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Losing Loyalty: Why Consumers Are Walking Away From Brands

Increasing financial pressure is changing consumers’ relationships with their favorite brands
June 2025

Report summary

Increasing cost of living is driving consumers away from their favorite brands. Inflation-weary consumers are fed up and making big changes to accommodate their budgets. For brands, that unfortunately means losing formerly loyal customers. We set out to understand how customer loyalty is shifting and heard one thing loud and clear: everything is too expensive.

Based on a survey of 2,224 U.S. consumers, this report reveals the main factors causing shoppers to shop from specific brands less often or not at all.

Key Takeaways

  • Cost increases are driving customers away: Increasing costs – particularly for food purchases – are putting pressure on consumers and forcing them to cut back. The categories where shoppers reported having to spend more are the same categories where they’re switching up the brands they shop from.
  • High earners are somewhat exempt: High income households are experiencing the same inflation as everyone else, but they’re better able to absorb it. They’re 10 percentage points less likely than others to be changing up the groceries they buy as a result of higher prices.
  • Shoppers are happy with their new brands: While it might take a few attempts to find an adequate replacement, most shoppers report that they’re spending less after switching brands, and at the same time they’re pretty satisfied with their new choice. This is a win for the value-oriented brands that have won new customers in the last few years.

Data Downloads

Pro+ subscribers are able to download the datasets that underpin Morning Consult Pro's reports and analysis. Contact us to get access.

Data file: general disloyalty questions
Pro+
A sortable XLSX file of the latest survey results among U.S. adults and key demographics.
xlsx
1001Kb
Data file: brand-specific questions
Pro+
Respondents were asked questions specific to a brand they have recently started shopping from less, or stopped buying entirely.
xlsx
462Kb
About Pro+
A brief outline of what datasets are included in Morning Consult Pro+.
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Methodology

The research featured in this report comes from a survey conducted Apr. 29 - May 1, 2025 among 2,224 respondents.

All survey interviews were conducted online, and the data was weighted to approximate populations of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment. Top-line results from the surveys have a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points

The audience data in this report comes from Morning Consult Intelligence. The platform helps you understand your audience, brand, competitors and market in a way traditional helps you understand your brand, competitors and market in a way traditional research companies can’t.

About the author

Claire Tassin is a retail and e-commerce analyst. She conducts research on shifting consumer behaviors and expectations, as well as trends relevant to marketing leaders in the retail sector.