benefit from gauging these ideas and priorities not just once but throughout the year and on an ongoing basis. One of the best ways to keep a pulse on changing consumer priorities is with tracking research. Most often, trackers are designed to track brand health, but brands can benefit from tracking any topics that are relevant or important to their category. Let’s look at the New Year’s resolutions that are top-of-mind in 2025 and how brands can leverage topical trackers to keep a pulse on today’s consumer landscape.
Finance: Resolutions Rooted in Stability
Financial health is now inextricably linked with mental wellbeing, as people recognize how financial stress exacerbates mental health challenges. In 2025, New Year’s resolutions are dominated by financial goals like learning to invest, reducing debt, building emergency savings, and planning for retirement. At the end of 2024, we surveyed 1,000 Crowdtap respondents and found 79% have set goals to bolster their emergency savings—a critical step as 35% report their financial situation has worsened over the past year. The interconnectedness of financial well-being and mental health has never been clearer; the stress of financial instability often exacerbates mental health challenges.
Brands in the financial sector can play a pivotal role in supporting consumers in these goals by leveraging tools like Suzy’s trackers to stay attuned to shifting consumer needs. Here's how:
Understand Shifting Financial Priorities
Track the evolving focus of consumers, whether it’s building a rainy-day fund, minimizing debt, or optimizing investment strategies. This insight allows brands to tailor offerings that resonate with these pressing needs.Analyze App Usage
With nearly half of individuals (49%) relying on money management apps, brands can monitor the effectiveness of app features in helping users meet their financial goals. This data can inform app refinements and partnerships to enhance user experience.Gauge Economic Confidence
Suzy’s trackers help assess how economic trends influence consumer behavior. Understanding how uncertainty shapes spending, saving, and investing empowers brands to adapt their messaging and product design accordingly.
Bodily Wellness: Practicality Over Perfection
Wellness resolutions now emphasize more holistic changes, such as improving energy levels, enhancing overall wellness, and cultivating a positive relationship with food and exercise. Consumers are also prioritizing progress over perfection, seeking practical tools and solutions that make their goals more attainable. For instance, semaglutides, which help regulate appetite and blood sugar, have gained popularity as an evidence-based approach to managing weight and improving metabolic health. Similarly, wearable health trackers empower users with real-time data on their physical activity, sleep patterns, and vital signs, enabling a personalized and proactive approach to wellness.
These innovations have shifted the narrative from rigid, short-term resolutions to sustainable habits that support overall vitality, offering individuals tangible ways to monitor and celebrate their progress throughout the year.
These emerging trends are a signal for brands to meet consumers where they are, marking an opportunity to tailor messaging and invest in creating products that resonate with a changing outlook on wellness. However, brands shouldn’t look at this as a one-time exercise. It’s critical to keep an ongoing pulse on these trends through research solutions like trackers. With Suzy, our Center of Excellence team can tailor trackers to incorporate the metrics, behaviors and attitudes that matter most to your brand:
Understanding Adoption of New Solutions and Technologies: Track interest in new solutions, such as semaglutides, wearable tech, and health apps, to influence your messaging, new partnerships, or feature prioritization.
Monitoring Ingredient Trends: Track how consumers respond to buzzworthy ingredients like adaptogens, probiotics, or plant-based proteins to inform which ingredients and claims to prioritize in your innovation pipeline.
Measuring Shifts in Consumption Habits: Gain ongoing insights into how consumers think about healthy eating, incorporate healthier habits into their daily routines, choose where and what to eat, and decide what to buy at the grocery store.
Staying Ahead with Suzy’s Trackers
The evolution of New Year’s resolutions from aspirational ideals to pragmatic and holistic goals reflects the realities of today’s cultural and economic landscape. As consumers increasingly prioritize practical living—focusing on financial stability, sustainable wellness, and achievable self-improvement—they seek changes that enhance control and well-being. This shift presents brands with a unique opportunity to connect meaningfully by addressing immediate needs while fostering long-term loyalty.
Suzy’s trackers empower brands to stay aligned with these evolving priorities, offering the flexibility to track behaviors, attitudes, and trends beyond traditional brand health metrics. With capabilities to monitor topics such as wellness habits, financial behaviors, or perceptions of sustainability, Suzy’s platform ensures brands capture both short-term changes and long-term shifts. Our speed and retargeting capabilities enable real-time insights and ongoing engagement with the same respondents, allowing businesses to adapt dynamically as consumer priorities evolve.
Complementing this technology, Suzy’s Center of Excellence (COE) team serves as dedicated research partners, working alongside brands to develop tailored tracking solutions that align with their specific objectives. Beyond data collection, the COE team provides actionable, wave-over-wave recommendations, translating insights into strategies that drive growth. From tracking wellness routines to lifestyle shifts or innovation adoption, Suzy’s trackers and COE support keep brands agile and deeply connected to their audiences.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, resolutions will continue to represent not just personal goals but broader cultural shifts, creating unique opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. Suzy’s trackers, combined with our Center of Excellence team’s expertise, provide the tools and insights necessary to navigate these changes and stay ahead in an evolving marketplace. Don’t wait to start understanding and adapting to your consumers’ priorities—book a demo with Suzy today and see how our custom tracking solutions can empower your brand to thrive in 2025 and beyond.
