Consumers Cut Costs: UK & US Update, October 2022

Published 17 October 2022

Author
Emilia Morano-Williams

With the macroeconomic environment evolving rapidly, we distil recent research illuminating how consumers in the UK and the US feel about the economy, and the non-essential categories that continue to capture wallet share.

  • UK: Research from YouGov shows that consumer confidence in the UK turned negative in September for the first time since June 2020. But while 65% of Brits say they’re putting off large expenditures like home renovations or having a wedding (Toluna, 2022), they’re not living a pleasure-free life.

    According to a survey by US market insights company Toluna, phone contracts remain essential for 34% of UK consumers. Meanwhile, 29% will continue to spend money on TV subscriptions, and 22% on alcohol for home consumption. The latter underlines the fact that many Brits are starting to pull back from eating out (35%) and going to bars and pubs (23%).

  • US: A majority (55%) of Americans are “very” or “somewhat” pessimistic about the state of the economy, with monthly household expenses increasing an average of 13% (National Research Group, 2022).

    Amidst rising costs, entertainment and lifestyle subscriptions continue to capture a large portion of monthly spending, according to a survey this month by US market insights firm National Research Group. Thirty-one percent of Americans are cutting back on general subscription services (Amazon Prime, fitness memberships). But only 18% plan to spend less on film or tv streaming subscriptions, and even fewer (10%) anticipate trimming spending for music streaming. This could lead to a resurgence of early-pandemic home-focused entertainment, especially as 61% of Americans devote less money to going to the cinema and live events.

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