LOS ANGELES, May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For decades, luxury was about access to the right places. But new research from Team One suggests that for today’s affluent consumers, the real scarcity isn’t access. It’s belonging.
Today, Team One released its 2026 Global Affluent Collective® report, “The Belonging Correction,” drawing on 16 years of proprietary research and a study of 4,334 respondents across 18 countries. The findings reveal a widening disconnect between opportunities for connection and true feelings of belonging, thus signaling a fundamental shift in how affluents define a life well-lived and posing major repercussions for brands.
Nearly half (49%) of global affluents say they haven’t built the life they want, and 51% now prioritize friendship over status. As access expanded, so did the number of places and spaces where the world’s wealthy could enter—but their sense of belonging once inside did not. The question is no longer “Can I get in?” but “Where do I feel I belong?”
The response: a turn toward smaller, more intentional circles, and a growing premium on genuine connection.
“Affluents overvalued being seen. They’ve corrected toward being understood,” said Mark Miller, Chief Strategy Officer at Team One. “Brands are still speaking to a version of success their audience has already outgrown. What they need isn’t another announcement of a new room to enter. It’s support. It’s tools that help them build trust, deepen relationships, and show up in the moments that actually matter. The brief isn’t about access alone anymore. It’s about affinity.”
The research highlights three key shifts redefining belonging among affluent audiences:
- Standards: The criteria defining belonging; 81% say social success means being accepted for who they are, not how they’re seen.
- Signals: The cues that make belonging legible; 92% seek validation from the right people, not the most people.
- Skills: The competencies that sustain belonging; 80% build belonging through shared time and interests, while only 31% rely on exclusive access.
“For sixteen years, we’ve tracked how the world’s most affluent people define a life well-lived,” said Tahni Candelaria, Director of Cultural Anthropology, Team One. “This year’s core learning around the shift in what belonging means has implications for how we think about the role that brands have in their social ecosystem. The Collective isn’t asking brands to be louder, they are asking them to be useful: to help them sustain trust, navigate context, and build relationships that feel real. The brands that hear that will write a very different brief.”
The implications are significant for premium and luxury brands. In a category long built on more access, growth will come from enabling deeper, more meaningful forms of connection rooted in real belonging.
The “Belonging Correction” report is available now at TeamOne-USA.com, offering brands a new framework on how affluent consumers build and sustain connection, and what it takes to show up in those moments in ways that feel credible, not performative.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL AFFLUENT COLLECTIVE
The Global Affluent Collective® is Team One’s proprietary intelligence platform dedicated to understanding the world’s most influential consumers—the top 10% of global earners. Built on 16 years of ongoing research, the Collective offers unparalleled insights into the values, behaviors, and evolving mindsets of affluent individuals across continents. It serves as a strategic compass for brands as they navigate the shifting definitions of luxury, purpose, and success. Through annual reports, cultural analysis and bespoke consulting, the Global Affluent Collective helps aspirational brands stay ahead of what matters most to those who shape culture and commerce.
ABOUT TEAM ONE
Team One is Publicis Groupe’s fully integrated media, digital, and communications agency dedicated to helping premium and luxury brands achieve their highest aspirations in the modern media landscape. With more than 400 employees, Team One has six North American offices, including its Los Angeles headquarters, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Boise. Team One clients include Lexus and the Lexus Dealer Association, Marriott International, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Barclays Investment Bank, The RealReal, HKS Architects, Metabo HPT, KB Home, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc., Moët Hennessy, and Cathay Pacific Airways Limited. Team One continues to be recognized for its industry-leading work and unique culture, which encourages innovation at all levels. To learn more about the agency’s work, team, and innovation ethos, visit TeamOne-USA.com.
PRESS CONTACT
Shelby Griffin, Communications Director, Team One
shelby.griffin@teamone-usa.com
