With cost-of-living and housing affordability dominating airwaves, the political discourse and BBQ banter, coupled with stock market uncertainty and largely stagnant wages, one can be forgiven for scrutinising finances a little more than usual.
Recent research by Vibrant Insights and The Owl Insights brings this into sharp focus: of the 15 categories explored, Australians felt that 12 of these were having a nett negative impact / making things harder when it comes to cost of living. And this is playing out across multiple categories: supermarkets to energy utilities, insurance to petrol, banks to government.
The two major areas of relief identified included rewards / loyalty programs and discount department stores.
This has implications for marketers in a range of categories in winning back consumer’s favour through a clear demonstration of value. It also poses opportunity for brands to lean into loyalty programs – winning goodwill by offsetting frustration with supermarket rising prices.
The overwhelming majority (92 per cent) of those surveyed said they’re impacted by cost-of-living pressures, with a third barely covering living expenses week to week; supported by multiple sources reporting that Australians are skipping meals or visiting food-banks due to running out of money before their next pay.
Matt Sandwell, founder and director at The Owl Insights said: “this poses an interesting question for clients seeking to activate their target audiences – how many have the desire, but simply not the means to purchase anything other than the bare essentials?”.
Where Australians are leaning in, and pulling back
As part of Vibrant and The Owl’s Dream On study, the agencies sought to understand where Australians plan to spend more time / money over the next 12 months, and where Australians plan to cut back.
Over the next 12 months, the research found Australians plan to invest more in themselves and their homes. This includes building mind and body (working on fitness at home or a gym, playing sports, education / training, alongside travel), as well as improving the home (making the home more energy efficient, investing in solar / batteries, and general DIY / maintenance).
Brands that operate in these categories are likely to benefit in the first instance, as well as those that find ways to lean into these emerging trends (e.g. brands clearly articulating their functional benefits, and those that focus on elevating their consumer and their home life).
In contrast, there was a desire to cut back on takeaway, alcohol, food delivery, entertainment, gaming and fast fashion. The research found it’s not necessarily about removing these entirely – it was more doing this in a mindful way. The ethnographic component of the study found trends around continuing to buy nice bottles of wine – but perhaps doing so at home and at a lower ticket price than buying from a wine bar, or splitting a social occasion between the home and the pub to reduce costs. A closer look at spend data reveals this trend: Australians are still visiting cafes, but doing so less often, and spending less each time.
For marketers, this highlights an opportunity to enhance the moments where consumers do choose to indulge, making the most of less or dialled back occasions.
And when asked on the planned spend on travel, Sandwell had this to say: “it’s worth remembering that while it feels like a distant memory, for many Australians, we were still in lockdown less than 3 years old. This means we’re still seeing delayed overseas vacations that often take a long time in planning, finally taking place”.
Waking up from the dream of home ownership
The research gauged Australians’ attitudes towards home ownership: 82 per cent are concerned about future generations’ ability to own a home, 66 per cent saying housing affordability is a major concern, and 61 per cent believe those who haven’t bought a home will never be able to do so. These figures have held steady over 2024 and 2025.
But there are signs that the great Australian dream of home ownership is slipping away: significantly more agreed that owning a home is no longer an achievable Australian dream (63 per cent in 2025, up from 58 per cent in 2024), with 38 per cent believing they’ll never be able to purchase (another) property (38 per cent in 2025, up from 34 per cent in 2024). One of the ethnographic participants, Filomena, 52, with three kids, had this to say: “It’s certainly much more difficult nowadays to get a foothold (on the property ladder), I don’t envy their position (those who don’t own a home) but equally I want a level of balance in how we create affordability”.
Joel Vermaas, Founder and Director of Vibrant Insights, said: “looking closer at what Australians were saying surrounding property, we found that there is less ‘chasing a dream’ and more ‘avoiding a nightmare’. This was played out in both the direct verbatim, and also the underlying sentiment and emotions revealed through AI/LLM analysis. Australians talk about home ownership as a way to get away from ongoing rent rises or being asked to vacate properties – housing has become about seeking the certainty of a place to live, rather than realising a dream of home ownership and freedom”.
But property is not something one can easily opt out of – ultimately, people need somewhere to live.
Ingenuity and resolve of the Australian spirit
The research showed that more Australians are choosing not to invest in property altogether – 30 per cent of those surveyed, up from 24 per cent last year – dubbed the Quitters. Moreover, significantly fewer fall into the ‘Grinders’ segment: choosing the traditional approach of investing in property by using traditional mortgages / cash (26 per cent, down from 39 per cent last year). This group also challenges the notion of what it means to ‘grind out a mortgage’ – they skew high income, with significant assets (which no doubt makes saving up a deposit easier). One of the ethnographic participants, Bri, 36, with young kids, said: “I just don’t think that I’ll be able to afford a home anymore, it’s no longer a realistic dream of mine, I certainly don’t want to sacrifice everything to get it.”
The research found the largest segment is now the ‘Innovator’ cohort – sitting at 44 per cent in 2025, up from 37 per cent last year. This Innovator segment is finding novel ways to invest in property – some are skipping over owning a place to live, and becoming landlords instead (buying residential or commercial properties to rent to others, e.g. ‘rent-vesting’). Some are looking to buy with friends / family, or using rent-to-own approaches. Inspired by stories of quickly gained crypto wealth, others plan to build their wealth through smart decisions to create equity to buy property (shares, ETFs, crypto). Others are looking at alternative vehicles to capitalise on property growth: buying shares of property, using self-managed super funds to invest in property, or through crowd-founding / crowd-sourcing.
While these segments relate to property, they reveal something deeper about the cultural zeitgeist: the majority of Australians are trying to find ways to get ahead, and using innovative approaches to do so. Put another way, these could be defined as the early adopters (Innovators), majority (Grinders) and laggards (Quitters). Marketers in any category can leverage these mindsets beyond property to build out strategies.
Joel had this to say: “to see such a shift in the segments over the last year should be reassuring for marketers. It highlights that the Aussie spirit of finding a way through is alive and well, and there is interest and appetite to embrace new approaches to do so. And while these segments relate to property, there’s a deeper mindset here which marketers can lean into.
It talks to nuanced opportunity – in engaging the Quitters who see more to life than property and want to make the most of their assets; in appealing to the traditional mindset of the Grinders (and a group which has the wealth to afford premium brands and discretionary spend); and in celebrating the Innovators, offering them new ways to not only build wealth, but live their lives more broadly.
Importantly, when viewed alongside the overall mood of Australians (using our AI tools again), Australians are still a pretty positive bunch, finding new and novel ways to not just survive, but thrive.”.
Dream On, self-funded work conducted by Vibrant Insights and The Owl Insights, with support from Little Fish to Big Fish. Findings based on 20 depth interviews over two years, and a nationally representative sample of over 2000 surveyed over 2024 and 2025 (n~1000 each year) using Octopus Group’s research panel. Brands and enterprises can reach out to Vibrant Insights, The Owl Insights or Little Fish to Big Fish to arrange a presentation. Creative, media and marketing agencies can contact The Research Department, an emerging market research agency focused specifically on serving creative and media agencies (created by the founders of the aforementioned agencies).
