A couple of months ago, a BBC headline caught our attention: “Homes without lounges now a reality for renters.”

The article spoke to a very real shift in how UK homes are being rented and lived in. Communal areas are getting smaller, with individual rentable spaces increasingly prioritised for cost and flexibility rather than tradition. 

It got us thinking.

If the lounge is under threat, what about the dining room?

Long held up as a key part of the home and the place where families gather, meals are shared and conversations unfold, is it quietly being side-lined too? Or is something subtler happening: not the disappearance of the table itself, but a transformation in how (and why) we sit around it? 

UK consumers are rebalancing priorities, reassessing value, and seeking control - not just over their wallets, but over how they live, spend and connect. As we close the books on 2025, here’s our wrap-up of the four dominant themes we’ve seen in our ongoing research with UK consumers across sectors and social contexts this year.

With Christmas fast approaching, let’s look at this year’s festive ads from some of the UK’s major retailers. Some heart-warming, some playful, some product-led and all hoping to capture the emotions of the season. But do they reflect how people actually want to feel this Christmas? 

We set out to understand the emotional blueprint consumers are carrying with them into the festive period, using our Emotional Signature tool — a method that reveals instinctive, fast-thinking responses rather than surface-level opinions. Because emotional reactions, not rational ones, drive most festive decision-making. 

For shoppers racing to get gifts under the tree, one thing matters above all else: confidence their parcels will arrive on time. And with Unite members at UPS balloting for strike action, our latest research shows something retailers can't ignore— shoppers are poised to change their festive buying habits the moment delivery reliability starts to wobble. 

And the headline is clear: two in three shoppers would switch retailers if delivery strikes threaten Christmas orders. 

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to shape daily life in the UK, heating has become a growing source of worry for many households. With the Government’s new budget landing today and prices still rising, people are heading into winter with a sense of uncertainty about how they will manage the months ahead. Staying warm is no longer a background consideration; it’s something people are planning around more carefully than ever. 

Our latest research shows how this is affecting behaviour, budgets and wellbeing for households across the country. 

As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, new data reveals a troubling shift: almost seven in ten Britons would consider choosing a less rigorously tested medication if the price was right. Despite valuing safety and quality above all else, rising costs are pushing many to make trade-offs they never expected to face. With trust wavering and concerns about authenticity growing, the pressure is mounting on brands—and the system—to help consumers feel protected.

When Amazon Went Old School

Last week, something curious landed on my doormat: a colourful toy catalogue from Amazon.

At first, I was genuinely confused. A printed catalogue from Amazon? This felt completely offbeat for a brand that has built its empire on digital convenience and frictionless e-commerce. It seemed almost quaint.

But then I left it on the coffee table.

Technology continues to redefine customer experience, often focusing on remote and digital services that prioritise efficiency and scale. However, what happens when customers desire more than a technologically advanced response — when they simply want an authentic, human interaction? 

Our new insights come with an important warning: beware of outsourcing empathy to machines. This raises a key question for every organisation—do you know your company’s CX ‘moments of truth’? Those moments where authentic connection matters most to your customers. 

At The Harris Poll UK, we spend a lot of time listening—to what consumers are feeling, what they’re prioritising and how those choices are shaping brand relationships. And as we head into the 2025 festive season, the mood of the nation feels quietly optimistic.

Economic pressures may still be part of daily life, but people are finding new ways to create joy and connection. Even in tighter times, UK consumers are seeking moments that feel meaningful — swapping excess for experiences, nostalgia, and small everyday luxuries.

As we enter the final quarter of 2025, the wet weather and darker nights are making the heady days of summer feel like a distant memory. But does the national mood mirror the gloomy skies, or are UK consumers holding onto some positivity as we head towards year-end? 

According to the latest wave of The Harris Poll UK’s Optimism Index, the answer is… a bit of both. 

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business world, organisations focus heavily on customer feedback—and rightly so. But there’s another equally vital source of insight that’s too often overlooked: employee feedback. The voices of employees can be a company’s most powerful tool for growth, innovation, and long-term success.

