While consumer prices increased 5.8% year-on-year in Augustthe French, unsurprisingly, turn to Google for solutions.
The search engine has thus observed the most frequent search trends related to inflation in France and these illustrate the priority concerns: knowing the value of products, reducing costs, understanding inflation. The peaks of searches have started again with the costs generated by the start of the school year.
Know the best prices
When it comes to product value, the big question is “how much?” How much does this or that product cost, particularly those of basic necessity, such as gasoline that rises frequently?
In the graph above showing search results that include the words “heating oil prices,” the blue line represents searches between September 2021 and September 2022. The red line between September 2020 and 2021. The first peak is reached in March 2022 and then in early September.
Applications to compare gas station prices are multiplying and so are Google searches, with the terms “fuel prices around me”.
Solutions to gain purchasing power
According to the latest edition of the Cofidis/CSA Research Purchasing Power Barometer, households estimate that 510 euros is the average amount that is missing each month to live with dignity. This sum increased by 43 euros in a year and reached a level not reached since 2014. And for good reason, the results of Google Trends show that the French are looking for concrete solutions to gain purchasing power through standard searches: “how to cancel my subscription” or “how to cancel”.
Therefore, consumers look for good deals and discounts on their everyday purchases. “Looking for ways to save money is a common theme across all goods and product categories, with interest in searching for ‘cheaper’ products up 95% in early September 2022 (compared to a year earlier) “says Think with Google Study.
Although the Government tries to explain the aid it is putting in place for households, the French are looking for the devices to which they are entitled. This is demonstrated by the peaks of “pantry bonus” and “transport bonus” during the month of July.
The subject of inflation has become daily for several months and the French want to understand the mechanisms. Searches for “inflation forecast” and “inflation” spiked in the last week of August.
Global trends
Google did the same analysis in August but globally and the results are a bit different. The search for “what is inflation” remains high, but more pointed questions such as “why is butter so expensive?” in the UK or “why is there a shortage of mustard?” in France.
Finally, consumers seek to combine inflation and respect for the planet. For example, in the UK, Internet searches for second-hand items have skyrocketed. In several European countries, other more practical interests have been identified, such as “how to save energy”, “electricity off-peak hours” or “assistance in the purchase of electric cars”.
Source: BFM TV
