After years of rising anxiety, Americans are ready for a pause
RESTON, Va., June 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Resonate, a pioneer in AI-driven consumer data and intelligence, today released the results of its summer 2024 reports on consumer and voter trends that show a shift in sentiment as fatigued Americans are ready to trade in years of mounting worry for a summer respite.
For the first time in several years, Resonate recorded an 18% increase in the number of people reporting they have no worries for the next six months, one of several key findings in its latest Consumer Trends Report, drawn from surveys and AI-powered insights across the US adult population. However, the data also shows a population that is still much more price conscious and a lot less loyal to their favorite brands. Notably, marketers should be mindful of the growing number of people (38.8%) that continue to blame corporations for inflation.
While people seem to be adjusting to increased prices with spending and saving habits remaining mostly the same, they are at the same time finding ways to pull back, like seeking cheaper alternatives and switching stores or brands to save money. Other takeaways include:
- The vast majority of people (97.5%) report taking action as a result of experiencing higher prices.
- Americans are more conservative in their spending with 24.6% of people reporting that they’ve cut back on or cut out all non-essential purchases.
- People are decreasing putting off buying cars and homes, but improvement projects and major household purchases are still on pause for 34.5% of respondents.
- Brand loyalty is down, and more people are looking for a deal above all.
- Over the last year, luxury spending has decreased 38% and consumers are going out 7% less.
- At the same time, 25% of people reported an increase of going into debt or dipping into savings to cover expenses.
- In the last 3 months, there’s been a 4% increase in consumers cutting some but not all essential expenses with 26% reporting they are cutting out all non-essential expenses.
- Additionally, despite the summer travel season, Americans are spending less is on travel with 46.9% indicating a reduction over last year and 38.8% plan to maintain budgets from last year.
- Back-to-school is also expected to take slight hit with 14.2% of respondents indicating they will cut back this year and look to use coupons and shop sales; clothing being the most important to spend money on for 70% of people.
“Our data confirms what many brands suspected, brand loyalty is down, and cost is king,” said Bryan Gernert, CEO of Resonate. “While we are seeing people adjust to rising prices and price volatility, they are increasingly looking to alternate brands and stores to help offset those increases. As purchases trend down, this kind of real-time data can help marketers understand what kind of incentives matter most to their various customer segments and what they’re most and least likely to buy right now so they can maximize the efficacy of sales and marketing campaigns.”
To download the full report, visit: https://insights.resonate.com/consumer-sentiment-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic
View a presentation of the findings and outlook in the Summer 2024 Resonate Consumer Trends Report, here.
