Consumer Behaviour Study: Inflation

About the study

Designed under Ertan Aksoy’s leadership, this two-part study measures how the cost of living transforms the public mood, saving habits, social life and brand preferences. The first part, “What Has Inflation Turned Us Into?”, provides a snapshot of the period; the second, “Consumers Now Have New ‘Favourites’”, lists abandoned brands and new preferences by category. It was published in the April 2022 issue.

Key findings

• Eight in ten are worried about sustaining their livelihoods; 62% of the public feel anxious, seven in ten are anxious about the future, and none of the five most frequently experienced emotions is positive. Salary increases have been eroded by inflation; 73.8% cannot save at all, while only 3.9% can save comfortably.
• Cooking oil leads the products people plan to stock up on (38.7%). Three in ten have stopped eating out; 78.4% of vehicle owners use their vehicles less; fewer clothes and less chocolate are purchased. The Ukraine–Russia war is also among the sources of concern.
• 46.8% say there are habits they would not give up regardless of economic conditions, with smoking ranked first (18.9%); Netflix is not being abandoned (46.5% have a subscription). Discount supermarkets and neighbourhood markets are the new favourites; the favourite brand is now “the cheapest one”.
• Abandoned brands include Nescafé (32.9%) and Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi (29.4%) in coffee, with VIP and Abdullahefendi the new choices; Sütaş (33.1%) and Pınar (17.7%) in dairy, with Dost gaining ground; and Sole as a new choice in sunflower oil. 15.1% no longer buy olive oil. Berk stands out in tea, Ülker in chocolate, LC Waikiki in clothing and Kinetix in footwear.

Methodology

The study was conducted with 600 people through the Eşzamanlı online survey panel, with a reported 95% confidence level and 4% margin of error. NUTS1 regional, socioeconomic status, age and gender distributions representative of Türkiye were taken into account.