Almost half of consumers are consciously spending less

Nearly half of consumers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia are consciously spending less due to cost-of-living concerns. The survey of 18,000 people also found that 67% of professionals in roles typically associated with offices preferred working full-time from home.

The report, “Adjusting to the New Economic Climate and Working Environment,” comes from mobile advertising platform LoopMe.

Cost-of-living sensitivities. At 38%, U.S. consumers were less likely to consciously cut their spending than consumers in the U.K. (50%) or Australia (54%). 52% thought their employers could help out by raising wages, while 17% would appreciate help with their home utility bills.

Dig deeper: Brands’ cost-cutting moves are costing them customers

Remote and hybrid working. On the one hand, consumers have sought to increase their home-working time to save on travel costs (11% on average, but 40% for 55-64 demographic the U.S.). On the other hand, an average of 7% across the countries studied had increased time spent in the office to save on home utility bills.

18% of consumers would accept a pay cut to work from home. Consistent with that, 21% would be incentivized to work in the office by a pay increase (26% of the 25-34 demographic in Australia would be incentivized by free lunches.

Why we care. This large sample of consumers serves to confirm that, as workers, they would like more money. Hardly headline-worthy, but it is interesting to see people trying to balance competing incentives as the cost of living remains high. Having your employer pay for 9 to 5 air-conditioning can result in significant savings withb the temperature going up even faster than prices. For some, however, these savings are clearly negated by the cost of commuting. What is eye-catching is the very high percentage that prefers home working, all things considered.

It would be interesting to compare these results with results from a low-inflation, affordable-living period. Let’s hope we’ll be able to do that soon.