February 10th, 2023, Kineree Shah
High inflation is affecting consumers worldwide with more people feeling the pressure on their household budgets. According to a YouGov poll conducted across 18 international markets, one-fifth of global consumers say they have been price-conscious about phones in the past six months. By price-conscious, we mean being sensitive to price increases and changing their behaviors (changing brands, shopping around, not buying at all etc) when prices go up. This makes phones one of the most price sensitive products, even if it is relatively far behind groceries (55%), utilities (36%), clothing (35%), and take-out food (30%).
The data on consumer consciousness around mobile phone prices shows a wide range of differences between markets. In general, European market tends to have lower proportions of consumers who are conscious about mobile phone prices, with the exception of Spain (21%). British (10%), Swedish (10%), German (9%) and Danish consumers are least likely to be price-conscious about their phone compared to rest of the markets surveyed.
On the other hand, markets in Asia tend to have higher proportions of consumers who are conscious about phone prices. For example, India, UAE and China have a high percentage with nearly a third of consumers saying so (41-31%).
Our data also shows that there are stark differences in consumer behavior in the North American market. In Mexico, a third of consumers are price-sensitive (35%). This figure drops by half in Canada (18%) and even further in the US market (11%). Consumers aged between 18-24 (15%) and 25-34 (16%) in the US are more likely be price-conscious compared to those aged 35-44 (11%) and 45-54 (7%).
Data on consumer consciousness towards mobile phone prices can help phone manufacturers in forming pricing strategies. Telecom brands can also target markets where consumers are less price-conscious and position their products as premium.
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Methodology
YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 510 and 2044 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in December 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.