Trade-Off Consumer, Spring 2025

Are the bad vibes real? What about tariffs and global tensions?

A year has passed since Big Chalk launched its groundbreaking Trade-Off Consumer research series. So, what are we seeing now?

Household budgets have proved resilient, showing a slight decline on the net budget line – due mostly to increased credit card costs/balances. Consumer brands face more tough going, but things should not collapse. Data from University of Michigan and the Conference Board caused a fright this spring, but Big Chalk category participation findings suggest the pending economic drag is overstated.

Despite the optimistic findings, the Trade-Off Consumer population has still grown, from 33.4% of the population to 34.5 -- slight growth, but statistically significant. Brands cannot afford to sleep on this segment – which is not low-income and has its own shopping patterns and psychology. For many brands the Trade-Off Consumer is their best consumer.

Learn more about them by downloading our June 2025 report.