Look here for Trendwatching.com's recently released 2008 Trend Report. Move over "Experience Economy" and make room for the "EXPECTATION ECONOMY."

TrendWatching says,

The EXPECTATION ECONOMY is an economy inhabited by experienced, well-informed consumers from Canada to South Korea who have a long list of high expectations that they apply to each and every good, service and experience on offer.

Their expectations are based on years of self-training in hyperconsumption, and on the biblical flood of new-style, readily available information sources, curators and BS filters. Which all help them track down and expect not just basic standards of quality, but the 'best of the best'.

We're actually dealing with these "expect-sumers" in a SF style chat room called StyleForum as I speak. If experiences like this in dealing with potential customers are any indication, I'd say 2008 will certainly be the year where individuals are leading the dance between customer and brand. And we at DressMonkey are excited to learn from this new trend of mature and savvy consumers!