Brand dilemmas in the context of changes in consumer behaviour related to market crises

Abstract

The current macroeconomic environment poses major challenges for brands and their communications. Consumer buying behaviour is changing, pressures on marketing budgets are mounting, the question of the meaningfulness of brand campaigns at the expense of performance is much more open in uncertain times. At the same time, brands are trying to work more with price to respond to the cooling of consumer behaviour. Pandemics, the war in Ukraine, high inflation, the conflict in Israel – all bring new challenges for brands and their marketing/communications budgets. At the same time, Generation Z is becoming economically active, which research says is very different from previous generations. Both in terms of consumer behavior and media consumption, but it is also a challenge for employers, as their work expectations are also different than they were for previous generations. Thus, the paper raises several communication dilemmas for brands in a dynamic environment based on an analysis of secondary research, relevant scholarly and professional sources, insights from Marketing Rulezz conferences and brand examples. The article is based on the topic of the VEGA project.