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October 2023 - Retail

Survey of consumers reveals forms of retail theft seen as justified during current climate: A survey of consumers in Australia has revealed that as more people are struggling with affording essential items during the current economic climate, shoppers are changing their spending habits, with some deviant behaviours being seen as justified to help manage the squeeze. 

The Cost of Living and Consumer Deviance Spotlight report by Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies (ACRC), asked shoppers about consumer confidence, non–discretionary and discretionary spending, and the justifiability of a range of behaviours given the current economic conditions.

The findings revealed that more than a quarter of shoppers believed that some forms of retail theft were ‘a little’ to ‘completely’ justifiable in the current climate. More than a quarter said that taking an item without paying was a 'little' or 'completely justified', while three in 10 cited that changing a product price tag was okay (30%). Other questionable behaviours cited as a little or completely justified included not scanning some items when using a self-checkout (32%) and scanning items as cheaper than they actually are when using self-checkout (37%).

Younger people were more likely to say that retail theft behaviours were justifiable than older people found the survey. Nine in 10 respondents aged 55 and over said that taking an item without paying for it was 'not at all justifiable’ (93%) compared to just under half of those between the ages of  18 - 34 years (47%).

Similar findings were revealed when looking at changing the price tags on products, with 90% of older consumers stating this behaviour was 'not at all justifiable', compared to 45% of younger shoppers.

Looking at the broader picture the research found that half the respondents polled are feeling worse off financially than they were 12 months ago, with people aged between 35 - 54 feeling the least optimistic about their current financial situation, and 57% feeling worse off than 12 months ago. What's more, over three-quarters of respondents overall (77%) said they expect to be in the same financial situation or even worse off by this time next year.

Lead researcher at ACRS, Stephanie Atto said:

“We wanted to understand if and how consumers are changing their spending habits to relieve these financial pressures, and how justifiable certain deviant behaviours such as retail theft, are to consumers in the current climate.

“Fears of opportunistic consumers have been growing amongst retail businesses who not only face the issue of decreasing consumer spend but also the need to be wary of consumers looking to save money through more deviant means.”

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