Consumer Behavior

US consumers pulling back on purchases, most ‘fed up’ with increasing prices

Photo: Adobe Stock (AI Generated)

August 23, 2024

A hefty number, 87%, of Americans are "fed up" with increasing costs and 27% aren't willing to pay more than current prices.

Those are top findings from an Empower research report revealing how pricing pressures are prompting American consumers to reduce purchasing, according to a press release.

The report also revealed that most consumers, 82%, don't see their money going as far as it once did.

Some 78% are using more of their budget on essential items, and 27% have hit a pricing limit, and aren't willing to pay anything more for many grocery staples, or will cut the items from their shopping lists.

Prices are 20% more expensive than February 2020 according to CPI data so consumers would need to pay $1,218 now for their dollars to have the same purchasing power as $1,000 in 2020, according to the release.

Additional findings include:

• Baby Boomers are the least willing to pay more than products' current prices.
• Tipflation and fees: 45% say they are being asked to tip more in places where they didn't tip 10 years ago.
• Up and down: 37% like the concept of dynamic pricing, even at a grocery store. Two in five plan to split more prices with family and friends to make ends meet.

The "The Big Shrink" study is based on online survey responses from 2,203 Americans ages 18 and older and was conducted by Morning Consult between in late March of this year.

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