Consumer behaviour

Five factors shape consumer spending habits: habit, life stage, financial mood, emotional deficit and cultural permission. How to read them.

By Alison Bainbridge

Why do UK consumers cut back even when they can afford not to? It's about protection, permission and mood – not money. Here's what the data shows.

By Laura Gillespie

Why does Gen Z overconsume? They don't, really – they can't afford to. The premise needs unpicking: what's actually driving the spending.

By Laura Gillespie

How to analyse consumer behaviour: four methods, each with a job – one-off studies, segmentation, behavioural tracking and trends over time.

By Laura Gillespie

Customer spending looks irrational until you read all five forces shaping it. Here's what's actually moving the basket.

By Laura Gillespie

Brands influence consumer behaviour by meeting moods, not changing minds. How to connect with the emotional deficit a customer already feels.

By Laura Gillespie

Why do consumers say one thing and do another? The person answering the survey isn't the one making the purchase. The five drivers that move us.

By Laura Gillespie

Seasonal events are mood amplifiers, not fixed spikes – and the pattern shifts every year. How to plan spending around the mood, not the calendar.

By Laura Gillespie

Consumer sentiment shapes what people buy – just not one-to-one. Why the same confidence score can mean five different things for your brand.

By Laura Gillespie

How consumer behaviour really changes in a recession: not new habits, but latent ones surfacing faster and sticking. What brand teams should watch.

By Laura Gillespie