Study: More than half of consumers have a negative outlook on the economy
Some 58% of consumers have a negative outlook on the current economy, while 71% of marketers say the economy influences their marketing spend and that they are most concerned with inflation, supply chain and labor shortages. These findings come from State of Spend B2B Research, conducted recently by Ibotta.
According to the research, channels such as RMNs, social media and digital advertisement have seen the most increased spend in the past three years. This movement is projected to continue with the most projected increase in digital rewards/cash back in the next three years.
[Read more: Placer.ai sizes up retail sector foot traffic in Q1]
Additional findings:
- 34% of marketers say that increasing consideration is their top priority. The second highest priority is increasing conversion. However, prioritization does not necessarily equate to spend. Projected budget allocation is 50/50 across top funnel and bottom funnel growth channels;
- 83% of marketers believe paper coupons will become obsolete in 10 years. They also rate digital rewards significantly higher in their ability to reach marketing goals. When given the choice, 70% of consumers would prefer digital offers versus paper;
- 71% of marketers agree that the overall economic climate has a noticeable effect on consumer spending behavior for their brand's products;
- 87% of consumers say it is important to save money on groceries right now;
- 88% of marketers say changes in the economy significantly influence their brand's marketing budget allocation;
- As external factors change how consumers interact with brands and products, how marketers allocate their spend shifts too;
- 36% of grocery shoppers learned about and purchased a product new to them from a digital offer in the past month;
- 77% of grocery shoppers learned about and purchased a product new to them from a digital offer in the past month;
- Over 90% of marketers believe digital rewards are more effective; and
- A majority of marketers are interested in using AI in their work, but they don’t expect changes until at least two years from now.
[Read more: How can retailers capture growth in consumer health care?]