The true impact of the cost-of-living crisis

Almost 40% of Britons aren’t coping on their current salaries and 60% are looking for the lowest prices when shopping, according to new data from IPA Touchpoints*.

Key findings 

• More than a third (37.6%) of consumers aren’t coping on their current salary (up from 30.7% in the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021). For the lowest income and disadvantaged groups this figure stands significantly higher at 60%.
• Three-fifths (60.9%) of consumers look for the lowest possible prices when they go shopping and 41.6% actively look for money-off vouchers (up from 31.7% in pre-lockdown 2020).
• Over half of consumers (52.9%) say they will gladly switch brands to make use of a coupon; 42.7% say they use a range of supermarkets and shops for their weekly groceries in order to get the best prices.
• Consumers are spending 66 minutes per day more inside their home post lockdown (a total of 18 hours 43 minutes per day).

Why it matters

Quite apart from the impact on consumers’ daily purchasing decisions, financial struggles are having a knock-on effect on forward planning across all age groups. Fewer young people are planning to go to university, fewer mid-career people are thinking about changing jobs or starting their own businesses, and more older people are delaying retirement. Across all sectors, brands and their agencies need to seriously consider how they can best help to add value to consumers’ lives.

Key quote

“[The cost-of-living crisis] is impacting consumers’ daily lives, not only in terms of what they can afford, but what they do, when they go out, when they socialise and crucially for our industry, how they consume different media channels” – Belinda Beeftink, Research Director, IPA.

*A nationally representative survey was carried out on over 3,000 GB adults aged 15+, between January and March 2023.

Sourced from IPA