Cost vs. Conscience: Understanding The New Paradox of Choice
Creado por Meredydd Hardie
What you’ll learn
Economic pressures and growing turmoil are reshaping consumer priorities, necessitating a balance between personal values and financial constraints, particularly in the pharma and healthcare sectors.
HCPs and consumers are increasingly emphasizing corporate values in their decisions, though economic realities often lead to a pragmatic approach, prioritizing cost over brand values.
Consumer behavior is shifting towards practicality with a growing demand for transparency, affordability, sustainability, and value-driven marketing amidst economic challenges.
Welcome to the third article in our series, exploring the cultural forces and trends shaping our world in 2024.
In pharma and healthcare, it’s important to understand the industry-specific forces driving change. It’s also important to understand the larger forces impacting the wider culture. Our industry isn’t immune from these cultural forces; patients, HCPs, payers, and everyone else participate in the wider culture. Understanding cultural forces enables us to predict challenges and identify opportunities early. Our Klick Strategy community always looks for new angles to help us understand the world.
What to Know:
Consumers, patients, and HCPs, especially younger ones, still look for brands that align with their personal values.
Economic pressures necessitate a more pragmatic approach among consumers, patients, and HCPs. Economic challenges often force individuals to reassess their purchasing decisions, emphasizing the immediate impact on their wallets and the cost of living.
The tension between the desire to support brands that align with personal values and the economic reality of limited spending power reflects a delicate balance. In such times, the perceived importance of “brand values” might take a backseat when faced with rising prices, job losses, and shrinking product sizes.
For marketers, navigating this landscape involves a nuanced understanding of these shifting dynamics. Brands may need to find innovative ways to communicate their values without compromising on affordability.
What is “Value vs. Values”?
For years, marketers and researchers have talked about how millennials and other consumers are eager to support brands with values that match their own. That was a fairly straightforward proposition in more prosperous times, but in 2024, we’re facing growing economic and labor turmoil.
In 2022, the Klick Strategy team talked about the “Great Re-prioritization,” the idea that workers were no longer prioritizing work and pushing back on the expectations of capitalism.
In 2024, we’re seeing a new shift in priorities, this one much more practical. For many consumers, it’s as if a veil has been lifted as brands and corporations lay off thousands of workers, raise prices and shrink products, reduce customer service, and implement other cost-saving measures. “Brand values” can feel less important than the impact of a rising cost of living. Many consumers now say that price is more important than values when it comes to specific products—they may have been nice to have previously, but we can’t afford that anymore. But at the same time, consumers are still using their buying power to drive change by boycotting brands that don’t align with their values.
The Signals
We introduced the concept of signals as “Leaves” in our model of cultural forces in the introductory article of this series. Signals are the fast-moving trends and fads that represent a moment in time. As a collection, they can indicate the direction in which culture is moving.
