How Tariffs Are Reshaping Consumer Confidence and Brand Strategy
Tariffs, Trust & Turbulence - How global trade pressures are influencing Canadian consumer confidence and reshaping brand strategy
As tariffs ripple across categories, from groceries to appliances, Canadian consumers are facing more questions than answers. Confidence is slipping, behaviours are shifting, and brands are being challenged to show up with more clarity, value, and purpose.
Our second edition of the Consumer Impact Report explores how external economic forces, especially tariff pressure, are reshaping marketing priorities, purchase behaviours, and the expectations consumers place on brands.
What’s Inside the Report:
1. Confidence is Cracking, Not Collapsing - While consumers aren’t yet experiencing widespread cost increases, belief in stability is eroding. Learn how inflation fatigue and economic complexity are altering mindset, even when wallets remain steady.
2. A Split Is Emerging in the Middle Class - Some are absorbing rising costs. Others are cutting back or pausing purchases altogether. This report reveals the behavioural fault lines that traditional segmentation can no longer explain.
3. Brand Purpose Meets Policy Reality - Digital Services Tax, global tariffs, and pressure on domestic media are converging to reshape how (and where) brands should show up. Understand what’s at stake for Canadian marketers as media and trust fragment further.
4. Strategies to Lead, Not Just React - Explore three key actions marketing leaders can take to stay relevant in a disrupted economy, by defending long-term value, building internal readiness, and rethinking media accountability.
