76% of Consumers Feel the Inflation, Only 19% Worry About Lifestyle

A similar picture emerges from a more recent survey. The UOB ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study 2026 surveyed 1,000 Indonesian respondents in June 2026. It found that 76% of respondents felt inflation was eroding household purchasing power, up from 59% a year earlier (UOB, 2025, 2026).

Pressure of that magnitude should have prompted tighter belt-tightening. UOB’s data does not show this. The proportion of respondents cutting back on non-essential spending shifted from 44% to 42%, while those seeking promotions fell from 42% to 33%. Only 19% were worried about being unable to maintain their current lifestyle, lower than the regional average of 27%.

Consumers are also not choosing between saving and enjoying life. A total of 72% set aside more than 10% of their income for savings, while 63% prefer to enjoy their money now rather than worry too much about the future. In the same sample, at least 35% of respondents held both attitudes at once (UOB, 2026).

Saving and enjoying life do not have to cancel each other out. For some consumers, both are part of the same approach to managing finances.

This pattern has a name: treatonomics, the way consumers make room for personal pleasures amid budget considerations. The concept is close to the lipstick effect, in which consumers keep buying items that give them satisfaction despite economic pressure (Laksamana, 2025).

Both are often pictured as a cup of coffee or a tube of lipstick, that is, small, inexpensive pleasures. The KedaiKOPI self-reward list shows a broader scope. Besides hanging out at cafés, respondents named holidays (46.8%), gadgets (17.8%), and other electronics (12.6%). The last three require larger budgets and dedicated planning (Muhamad, 2025).

Micro-indulgence explains only part of the story. Treatonomics is more useful as a lens for understanding how consumers weigh pleasure, whether small or large in value.

For marketers, this distinction matters. A strategy for everyday beverages cannot be the same as one for beauty products, clothing, travel, or gadgets. The amount spent, frequency, reasons for buying, and the way consumers assess benefits differ in each category.

If pleasure is still being bought, what makes one product chosen and another passed over? The answer lies in value calculation.

The PwC Voice of the Consumer 2026 survey of 503 Indonesian respondents shows this calculation at work in the health and wellness category. Aspirations are high: 59% prioritize long-term healthy living and 51% want to reduce stress. However, 77% prioritize benefits commensurate with cost and 64% consider price. Only 35% actively set aside a dedicated budget for health (PwC Indonesia, 2026).

In the gap between aspiration and budget, trust becomes the deciding factor. A total of 88% of respondents consider trust in a brand as important as price and quality, and 81% are willing to switch to a more transparent brand.

The beauty category shows a similar value calculation. When choosing body lotion, 70% of the 1,249 users surveyed by Jakpat consider skin compatibility and 67% pay attention to fragrance. Price is considered by 54%. For makeup, quality and results on the skin received an importance score of 4.48 out of 5, slightly above price and promotions, which scored 4.36 (Jakpat, 2026a).

Consumers still diligently compare prices. A total of 94.5% of KedaiKOPI respondents compare prices in physical stores and online, especially for fashion and cosmetics (Sakina, 2025). But comparing prices is not the same as choosing the cheapest. The 2025 UOB survey recorded that 43% of Indonesian respondents were buying more multifunctional products to maximize value (UOB, 2025). Consumers seek the greatest benefit for every rupiah they spend.

For brands, the implications go beyond lowering prices. Brands need to explain their benefits, ensure their prices are commensurate, and understand the attributes that truly drive decisions in their respective categories.

The beverage category shows how value calculation works in daily life. A Jakpat survey of 1,238 respondents found that coffee and tea are consumed by more than 70% of respondents in every generation. Both are most often prepared at home, and most consumers pay less than IDR 25,000 per serving (Jakpat, 2026b).

Matcha moves along a different path. It was consumed by 34% of Gen Z and 32% of millennials in the past six months, compared with 17% of Gen X. Many drinkers pay IDR 25,000–50,000 per serving, and cafés are the most frequent place of purchase. Jakpat noted matcha as the only beverage category with a strong spending pattern in the mid-price range. Consumers pay for the value and the experience attached to it, in addition to the drink itself (Jakpat, 2026b).

This contrast shows how consumers can keep everyday beverages affordable while paying more for categories that offer an experience.

For beverage brands, matcha demonstrates that a premium position can hold as long as the value and the experience are clear. Serving sizes, individual packs, or promotions tied to specific consumption moments are worth testing, with the impact still measured. Lower prices may attract new buyers, but they may also divert purchases from regular products and squeeze margins.

The same logic applies to personal care. For body lotion, moisturizing ability received the highest importance score, at 4.59 out of 5 (Jakpat, 2026a). Brands can place results on the skin and moisturizing ability at the front of their messaging, with price and promotions in a supporting role. This order needs to be tested in each channel, because consumers who try products in person in stores and those who rely on online reviews may weigh products differently.

Across all the findings, three points stand out. The share of income going to consumption is rising, pleasure still has a place in the middle-class budget, and consumers weigh benefits before buying. These can be translated into five steps.

Show Why the Product Is Worth Buying

Consumers who calculate value need a reason to buy, and 78% of PwC respondents expect clear information about products and how they work (PwC Indonesia, 2026). Brands need to identify the attributes most relevant in their category, then communicate benefits concretely.

