Customer insight that drives business impact
Cynics, as Oscar Wilde argued, understand the price of everything but the value of nothing. Thus, brands need highly convincing strategies as building relationships with these customers gets tougher. The cost of living crisis has hastened changes in consumer behavior sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming once-deemed temporary reactionary human experiences and behaviors into profound, enduring societal shifts.
The products, experiences and services we purchase to sustain us–providing food, cleanliness, safety, warmth, or contentment–now come at a higher cost because of the economic crisis, affecting everyone, everywhere. Individuals are delaying long-term decisions in the “fog of uncertainty,” making significant trade-offs in their lives (beyond merely trading down), with nearly a quarter reporting feelings of loneliness, disconnection and isolation.
Consider Toni, a MROC (market research online community) participant in this project (cost-of-living crisis documentary) and a single mother of twins. Recently, she made the decision to sell her car to allocate additional funds for healthier food options for her kids–and an ice cream treat once a week. She is sacrificing convenience, status, and even freedom for her children’s well-being and long-term health, prioritizing meaningful moments of connection and memories.
VALUE: Relationships Under Duress delves into shifts in human experiences in an ‘age of uncertainty’: the tangible human impact and the role brands must play in this new relationship paradigm to meet consumers expectations and reduce customer churn.
What has often been discussed in quasi ‘benign’ or economic terms– ‘inflation crunch, economic pressures, price increases’–is, in reality, a perma-crisis that will take years to recover from, already influencing consumer behavior the way people interact with your products and services, your brand and your category.
