Current Trends
ANTI-AGING
Nowadays people older than a certain age suddenly feel the need to look younger. They dislike their jowls falling or lines appearing and turn to cosmetic surgery, for example. This is a trend we see happening more often. It is not only women anymore who turn to cosmetic surgery for anti-aging. Also men are considering it more often. 90 percent of surgeries are still performed on women but the group of men is also growing. The target audience for cosmetic surgery is men and women older than 19 who have the need to look younger or feel better about themselves. (Wagner)
(The Best Tips Available For Cosmetic Surgery)
Since I am focussing on the maxi-trends I need to find out what needs lay behind cosmetic surgery. I have been looking at Maslow's pyramid for this. This
pyramid shows all people's needs and their order. I tend to say that cosmetic surgery is caused by the need for esteem. People turn to cosmetic surgery
because they want to feel confident about themselves and they often have the feeling that they will be respected by others more after surgery. When maxi-trends focusses on consumer and therefore on what drives the consumer I would say that the maxi-trend in this case would be the need for esteem, respect and confidence.
(Factoryjoe, 2009)
In order to make a trend pyramid we need to know the micro-, maxi- and mega-trend. We now know the micro-trend is cosmetic surgery and the maxi-trend is the need for esteem, respect and confidence. But what would be the mega-trend in this case? The reason that it is possible to perform cosmetic surgery is the developments in surgical possibilities. If the technology would not have grown to such an advanced level it would not be possible to perform cosmetic surgery. Therefore I believe the mega-trend in this trend pyramid should be surgical technology.
To get to know the target group better we can use a DESTEP-model. DESTEP stands for demographic, Economic, Social, Technical, Ecological and Political. In this case I will leave the last two behind, because I believe these are not applicable on this trend and its target group.
Demographic
The target group of cosmetic surgery consists of all people that want to look younger or feel better about themselves. They would go pretty far to establish it, hence cosmetic surgery. The target group consists of 90 percent women and 10 percent men of an age older than 18. The person could be either married or single and living in a western country.
Economic
To be able to spent money on cosmetic surgery you should either have a normal job and save a lot for it or you should have a job of a higher level. Cosmetic surgery is expensive and in most cases will not be paid by insurance, unless it prolong your regular lifestyle. Since cosmetic surgery is not only performed in a certain country it is hard to state national income. However, looking at the graph below we can state that in South-Korea most cosmetic surgery is performed. South-Korea has a gross national income of 1,500 billion US $ at this moment and in Greece this is 290 billion US $. (World Bank, 2014)
(S. Korean have more plastic surgery than any other nation: ISAPS, 2013)
Social
People who turn to cosmetic surgery most likely have a good social life. They believe they will be respected more after surgery and therefore have an even better social life.
Technological
For people to be able to turn to cosmetic surgery it is necessary that the technology is advanced. In this case it is not necessary for the target group to have technological devices or advances, but for the hospitals or clinics.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Maybe the most popular trend of today is the one of social media. The definition of social media is:
"Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking." (Oxford Dictionary)
(Rinske Jansen)
Almost everyone has one or more social media accounts. People have an account on social media to connect with others and to post things on their lives. It is all about communication and sharing. (Wikipedia) Social media is a micro-trend, because it focusses on the product itself. To create the trend
pyramid I need to find the maxi- and mega-trend as well. The maxi-trend focusses on the consumer and their needs. For the needs we turn to Maslow's
pyramid, which is stated on this website multiple times. People's need for love and belonging is satisfied when social networking. The need for communication, love and belonging is the maxi-trend in this trend-pyramid. Technological development is the maxi-trend in this pyramid. Without the technological developments of today it would not be possible to log in on your computers, smartphones, tablets and laptops. 
The target audience of social media are all people that have access to the internet. Social media was created to maintain contact and foster network building of users with common goals, shared interests, relationships or other social connections. (Wiki Answers) To analyse the target group better we can fill in the DESTEP-model. I will leave behind the ecological and political factors, because I believe this is not applicable on this trend.
Demographical
All people with access to the internet can use social media. This means that mostly people living in the western countries use social media. People's relationship status is not of any influence on the ability to use social media. The age range for social media is between 16 and 60.
Economical
The financial situation of people has no influence on the ability to use social media. People need to have access to the internet, which means that they should be able to buy a computer, telephone, tablet or laptop.
Social
The social situation of people has a big influence on the use of social media. However, people could either have a big or small group of family and friends. People with a big social environment are able to socialize and contact with their friends and family. People with small to no social environment are able to meet other people and gain social connections online, using social media.
Technical
Without the technological developments we have these days it would not be possible for people to log in on social media. If there were no computers, tablets, smartphones and laptops social media would not have been such a big trend as it is at this time.