Several signals and factors tell us about this cultural force, including:
Signal: HCPs emphasis on pharma corporate values
“Outside a medication’s functional characteristics such as efficacy and safety profile, corporate reputation is the No. 1 factor that influences an HCP’s decision to prescribe or recommend a therapy”
“73% of healthcare professionals say that biotech and pharmaceutical companies should add value to society beyond providing their goods and services ‘to a large extent’” (It’s not just consumers who emphasize values when it comes to brands. HCPs care about values as well, especially as a sign that companies care about more than profits)
Signal: Carrefour “Shrinkflation” campaign
European mega grocery retailer saw the opportunity to connect with consumers around this cultural force in 2023
The brand identified “shrinkflation” (CPG products getting smaller while prices increase) as a key consumer issue and chose to align themselves publicly with their consumer
Carrefour stores used “shelf-talkers” and other approaches to call out examples of shrinkflation on shelves
These efforts built brand trust and reinforced their brand values without requiring consumers to spend more
Signal: Rise of thrifting to maintain sustainable values and save money
Resale shops have grown 7% yearly for the past two years, with over 25,000 stores in the US. Approximately 16–18% of Americans shop at thrift stores, and 12–15% shop at consignment or resale shops annually
The EU fashion-resale secondhand market is projected to double in the next five years and will be twice as big as the fast-fashion market by 2030
Thrifting is more than a fashion trend. The practice has been widespread for years at this point and is projected to continue to grow
There is more going on than just being fashionable—thrifting offers a way to save money and participate in fashion without compromising values
Countersignal: Temu/Shein domination
The continued popularity of ultrafast ultra-discount brands like Shein and Temu underscores the tension of value vs. values. The brands’ lack of sustainability is well-known, but fans are drawn to the low prices and instant gratification (Shein’s online net sales grew from US$2.5 billion in 2019 to a projected US$48 billion by 2024)
Signal: Gen Z staying focused on mental health
Gen Z consumers in the US want the brands they support to align with their values, especially those around mental health (53% of Gen Zers in the US want brands/companies to support mental health)
“We have to care because we’re the ones that are going to be here for the next 70 or so years. We’re going to reap the benefits—and possible consequences—[of our actions now], but when it comes to a budget… we don’t have the money that some of the other generations have” (Gen Z panelist during a June 2023 CommerceNext event in New York City)
How Will the Tension between Value and Values Manifest in 2024?
This cultural force is full of tension. People want to live their values and don’t feel great about compromising them, but economic pressures will continue to be a reality for many through 2024 and beyond. Consumers, patients, and HCPs are going to look for ways that they can stay true to their beliefs within their economic means:
Increased Demand for Transparency: Consumers may become more discerning, seeking greater brand transparency regarding their pricing strategies, labor practices, and overall business ethics. Companies that openly communicate their values and demonstrate a commitment to accountability could gain trust in this environment.
Innovation in Affordability and Sustainability: Brands might focus on innovating in affordability and sustainability. Businesses that can provide cost-effective products or services while maintaining a commitment to eco-friendly practices may resonate well with consumers caught between economic challenges and environmental concerns.
Evolution of Value-Driven Marketing: Marketers may need to refine their messaging to strike a balance between emphasizing the practical benefits of affordability and addressing the ethical concerns of consumers. Campaigns that authentically showcase a brand’s values, coupled with real-world economic considerations, could resonate strongly.
How to Leverage This Cultural Force
Recommendations:
Provide ways for patients and HCPs to feel that they are not compromising their values to afford what they need by emphasizing patient support.
Continue supporting patient advocacy groups that align with your medications' therapeutic areas. This commitment demonstrates a commitment to helping patients beyond the product itself
Collaborate with healthcare providers to ensure they are informed about patients’ economic challenges. Provide resources for healthcare providers to assist patients in navigating costs
Be as transparent and authentic in messaging and pricing as possible. “Value” encompasses more than just a low price
It’s essential to consider applying this cultural force at both the brand and corporate levels. Corporate and brand reputation play important roles in driving this kind of “value.” Strategic Futures and strategic road-mapping are practices that can work at multiple levels and are ideally coordinated to drive maximum benefit.
The Klick Health Strategic Futures team and wider strategic community can be your partners in shaping that future.
Look forward to the next Klick Health cultural force, Reinventing Success, coming soon with more perspectives from the strategy community at Klick.
Autor
Meredydd Hardie
VP, Group Director Strategy
Meredydd is passionate about uncovering insights at the intersection of people, culture, and brand. With 15 years of experience, she has honed her skill translating signals into strategic intelligence. Her past roles in marketing involved providing innovative research methodologies and strategic insights for major brands like Coca-Cola and Toyota, enhancing their understanding of audience dynamics. At Klick, Meredydd applies her market research expertise across various healthcare domains, including oncology and mental health. She specializes in integrating diverse signal sources into research outputs from digital to market research, to guide Klick’s teams and clients in navigating the forces shaping the future.
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