Hopes & Fears Report – new consumer reality
Hopes & Fears Report – new consumer reality
The Hopes and Fears Report provides insight into consumer spending intentions for the year ahead, allowing marketing, insight and communications professionals to plan accordingly and stay ahead of their competitors – all in the face of the new consumer reality.
With consumer spending under threat from rising unemployment, higher than expected inflation, and household budgets being reduced across the board, PRCA Business Affiliate Opinium Research has launched a new report to provide insight into the spending behaviour of UK consumers in the months ahead. It tracks consumers? spending intentions across the following areas:
- Books / newspapers / magazines
- Cosmetics
- Clothing / accessories / jewellery
- Days out
- Eating & drinking outside of the home
- Gifts
- Health & fitness clubs
- Holidays
- Homewares
- Insurance
- Motoring
- The weekly shopping
It is an ideal starting place for anyone wishing to stay in touch with their customers, and will prove to be an excellent launching pad from which to base marketing and communications decisions for products and services in the months ahead.
Examples of toplines include:
- Consumers are expected to spend more on their holidays (19%) and weekly shopping (19%) in 2011
- Getting (further) into debt is most likely to be the primary fear among those in their forties. This is consistent with the finding that this age group is the most likely to have both credit card and overdraft debt (20%)
- The proportion planning to holiday outside of Europe this year is higher than the proportion who did so last year particularly among those in their twenties
- Those in unmarried relationships are the most likely to spend more on eating and drinking out this year (13%), while those divorced or separated are the least likely to increase their spend
Our research has shown that during these tough economic times the priorities of UK consumers are constantly shifting and this is seriously changing the way that companies need to communicate with their different customer segments.
Our research provides a brief insight into the spending habits of a nation that is watching what they spend and that in certain circumstance won?t compromise on luxuries. It?s important that decision makers understand how this dynamic has changed and where applicable, apply this to their communications strategy.
