At the start of the decade, consumers adopted a slew of new behaviors—almost overnight—in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work, digital connectivity, and solo activities became the norm for life in lockdown. Today, the world has reopened, but the era of uncertainty and its impact on consumers linger. Globally, consumer sentiment is still poorer on average than it was at the beginning of 2020, and consumers remain concerned about rising prices and inflation. Despite this persistent uncertainty, they keep spending. In fact, the relationship between sentiment and spending has weakened . Meanwhile, consumers’ expectations for value and convenience have them making unexpected trade-offs across categories: trading down in one place while simultaneously splurging on something else. These choices may be confusing to anyone trying to predict what consumers will do next. It’s not that today’s consumers are irrational; it’s that the old frameworks used to decipher their behavior no longer apply. What once seemed like short-term adaptations born of the COVID-19 pandemic have solidified into lasting behavioral change. As the world heads into the second half of the decade, consumer-facing companies confront new challenges, but knowing how to decipher an unpredictable consumer can help them stay agile and relevant. From an analysis of the McKinsey ConsumerWise Sentiment Survey and State of the Consumer Market Survey data, we have identified five behavioral forces that will shape the sector in the years ahead and four strategic imperatives to position organizations for growth. 1 (While growth in emerging markets and global demographic shifts , such as an aging global population and lower average birth rates, are also reshaping the consumer landscape, this article focuses on the sticky consumer behavioral changes that we see affecting the world’s largest markets.) Five COVID-19-era dynamics that are still shaping the consumer sector At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers adopted new behaviors extremely quickly, and some of those behaviors have endured. To understand how consumers have changed, McKinsey ConsumerWise Sentiment Survey questioned more than 25,000 consumers in 18 markets that together account for around 75 percent of global GDP. 2 Their answers, as well as those of participants in the State of the Consumer Market Survey, reveal how today’s consumers spend their time, who they trust, and how they ascribe value. 1. People are spending more time alone and online The behaviors that consumers adopted for coping with life under COVID-19 lockdown—namely, a reliance on digital connectivity and at-home activities—are now permanent parts of their daily lives. Globally, consumers still spend their time and money differently than they did five years ago. They’re more intent on immediate gratification and convenience and have a higher focus on self than before. 1 Unless otherwise mentioned, data in this article come from the McKinsey ConsumerWise Sentiment Survey for the second quarter of 2025. The online McKinsey ConsumerWise Sentiment Survey was in the field for the second quarter of 2025, from April 26 to May 5, 2025, and garnered responses from 25,998 consumers in 18 markets. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP. The McKinsey State of Consumer Market Survey garnered responses from 2,838 consumers: 1,327 from the United States in a survey fielded April 23 to April 28, 2025; 600 from China in a survey fielded April 30 to May 6, 2025; 572 from Germany in a survey fielded April 28 to April 30, 2025; and 339 from the United Kingdom in a survey fielded April 28 to April 30, 2025. 2 World Economic Outlook: A critical juncture , International Monetary Fund, April 2025. 2 State of the Consumer 2025: When disruption becomes permanent