Consumers would rather pay more than be quietly shortchanged.
Capgemini surveyed 12,000 people in 12 countries. The finding: shrinkflation is not a pricing strategy. It is a trust strategy — and it is failing.
Here is what every brand that has quietly trimmed a pack size in the last three years needs to hear: your customers know. And they are not just annoyed — they are ready to leave.
Capgemini's 2026 consumer trends report, published this week, found that 71% of consumers would switch brands if the pack size or quality is reduced without clear notice. Not "might consider." Would switch. A majority call shrinkflation unfair. And when given the choice, most say they would prefer a small, honest price increase over being silently shortchanged.
The assumption behind shrinkflation has always been that people do not notice, or that if they do, they will shrug. That assumption is now quantifiably wrong. What consumers are telling researchers — 12,000 of them, across 12 countries — is that the deception costs more than the price increase ever would. Fairness, not price, is now the thing that holds a brand relationship together. Break that contract quietly, and you have not saved a margin. You have opened a door.
Audit every place your brand has reduced quantity, reformulated, or changed terms without saying so. Pick the most visible one and communicate it honestly — what changed, why, and what you are doing about it. A transparent price increase builds trust. A hidden downgrade destroys it. The data says 71% of your customers agree.
Source: Capgemini Research Institute