Specialist consultant Fernando Moiguer assures that the recession, the loss of purchasing power and the pandemic have changed the scenario for brands. This does not imply, he underlines, that the companies are doing badly: “Consumption has flown, but statistically and in pesos. Last year they won all mass consumer companies and did very well. But the trader always looks at the dollar counted in liquid and nobody gets along well with that number“. On the other side of the counter, notice it there is a grumpy consumer. “People feel that they have no way out, that it’s wrong and that they have no future. It’s pure present“, to define.
According to Moiguer, it is not an ideological question about the result of the next elections. “With inflation between 40 and 50%, you can live in Argentine terms. Beyond that, there is no price, regardless of social class. The cost of the bus ticket seems like a robbery. In this context there is more and more resignation”, describes the specialist.
-What is the reaction of people in the face of this difficult context?
-In previous crises, there was a successive recovery cycle. The current one is different. In this we are more impoverished, we are poorer, but fundamentally changed the imagination of “middle-class” people. If we grow at Chinese rates tomorrow, the rich will be rich even if things go badly. The middle class will struggle not to fall and the lower class, to survive. Now we don’t have that middle class illusion, we look different beyond the segment.
-How did that illusion of the predominant middle class work?
-We call it the illusion of homogeneity, we all had that imaginary of class belonging in Argentina. Nearly 75% of the population perceived themselves as middle class, when in reality it was 45%. Many of the upper and lower segments perceived themselves as middle class. Now that it’s over: We perceive ourselves as different and in different places on the social scale.
-How does the consumer in the gondolas react to this? Will it go to the second or third brand?
-The Argentinian is very brand oriented and does everything possible to keep his favorite brands. But there are categories that he defends more, he favors certain areas of pleasure and enjoyment, such as sweets, alfajores (especially alfajores) and ice creams. In other cases it can be the empanada, pizza or beer, all of which turn into havens of indulgence and fun. The rest, resign. Each person builds their own set, according to their interests.
The persistent recession and the pandemic, according to Moiguer, have consolidated among Argentines the idea of the “country that could have been” and which is “increasingly far from being one”. The worsening of the crisis since the middle of last year has increased the average negative view. “Macroeconomics is influencing all socioeconomic levels and the Argentine is rapidly and briskly deploying its survival kit, which has been enriched and improved during the different crises, where the most relevant tool is its intelligence and readiness to shovel the complexity of the moment,” he says.
-How does the average Argentine solve this problem?
-For the vast majority of the population, consuming is proving to be a major effort. Forced to change consumption as a whole and to allocate the budget only for the essentials, they cut back on more hedonistic consumption such as going out and buying clothes. The pleasure they seek to sustain, however sporadic, is in some gratifying food for the family. However, there is another minority portion of the population, the upper class, which preemptively limits it. They cut or change consumer brands they feel do not add value, generally the most basic, but maintain and even nearly exacerbate hedonic consumption: eating out, appliances, entertainment, clothing.
Source: Clarin
