As brands need to work hard to meet consumer demands and expectations, understanding how their behavior is changing and adapting to new technologies is key.

2014 looks set to be a year of demanding more. When we look at the small cultural shifts that beckon change-the emerging behaviours that are just reaching the mainstream-it seems that consumers are going to expect more than ever. The Cultural Insight team at Added Value recently conducted research to determine the 2014 global trends as defined by culture. Here are the top six trends that will shape consumer behavior in 2014:

1. Multiplicity. We are increasingly expecting things to do more that involves interacting with all our senses, offers us a range of touch points to play with, and involves us entirely in new experiences.

There is a growing desire for multiplicity and experiences are expected to offer more. We've grown used to sensory experiences being enhanced, but now we're seeing the clashing, blurring and even confusing of senses. The same is happening in storytelling - rather than just one story, we are seeing powerful story worlds with multiple strands of narrative on multiple platforms, allowing the various threads to permeate viewer's lives. It is no longer enough to immerse the viewer in an experience, and people are rejecting the idea of passive on-looking. They are now craving active participation.

Read more from the source: Forbes