Trends no longer move through culture the way they once did. Drawing on nearly two decades at Adidas and Nike, Nick Gray explores how algorithms, exposure loops, and repetition have reshaped how trends are formed — and why familiarity is now mistaken for relevance.

“Emotional self-preservation in consumption refers to the way people use purchasing decisions to restore control, identity and meaning when the future feels uncertain and institutional trust is low.” If we're honest with ourselves, we could say the world doesn’t feel particularly stable right now, not in the dramatic sense of one defining catastrophe, but in a more subtle and unsettling way where nothing quite feels anchored anymore. Technology is reshaping work faster than our social systems...

Conversion hasn’t stopped working — confidence has. As brands head into 2026, familiar psychological tactics are creating hesitation rather than action. This article explores why trust, clarity, emotional safety, and judgement are now the defining forces behind modern conversion.