Switching Sides: What's Causing a Whopping 76% of Consumers to Try Private Labels?

Photo: ChatGPT (2026)

Out of all of the expressions in the marketing lexicon that you’ll hear regularly throughout an average marketing meeting, by far, the one that I may abhor most is brand loyalty. Contrary to what you’ll hear from many of my colleagues, for the most part, brand loyalty is nothing more than a myth.

That’s because history shows that consumers are only loyal to their interests at any given moment. 

And if your brand happens to be of their interests at the moment; rejoice! Seriously. The only thing that’s as difficult as attaining a customer base—is retaining one. Hence the reason why instead of brand loyalty, a far more accurate description of consumers’ dedication towards a brand at any given time is their current commitment.

Marketing managers who work for some of your favorite legacy brands would agree—there is no such thing as an unconditionally loyal customer. All that any manager could realistically ask for is for a customer to be currently committed to their brand.   

Customer attrition occurs for a variety of reasons; especially one in particular. 

Why so many consumers are now trying private labels 

No question about it, whether positively or negatively, as human beings, our environment affects our attitude. What’s more, from a consumer standpoint, oftentimes, our incomes, expenses, and economic enthusiasm or lack thereof, also has an influence on our purchasing decisions. 

Which would explain why according to The 15th edition of the EY Future Consumer Index, 76% of consumers now say that they are trying private labels because they help them save money.

With recent studies showing that up to 66% of Americans now believe that a recession is likely, and nearly 50% expressing concerns about inflation—it should come as no surprise that more consumers are now giving private labels (products manufactured by a third-party company but sold exclusively under another retailer's or brand's name) a try.

Some good news for your brand 

While economic uncertainty obviously influences consumers to search for more frugal ways to purchase products, ultimately, the majority of consumers still return to the brands that they’ve come to love; as the same EY study found that 55% of consumers who try private label switch back to branded options. 

The reason why that is good news for you is because even if you have a premium brand that offers less economically-friendly products, as long as you’re able to entice a consumer base to fall in love with your brand—even if they do give a private label competitor a try for economical reasons—in all likelihood; they’ll be back supporting your brand in due time.

Let’s get more customers to be committed to your brand 

At Decryption, we help our clients identify, attract, and retain youthful customer bases that become committed to their respective brands. And we’d love to do the same for your startup. Become the next Decryption client and together, we’ll take your startup to places that its competitors could only dream of!