Financial pressure hitting mortgage renewers’ purchase intentions

Financial pressure caused by high interest rates is impacting the attitudes of various consumer groups differently, with 47% of those planning to renew their mortgage in the next year saying they are ‘perfectly happy’ with their standard of living – compared with 64% of people who own their home outright.

‘Mortgage renewers’ comprised about 1.5 million people in the data, with the proportion of people who agree that price is an important factor when buying toiletries and cosmetics rising by 18% among this group, according to the research – compared with an increase of 7% for all adults.  

The study also found that ‘mortgage renewers’ reported sharper declines in their intention to buy big ticket items such as cars or electrical goods, compared with the average for all adults. ‘Mortgage renewers’ in August 2023 were 64% less likely to report intention to buy a fridge in the next 12 months than they were in August 2022, for example, while all adults were 8% more likely, on average, than the same period the previous year.

Additionally, Kantar’s research pointed to living circumstances indicating alignment between consumer groups – for example, 27% of 21 to 26-year-olds living at home with parents say they prefer to buy premium goods and services, the same proportion as over 55 year-olds who own their home outright.

Kantar Media said the data points to a need for marketers to look beyond ‘broad’ demographics in their targeting.

Sarah Sanderson, managing director of TGI at Kantar Media, said: “Many campaigns are still planned largely using demographics, but this misses the nuance of how people’s lives are being impacted. Our TGI data shows that even labels like ‘homeowner’ are too broad brush now given the mix of financial pressures consumers are facing.

“Demographics have a role to play but they’re just one piece of the jigsaw – mortgage renewers are in this predicament largely by chance rather than anything to do with their age or gender. Marketers have to take into account the full scope of consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and circumstances. If not, they risk misrepresenting the true picture and wasting budgets at a time when they can ill afford to.”

Every year, Kantar surveys around 700,000 people in 45 markets annually, including 25,000 Britons, for its Target Group Index (TGI). Data quoted in this article is sourced from Great Britain TGI August 2023.