The decline in the proportion of promotion seekers, from 42% to 33% in the UOB survey, gives reason to test benefit-based messages against discount-based ones. Measure response to ads together with conversion, transaction value, repeat purchases, and margin. That way, brands know which approach produces healthier business.

Test Price Entry Points Without Sacrificing Value

The largest group of middle-class respondents set aside IDR 500,000–1 million per month for lifestyle spending. With a budget of that size, price per transaction determines how often a product can fit into it. Small sizes or trial packs are worth testing as entry points.

The impact still needs to be measured, because lower prices do not always produce growth. Brands need to check whether a new format reaches additional consumers, increases purchase frequency, or simply replaces the regular product. The effect on price per unit and margin also needs to be calculated.

Make Experience the Gateway

Cafés appear repeatedly in this story. Cafés are the top form of self-reward in the KedaiKOPI survey and the main place to buy matcha in the Jakpat survey. KedaiKOPI also found that three in five respondents often visit malls without shopping. According to the institution, malls now function more as places to try items, while transactions shift to e-commerce and traditional markets (Sakina, 2025).

Experience becomes the start of the purchase journey, while the transaction can take place in another channel. For this reason, measures of experience success need to include cross-channel conversion, for example, online purchases after consumers try the product in a store.

Target the Segments with the Most Spending Room

Room for pleasure is not equally wide in every segment. In the BI Consumer Survey, the 20–30 age group recorded the highest indices for consumer confidence (127.9), current income (128.2), and durable goods purchases (116.1). The IDR 1–2 million expenditure group stood on the opposite side as the only group pessimistic about current income (Bank Indonesia, 2026a).

PwC found a similar pattern. A total of 64% of younger consumers feel their income is sufficient to save and to spend beyond their basic needs, compared with 48% of older consumers (PwC Indonesia, 2026). KedaiKOPI respondents were also dominated by millennials (61.6%) and Gen Z (26%), surveyed online. The findings are therefore most relevant to young middle-class consumers who are active on digital channels (Muhamad, 2025).

Brands can prioritize this segment while preparing separate offerings for lower-income groups, with different price points and messaging.

Do Not Use Financial Pressure as a Persuasion Tool

Wider spending room does not necessarily mean comfortable finances. One in two KedaiKOPI respondents uses paylater, and a quarter have accessed online loans (Sakina, 2025). In the 2026 UOB survey, 60% of Indonesian respondents felt that social pressure made it hard for them to save (UOB, 2026).

Self-reward communication should help consumers choose according to their needs and budgets. Brands should not exploit financial anxiety, push impulse purchases, or frame spending as a necessity for maintaining mental health. With 81% of consumers willing to switch to a more transparent brand, trust is a long-term asset more valuable than a momentary emotional push.

The Brand Challenge: Deserving a Place in the Consumer’s Budget

Returning to Bank Indonesia’s data: the share of income going to consumption is rising, while the share going to savings is shrinking slightly. The consumer surveys show that, amid swelling expenses, the middle class still sets aside room for cafés, holidays, clothing, and personal care. They also weigh the value of each of these choices carefully.

Middle-class consumers do not stop seeking pleasure when budgets tighten. They choose it more carefully. Brands that can explain their value honestly are in a stronger position, given that 88% of consumers place trust on a par with price and quality.

The opportunity for brands lies in understanding why consumers consider a purchase worthwhile, what value they are looking for, and how brands can deliver it without disregarding the limits of their budgets.

References

Bank Indonesia. (2026a, October 8). Laporan Survei Konsumen September 2026 [September 2026 Consumer Survey Report]. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Bank Indonesia. (2026b, October 8). Survei Konsumen September 2026: Keyakinan konsumen tetap terjaga [September 2026 Consumer Survey: Consumer confidence remains intact] [Press release]. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Jakpat. (2026a, June 18). Beauty trends: Quality over price & influencers. Jakpat Insight. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Jakpat. (2026b, July 7). Coffee and tea continue to dominate, while matcha strengthens its premium position. Jakpat Insight. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Laksamana, P. (2025, December 23). Pola belanja Gen Z 2025 dan 2026: ‘Self-reward’ tetap jadi prioritas utama [Gen Z spending patterns in 2025 and 2026: ‘Self-reward’ remains the top priority]. The Conversation Indonesia.

Muhamad, N. (2025, October 30). Forms of ‘self-reward’ practiced by the Indonesian middle class. Databoks. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

PwC Indonesia. (2026, September 3). Masyarakat Indonesia semakin mengandalkan teknologi, sumber terpercaya dan komunitas dalam menjalani gaya hidup yang lebih sehat, menurut survei PwC [Indonesians increasingly rely on technology, trusted sources, and community in pursuing healthier lifestyles, according to PwC survey]. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Sakina, P. (2025, October 28). Survei ungkap konsumsi kelas menengah bergeser, gaya hidup dipangkas [Survey reveals middle-class consumption shifting, lifestyle spending cut]. ANTARA News. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

UOB. (2025, December 2). ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study 2025: Indonesia report. United Overseas Bank. Retrieved October 12, 2026.

UOB. (2026, September 14). ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study (ACSS) 2026. United Overseas Bank. Retrieved October 12, 2026.