At The Harris Poll UK, a Stagwell company, we’re continually engaging with leaders and innovators across the financial services sector to understand how technology is reshaping both opportunity and expectation.

At the recent Financial Services AI & Innovation Forum on 30 September, one theme came through loud and clear: artificial intelligence is no longer a future opportunity — it’s reshaping business realities today.

For financial services (FS) companies, the challenge is not whether to embrace it, but how to do so responsibly, effectively and in ways that truly deliver value to employees and customers.

In today’s world, reputation and customer experience (CX) aren’t just measures of performance—they are engines of momentum. Reputation reflects how the wider public perceives your purpose, values, employees, growth, and more. CX reveals how customers feel during their interactions with your company or services and can be constructed from one single interaction or a hundred strung together. Seen together, reputation and CX provide the clearest signal of which companies are winning today, but also who is building the right to lead tomorrow. 

The Harris Poll UK’s new 2025 Corporate Reputation Index and 2025 Customer Experience Index together provide the most comprehensive view yet of how companies are performing regarding Reputation and CX, based on over 20,000 consumer evaluations and more than 1 million datapoints. 

For more than a decade, the narrative around retail has been dominated by a single idea: online always wins. But even before the most recent headlines, cracks in that theory were beginning to show. After years of rapid e-commerce growth, many consumers are reappraising the advantages of physical shopping—and our latest data makes clear why.

For many research participants, the typical experience can feel familiar: an unexpected survey link, a long list of questions, and little indication of what happens once “submit” is clicked. Without the right approach, research risks becoming transactional, impersonal, and disconnected—and for brands, capturing truly genuine customer insight has never been more challenging. In today’s environment, where bots and low-quality responses can undermine confidence in the data, the challenge of authenticity looms larger than ever.

A research community works very differently.

With only 18% reporting their finances are improving, households remain cautious. As the Bank of England has cut interest rates four times this year—bringing the base rate down to 4%—the benefits have not flowed through to households. Inflation, which had fallen to 2.6%, has ticked back up to 3.8%, and the Bank’s forecast now places 2025 inflation at 4%. Combined with slowing GDP growth—down to 0.3% in Q2 from 0.7% in the first quarter—consumer confidence remains fragile. 

So, it is no surprise that 38% of consumers want fixing the UK economy to be the government’s top priority in the next 12 months, and one in three still see it as the main issue even looking three to five years ahead. But here’s the important nuance: while the economy dominates in the short term, people’s concerns stretch well beyond GDP. 

The holiday booking window used to be predictable: January for the early birds chasing deals, March for the procrastinators, and a steady stream of last-minute bookings throughout spring. Our latest research reveals that something fundamental has shifted in how UK consumers approach their annual escape. Climate change has quietly moved from the "should consider" category straight into core decision-making criteria—and it's reshaping the entire travel landscape.

January has long owned the cultural spotlight as the season of resolutions and resets. But our latest research reveals a quiet shift that brands shouldn’t underestimate. September, long linked to the return to school, is emerging as a second New Year on the UK calendar—a fresh start that extends far beyond students and parents.

In fact, for many, September feels more like the real start of the year. After summer holidays and looser routines, people return with sharpened focus, renewed organisation and clear intention. At The Harris Poll UK, a Stagwell Company, we’ve found that consumers treat the end of summer as more than a calendar page turn—it’s a mindset shift. Customers are re-engaging. They're motivated. And they're looking for brands that support them through this transition.

The UK public isn’t turning its back on the news—it’s taking back control of it. Our latest research shows that while almost half of people (46%) say they check the news less often than before, this shift reflects intention, not indifference.

People are looking for balance, clarity, and content that supports their wellbeing. Far from switching off, they’re tuning in—on their own terms.

With recent headlines about ASOS closing accounts under a ‘fair use’ returns policy, our latest research provides a blueprint for retailers to navigate the fine line between customer expectation and operational sustainability—without damaging brand trust.

Free returns have become an industry norm. For many customers, they’re not a bonus feature—they’re an essential part of the online shopping experience. But behind this convenience lies a growing operational cost, fuelled by evolving customer behaviours.