UK consumers are switching everything | WARC | The Feed

UK consumers are switching everything

From switching brands to switching off lights, UK consumers are acutely conscious of the impact of the rising cost of living, research from consumer insights provider Toluna reveals.

Why it matters

Rising grocery bills, energy prices, council taxes and petrol costs are the most obvious aspects of a cost of living crisis that now impacts the spending plans of 75% of Britons, according to a survey of 1,011 people in the UK as part of Toluna’s Global Consumer Barometer Study. Half believe they’ll be worse off financially in the next three months and are planning to scale back on spending. 

But if consumers think it’s tough now, it will get worse. That research was conducted before the Bank of England announced interest rates were going up to 1%, the highest level in 13 years. At the same time it warned inflation will exceed 10% in coming months and predicted recession by the end of the year.

Price awareness

Statistics from the study showed that:

• 93% say they’re affected by higher grocery prices. 
• 80% have felt the effects of price changes when purchasing clothes, 74% when buying electrical goods (such as computers, phones, and home appliances).
• 74% are feeling the impact when eating out at a restaurant or pub.
• 67% of people have noticed monthly phone charges going up.
• Two-thirds say higher prices have hit their music and TV subscriptions.
• Two-thirds have seen higher prices when ordering takeaway food and drink.

Changing behaviours 

The survey also found that:

• 38% plan to switch to supermarket and store own-label products, forgoing their preferred brand names to save money.
• 29% plan to change the supermarket where they usually shop to save on food costs (and 27% are changing the number of snacks they buy and where they buy them from).
• 26% are going to change brands to save money.
• 57% are planning to turn lights off in their home whenever possible to help manage finances.
• 47% are going to reduce the target temperature of their heating.
• A third are going to take shorter showers to reduce water bills.
• 30% are planning to use eco/cold washes on washing machines to save money.

Key quote

“People are committed to making key lifestyle changes to ensure they keep the cost of living down as much as possible. Brands must understand this and be prepared to respond” – Lucia Juliano, head of research, UK & Netherlands at Toluna.

Sourced from Toluna, Guardian [Image: Josh Appel on Unsplash]