Guard Against Recession with Cultural Insights

With inflation at a 40-year high, job growth increasing the likelihood of interest rate increases, and predictions of recession rampant in the media, Collage Group recently launched an urgent initiative into consumer attitudes and behaviors related to current events and the present economic situation. Our primary objective was to identify how people are currently responding, how they’re likely to react if things get worse, and where and why they’re making tradeoffs.

Overall, we found that economic concern does differ among the segments. Hispanic and White Americans are the most likely to be very worried about what their personal finances will look like in the near future. These segments also express the greatest concern about the current and future United States economy. On the other hand, Black and Asian Americans are the least likely to say they are very worried about their financial situations six months from now, instead saying they are a little worried, or even not worried at all.

Read on for a few key insights on how different consumer segments are reacting to the current economic landscape.

Cultural Insight #1: Avoid Political Anxieties by Focusing on Consumers’ Practical Problems

Political affiliation was one of the strongest indicators of how survey respondents answered questions about the current United States Economy. Because of today’s highly politicized media landscape, consumers tend to frame messaging about “the economy,” “recession,” and “inflation” in political terms that you as a brand want to avoid.

Don’t play to political anxiety. Instead, focus on solving consumers’ practical problems – like paying their bills, paying down debts, and providing for their families. These concerns are universal and relevant regardless of political party or economic situation.

Cultural Insight #2: Consumers’ Economic Concerns Drive Their Everyday Purchasing Behaviors

The path people take on their way to making a purchase necessarily includes concerns about their finances. Current concerns lead to current purchasing choices about what to buy or not buy, and concern for the future drives planning for future spending. This tends to be more directed to bigger purchases that need to be planned and prepared for. Different levels of concern about finances now and in the future lead to different purchasing decisions, which we see playing out today among the different racial and ethnic segments.

Cultural Insight #3: Hispanic Consumers Are Most Concerned and Likely to Be Shifting Their Purchasing Now

Hispanic Americans are more likely than others to be making more changes to their purchasing. This behavior comes in part from the reality that Hispanic Americans’ average household incomes skew below the total population and allow for less of a financial cushion in hard times. As we’ve seen in our Hispanic Cultural Traits research, Hispanic Americans are also uniquely resilient, and they understand that shifting their purchasing behaviors is a way to adapt to the changing economic landscape.

This segment is more likely than others to be buying both fewer and cheaper items in nearly all categories, showing their willingness to both cut back and buy cheaper substitutes to make ends meet.

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