“Inflation. Economic uncertainty. Rising cost of living
These are big financial topics that have quickly become part of our everyday vocabulary in 2022. As people juggle and struggle with personal budgets, many are turning to Google to would search for countless finance-related topics,” said Google tools expert Mārtiņš Tirzītis, adding that people’s desire is particularly significant to understand the nature and dynamics of the inflation process.
On the other hand, interest in financial literacy, including personal financial management, has remained consistently low in Latvia. “Perhaps this could be the next logical step of dynamic changes – to understand the nature of the situation and then start looking for solutions,” added M. Tirzītis, noting that the general world trends indicate not only an interest in inflation, but also in ways to save and also find alternative, cheaper entertainment options.
The research team of the digital marketing agency “FCR Digital” constantly analyzes the latest Google search trends to better understand what is relevant to everyone in these economically difficult times. Below are three insights we discovered.
People ask a lot of questions about finances
“What is inflation” is one of the phrases that has seen a significant increase in search interest worldwide this year, according to analytics information site Think With Google.
The state of the global economy – and even personal finance – is a complex subject. It makes sense that people ask a lot of questions because they are trying to understand what is going on in the world.
For example, search interest for the question “why” related to “expensive” has increased by 20% globally in the last six months alone.
2022 also saw an increase in search interest for phrases such as “why is butter so expensive” in the UK, “pourquoi pénurie moutarde” (“why is there a shortage of mustard”) in France and “warum steigen die preise” (“why are prices rising” ) in Germany.
In addition, people are concerned about how inflation affects them and how they can mitigate its impact on their personal finances. They ask questions like “what can I afford” around the world and “kiedy stopy procentowe” (“when are the new interest rates”) in Poland.
An unexpected alliance: Saving money and saving the planet
Recent Google search trends also show that inflation and sustainability go hand in hand in some cases. As consumers look for ways to cut costs, many of the more affordable alternatives are unexpectedly greener.
For example, the number of searches for “used” and “used” has increased. Products used in the past may have had a negative meaning. Now, the boom in resale apps is a sign of the different shopping preferences of today’s consumers.
Another area where the sustainable choice has recently caught up with the cheaper is “energy”. People are trying to save money because prices have skyrocketed, and lower energy consumption naturally has a positive effect on the environment.
This is what we saw in Google Trends when the search for “how to save energy” was the most popular worldwide in 2022
We also saw an increase in search interest for the following phrases: “hora más barata para poner la lavadora hoy” (“cheapest time to turn on the washing machine today”) in Spain, “elpriser time for time” (“electricity prices by the hour”) in Denmark and “ile prądu zużywa klimatyzacja” (“how much electricity does air conditioning use”) in Poland.
Despite everything, people still want (small) luxuries. Also in 2022, interest in “cheap” search has increased. For example, “tanie sukienki” (“cheap dresses”) in Poland, “en ucuz derin dondurucu” (“cheapest freezer”) in Turkey and “billigt kaffe” (“cheap coffee”) in Sweden.