Consumers stop buying products once the price goes up by 40% says survey

US and UK consumers are no longer buying a product once its original price has gone up by 40% according to a recent survey from SurveyGoo.

Price increase in cheap, staple itemssuch as milk, bread and vegetables, were deemed more acceptable for most consumers. The survey reveals that consumers would have to see an increase of 65% in milk for them to stop buying it, followed by 62% in bread and 60% in vegetables.

However, consumers would be less willing to continue buying nutritional supplements if they saw a price hike. Taking protein powder as an example, respondents said they would no longer buy the product if its price rose by approximately 17%.

Respondents also noted that they would no longer buy probiotics if their prices rose by 23%, or dietary supplements if the price rose by 26%, or omega 3 fish oil supplements if they increased by 28%.

The specialist PR agency Ingredient Communications commissioned the survey, which asked 1,063 consumers from the States and the UK to give their opinions around price sensitivity.

The survey was carried out by SurveyGoo this month and gathered responses from 532 British and 531 American consumers.

The results from the survey also shows that 94% of respondents thought their food shopping bills had increased in the last three months.

Seventy-nine percent thought supply chain issues, including driver shortages, were part of the reason behind the inflation.

As a result of worldwide inflation in prices, the results of the survey also confirm that shoppers are more inclined to shop around for a better priced product. 48% of consumers in the survey said they have switched to buying cheaper alternatives of their desired products since October 2021.

Just over a quarter of respondents also noted they had started buying shops’ own-label brands of products to save money.

Richard Clarke, Managing Director of Ingredient Communications, said: “In such challenging market conditions, brands will need to work hard to retain consumer loyalty.

“An effective way to achieve this is to demonstrate added value by using high quality ingredients that provide clear differentiation and command high levels of trust, whether that’s through proven efficacy, sustainability, strong co-branding, or a combination of these.

“These values, communicated effectively, will tie a consumer to a brand more closely, mitigating the impact of price increases on purchasing behaviour.”