Inflation and security are the two main concerns of consumers in Mexico and even 54 percent of them already face difficulties in meeting monthly expenses, revealed the ‘Barometer, Global Problems 2022. Mexico Court’, prepared by the consulting firm Kantar.
“The concerns that were concentrated during 2020 and 2021 were mainly COVID-19, confinement, and not having the opportunity to be in an area outside of what was the old normality, and today the concerns that we see is a direct impact on the expense and will clearly impact different categories,” said Alberto Vargas, VP Client Management for the consultancy.
This Wednesday the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) placed inflation for the first half of August at 8.6 percent per year.
With this inflation indicator, practically half of Mexicans already face problems with their monthly expenses, and they are taking action in this regard, where even 13 percent of Mexicans question their plans to have or start a family, 8 percent marry, and up to 2 percent get divorced.
47 percent of consumers have already made cutbacks to some expenses, another 32 percent abandoned external activities that required capital, 22 percent have sold things, 19 percent have migrated brands and products, 16 percent have taken from their savings, 15 percent are buying second-hand, and 13 percent are saving less.
“Consumers feel a lot of uncertainty, the context is difficult, it changes quickly and there is a growing sense of prudence,” the study found.
Expenses that people currently cannot cover due to inflation are paying for a new car, for 66 percent of consumers, 40 percent for a brand new cell phone, 40 percent for a new appliance, 36 percent for going out to bars, 15 percent payment for streaming platforms and even gasoline.
Although the feeling and the boom in shopping centers and supermarkets have not subsided, the reality is that the intentions do have a visible change for the brands.
“Of all those people you see in the mall, one out of two made a cut in something; one in three has already stopped doing something and one in two has already changed brands. So, even if we see them there, they are already acting differently”, concluded Roberto Zenil, Senior Account Director for Kantar.
