Inflation and customer perception testing

In 2022, inflation rates reached the highest they’ve ever been in 40 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While it may be routine for you to conduct competitor audits, or evaluate the performance of your product, equally important is assessing how your product is perceived in current market conditions.

Due to price increases in every space from housing and food to transportation, and overall uncertainty, consumers have changed their spending habits—and are steadily losing confidence. To stay ahead of the curve, a key difference between an organization that retains and attracts customers, and another that doesn’t, is how they adapt and respond to inflation.

As much as consumers are facing rising costs, organizations are also no doubt experiencing strained budgets—with boosting prices as seemingly the apparent solution. To keep customers coming back, while minimizing as much economic impact as possible, organizations need deeper insight on consumer expectations and perceptions.

You may have your own assumptions about consumer changes, whether it’s an increase in credit card usage or a new preference for store-brand options over name-brand. The best source is, you guessed it, your customers. Uncovering human insight among your target customers will help you pinpoint what matters most to them in the current economic climate, which will help guide your priorities and validate your decisions.

UserTesting has four inflation-related and customer perception templates to choose from, and you may find one that closely fits your needs or find all of them beneficial as a bundle. Ideal for decision-makers on customer-centric teams, these templates are designed to get ahead of potential customer objections or complaints, pinpoint how to serve current customers and attract new ones, and more.

When it comes to testing, especially in the current market, the earlier the better. You may have recently realized that your customer retention rates have dropped, or you’re in need of user validation on pricing changes. Or, to narrow down your priorities, you’re in need of preliminary research to see how customers’ behaviors and patterns have adapted to inflation.

To get started, depending on the template(s) you choose, you’ll need the name of the product or service you’d like feedback on as well as an accessible link to the packaging, a link to the product’s pricing, or a link to the organization you’re assessing and several competitors.

While these templates are ready as-is, you may choose to customize them based on your individual needs or preferences.