February 17th, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
An unexpected global economic slowdown together with an on-going inflation- led cost-of-living crisis has made it almost essential for many people to focus on their financial well-being and tighten their belts. But towards which products and services have consumers been most price-sensitive, enough to make them change brands, shop around, or not buy the product/ service at all in response to price hikes?
A recent YouGov Surveys poll - across 18 global markets – reveals that clothing and shoes (35%) has been one of product categories shoppers are most price sensitive about over the past six months, behind only groceries (55%) and utilities (36%).
A far lower proportion of consumers say they have been price-conscious when purchasing financial and investment products (14%), furniture (11%) and video games (9%).
Looking at the data by country reveals significant variance amongst consumer attitudes towards changes in the prices of clothing and shoes.
Of all the markets polled, consumers in Mexico (49%) have been most price-conscious when buying apparel and shoes over the past six months. While a lower proportion of consumers in Canada (42%) say the same, they still significantly outpace their neighbours to the south in the US (29%).
India (46%) stands out as the only APAC market to outpace the global audience when it comes to price sensitivity towards clothing and shoes. Consumers in all other APAC regions (China, 37%; Singapore, 36%; Australia, 32%; Indonesia, 31%; Hong Kong, 30%) are much less likely to change the brand, shop around or forego the purchase of clothing and shoes than their global counterparts, unlike in the case of healthcare products.
On the other hand, European consumers are not so cohesive in their opinions. While more than two-fifths of consumers in Italy (44%) and Poland (43%) agree that they have been most cost-conscious about apparel and shoes, this proportion falls to less than a third of consumers in Great Britain (28%), Sweden (23%) and Denmark (22% - the lowest of all markets).
Clothing and shoes (40%) have been one of the categories that consumers have been most price-conscious of in the UAE, second only to groceries.
A demographic look at the data also reveals some interesting nuances. At 38%, consumers between the ages of 45 and 54 are the most price conscious of all age groups when it comes to apparel compared to three in ten 55+ year olds (33%) who say the same. Furthermore, a gendered look at the data reveals that women (41%) are significantly more price sensitive towards clothing and shoes than men (30%)
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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 2,044 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.
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