Strategic insights business Pollinate has revealed that Australians are feeling the cost of living pressures more than ever, with 49 per cent buying treats for themselves less often and 62 per cent not buying anything in the past month to “escape” the everyday.
The research from Pollinate’s bi-annual The Australia Pulse study found that economic and social worries continue to rise. The cost of living remains the top concern – at 94 per cent – but concern about women’s safety and crime has increased sharply over the past six months, and they now rank third and fourth, respectively.
Eighty-four per cent of people are concerned about women’s safety, and the same proportion are concerned about crime. Both have increased seven percentage points since August last year. Affordable housing ranks fifth on the list of concerns, at 83 per cent, followed by quality of health care (81 per cent) and access to affordable health care (also 81 per cent).
As a result of economic pressures, almost half of Australians have cut their spending on little treats, from alcohol through to clothing, footwear and even takeaway coffee.
Not surprisingly, people are re-evaluating the value offered by everything they buy, with 87 per cent saying most products and services are now so overpriced that they literally aren’t worth the price.
Instead, and in bad news for many high-profile brands, people are increasingly turning to “designer duplicate” brands or “dupes” – products that resemble high-end products for a fraction of the price – to secure better value:
- 49 per cent of people have bought a “dupe” in the past four weeks
- 73 per cent are buying more “own label” and fewer branded items
- 71 per cent think “dupe” brands are better value for money than “the real thing”
- 67 per cent believe that “own label” and “dupe” brands are just as good as branded alternatives
- 75 per cent think the existence of “dupes” is proof brands are overpriced
- 73 per cent agree that “dupes” reveal which brands charge too much
The study found that women were most receptive to “dupes”, with 54 per cent having bought a “dupe” in the past four weeks. Seventy per cent of women also believe that ‘dupes’ are the “Robin Hood” of brands: that they are taking away from corporations and giving back to the consumers.
“Our most recent The Australia Pulse report found that cost of living remains at an all-time high concern for Australians and this year they are taking more drastic measures to combat it. There has been a seismic shift in the perceptions of value for many brands and products,” said Pollinate chief executive officer, Howard Parry-Husbands.
“Australians’ spending habits have shifted, with many adopting ‘designer dupe’ products as a way to deal with their mounting economic pressures. They no longer see value in paying for big-name brands when good alternatives are offered at a fraction of the price”.
“The real issue for brands here is that it’s likely that once habits change to accepting dupes, consumers aren’t likely to go back to paying higher prices for the branded products they used to buy, and will instead expect similar quality at lower prices,” he said.
Pollinate’s research was conducted in April this year and covered 1,006 people aged 14 to 64 across Australia. The sample was representative of the general Australian population.
