Brits crave the human touch as digital fatigue sets in — Mintel
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Mintel's July 2026 ‘The Connection Economy’ report finds UK consumers actively pulling back from over-automated experiences and prioritising human connection — a direct warning to brands that over-index on AI efficiency at the expense of the personal.
Hyperconnected, but craving something more human
Mintel's whitepaper argues that despite being more connected than ever, UK consumers are making ‘sharper priorities’ — protecting time and money for experiences that feel human, social and less mediated. Holidays and foodservice remain resilient precisely because they deliver shared, in-person moments.
The report frames this not as brand-new behaviour but as a clarifying of choices: as incomes recover, Mintel expects attention to shift “further towards relationships, social time and fulfilment.”
The AI warning sitting inside the data
The sharpest line for marketers is Mintel's caution that over-reliance on AI outputs “risks eroding consumer trust.” Coming in the same summer that ISBA found 99% of UK advertisers now use generative AI, that's a timely counterweight.
The tension is real: AI makes marketing cheaper and faster, but the thing consumers say they want more of — genuine human connection — is exactly what mass automation strips out. Efficiency and warmth are starting to pull in opposite directions.
Marketing Minute's read: use AI to earn human moments, not replace them
Our take: the winning model isn't ‘AI or human’ — it's using AI to buy back time for the human moments that matter. Automate the drafting, the tagging, the reporting; reinvest the hours saved into real conversations, better service and creative that feels made by people.
For UK SMEs this is quietly good news. You can't out-automate a Meta or an Amazon, but you can out-human them — a handwritten note, a real person answering the phone, a founder who replies. Mintel is effectively saying your ‘disadvantage’ of being small and personal is becoming a competitive edge.
Quick FAQ
What is Mintel's ‘Connection Economy’?
A July 2026 Mintel whitepaper arguing UK consumers are pulling back from over-automated experiences and prioritising human connection, spending more deliberately on shared, in-person moments.
Does this mean brands should stop using AI?
No — but it warns against over-reliance. Mintel says leaning too hard on AI outputs risks eroding trust; the smarter play is using AI to free up time for genuine human interaction.
What should marketers do about it?
Automate low-value tasks, then reinvest the saved time into service, real conversations and human-feeling creative — especially valuable for smaller brands that can out-human larger competitors.
— Dimitro Cohen, Technology & Ad-Tech Correspondent at Marketing Minute
As UK consumers tire of automation, the brands that win will use AI to buy back time for genuine human moments — not to erase them. For small businesses, being personal is now a competitive advantage.
Where could a more human touch — not more automation — actually set your brand apart this year?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Mintel, DecisionMarketing and MarTech.
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Written by Dimitro Cohen, Technology & Ad-Tech Correspondent at Marketing Minute
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