Christmas budgeting, data accuracy, apprenticeships: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Brits avoid giving accurate data to brands

A quarter (25%) of people in the UK intentionally give false data about themselves to brands, according to research from data platform Treasure Data.

The survey of 2,000 UK consumers found around a third (34%) of people avoid using their primary email address when signing up to brand communications.

Younger consumers are more likely to withhold accurate information, as the data reveals 45% of 18-34 year olds aren’t offering up their main email addresses, compared with 25% of adults aged above 55.

Almost half (47%) of those surveyed say they deliberately withhold information regarding their personal data from brands.

While getting customers to sign up to brand communications is just one part of the funnel, 19% of consumers would unsubscribe from a mailing list within a week if the content was irrelevant to them. Meanwhile, 43% say less than 10% of the content they get into their inbox makes them click through.

Source: Treasure Data

Consumers opt for Xmas spending limits as cost of living bites

Most (91%) of the least affluent consumers in the UK are setting limits on their Christmas shopping this year, compared with 68% of the most affluent consumers.

Shoppers are also bringing in ‘no gifting’ agreements, with 63% of the least affluent households agreeing with others not to buy gifts. That figure drops to half (51%) of the most affluent households highlighting that, across incomes, rising costs are having an impact.

Some 61% of households plan on shopping at discounters and searching for discounted gifts to control their spending. Meanwhile, 76% are being less impulsive with their purchases and 67% of those from the least affluent backgrounds are getting started earlier this year with their Christmas shopping and budgeting, compared with 48% of the most affluent.

When it comes to the type of gifts under pressure from budgeting, 40% say children’s toys is the category they’re least likely to cut back on, whereas 1.3% say they’re least likely to cut back on jewellery and watches, 3.9% on health and beauty, and 4.5% on alcohol.

Over half (55%) of lower affluent consumers look set to try and limit the time spent using their ovens over the Christmas period, compared with 47% of middle earners and 34% of those from the most affluent households.

Source: Retail Economics/HyperJar 

UK to suffer more than rest of G7 amid global energy crisis

The UK economy will contract more than any other leading G7 nation in 2023, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The UK’s economy is expected to shrink by 0.4% in the upcoming year, while the OECD expects the German economy to shrink by 0.3%, making the two nations the only in the G7 not forecasted to experience growth in 2023.

Of the G7 nations, Italy is set to grow by 0.2%, the USA by 0.5%, France by 0.6%, Canada by 1% and Japan by 1.8%. Meanwhile, the strength of emerging economies will drive the world economy to growth of 2.2%.

Looking ahead to 2024, the OECD predicts the UK will experience growth of 0.2%, however the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has forecast economic contraction of 1.4% for 2023, followed by growth of 1.3% in 2024.

Source: OECD Economic Outlook

UK apprenticeships not up to scratch

Nearly half of apprentices fail to complete their courses, with thousands dropping out each year as a result of insufficient and ineffective training.

While the 2021/2022 academic year saw almost 348,000 people begin apprenticeships, think tank EDSK estimates more than 100,000 will leave or have already left their training. The most recent government figures show 53% of people finished their apprenticeship in 2021, meaning 47% didn’t complete their course.

The think tank is urging the government to force employers to publish their training curriculums, amid suggestions some companies are labelling low-skilled jobs as apprenticeships.

According to Marketing Week’s 2022 Career and Salary Survey, more than half (57.9%) of marketers work for a brand with no marketing apprenticeship.

Of the 4,463 marketers surveyed, 21.2% say their company does not currently see the value in apprenticeships. A further 10.4% say it is too complicated to develop a programme, while 6.6% cannot get buy-in at the highest level.

Source: EDSK

Cost crisis making it harder for Brits to tackle climate change

Some 63% of people in the UK would do more to reduce their carbon footprint if it didn’t mean spending their own money, according to research from Tandem.

Digging into the age brackets, 70% of adults aged 55-64 wouldn’t spend their own money on improvements such as solar panels or electric vehicles, compared with 57% of people aged 18-24. The majority of the sample (68%) want more government funding to help with climate-focused initiatives.

An additional 50% think they’re already doing enough to combat the climate crisis, while 70% believe climate change is an urgent problem.

Almost a third of those surveyed say they are unconvinced or unsure of the need for urgent action to tackle climate change.

Source: Tandem