Russia-Ukraine war, inflation keep Indian consumers tizzy, finds study

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The rising inflation in the country and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine remain the primary concern for Indian consumers, says a survey by marketing data and analytics company Kantar.

According to the survey, 34 percent of people in India believed that the invasion of Ukraine remains the biggest concern, and 29 percent of Indians are worried about the economic issues.

Around 800 people in India were surveyed to understand the current concerns.

Soumya Mohanty, MD, Insights Division, Kantar said that global events are affecting long-term plans as well as short-term behaviour of Indians, adding that when it comes to inflation, price increases in fuel, food, drink, and household bills have been noticed the most.

"Indian consumers will cut back and they are likely to cut back on discretionary items, white goods, cars, mobile phones, and not the daily essentials. The broad mood is cautiously optimistic," she added.

Consumers will also reduce spending on streaming content as so much free content is available, said Mohanty.

While Indian consumers are spending less, Mohanty said that brands need to be optimistic and not cut down on ad spending.

"Brands are more worried than consumers. Brands are feeling things are going to get worse. They need to be optimistic and not cut back on ad spending and go into shell thinking there will be a slowdown. The consumer is still optimistic. The idea should be to entice the consumer and spend money, especially during the festive season which is coming," she said.

In terms of categories, Mohanty said that while FMCG is confident, the challenge will be more for startups. "They (startups category) have grown quite a bit (in terms of contribution in ad spends) and they have been spending a lot on TV ads. Startups want to get into tier II, and III markets and it will make a difference if they cut down on ad spends," she added.

Despite the inflationary pressure, Indian consumers are more optimistic about the future as those expecting pay to rise higher than inflation is almost 2x of the world, the study said.

Mohanty added that Indians are ready to work harder and do extra shifts to maintain their current lifestyle.