Consumers have the answer to rising prices ... and brands won’t like it

Consumers struggling to make ends meet take an uncomplicated view of what brands need to do to tackle price rises: cut marketing spend, cut executive pay, cut profits.

That’s according to consumer insights platform Zappi , which surveyed 1,500 adults in the UK as part of a wider global study. 

Key findings

• Two thirds (67%) of consumers expect brands to cut C-suite pay to keep prices down.
• Three quarters (75%) want brands to take accountability for soaring prices amidst the cost of living crisis by reducing their profits

• More than four in five (85%) believe brands should also cut down on marketing spend.

Why it matters

Consumer sentiment chimes with a recent UK government proposal to reward businesses for cutting adspend as a way to minimise price increases. While marketing theory and the marketing industry at large can see the holes in such a scheme, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen – and if it does, it potentially sets up consumers against those brands which continue to advertise. 

Throw in money-saving expert Martin Lewis’s warnings of civil unrest in reaction to rising energy prices and it’s not a huge step (with the caveat that the views highlighted in Zappi’s research were prompted) to think that everyday brands could be caught up in a serious backlash against impossible costs of living this winter. Marketers need to be gaming the worst-possible scenarios.

Sourced from Zappi, Marketing Week, Guardian, LinkedIn