The latest edition of our Consumer Mood Argentina – November 2025 confirms this permanent tension. The study, which combines quantitative measurements on 1,375 cases and focus groups throughout the country, once again shows that the Argentine middle class retains an almost mythical strength. 84% maintain that it was historically the engine of the country, but only 40% continue to consider themselves part of it: a slight improvement compared to previous measurements, although far from the historical 75 or 80% who used to identify themselves that way.
Why do people feel like they are falling off the social pyramid? Because almost 70% perceive that today they cannot consume as someone from the middle class “should”: that is, live beyond what is essential, spend on something more than services and the basics. What is notable is that this nostalgia also appears among young people between 18 and 29 years old: they long for a strong middle class that they never experienced, as if it functioned more as a cultural ideal than as a concrete reality. This imaginary of a robust middle class as a national identity persists even when the economy erodes it day by day.
The heart of the current consumer climate is summed up in a recurring phrase in groups: “you have to think about every expense”, but almost in the same tone another appears: “a little treat every now and then saves your spirit.” That ambivalence is the emotional pulse of the country. 82% reduced or eliminated expenses in at least one item, although fewer categories are cut today than in June (five versus six).
We observe that rationality in purchases and adjustment become permanent habits, especially among women, in the middle-low segments and those over 45 years of age. Clothing, footwear, non-essential foods, outings and home care products account for the biggest cuts. However, at the same time, 81% maintain that treating yourself from time to time is key to maintaining your mood. This “plus” works as a form of emotional self-regulation, a kind of “right to taste” that persists even when the pocketbook tightens. A small pleasure, but capable of balancing everyday tension.
In this logic, one of the most interesting paradoxes emerges: clothing is one of the most cut-off items, but international purchasing is growing steadily, especially among young women. While local clothing becomes an expense that is difficult to justify, platforms like Shein offer an emotional and economic escape: they allow you to maintain your aesthetic identity without putting too much strain on your budget.
40% of Argentines already buy abroad; Shein dominates among young women, Amazon consolidates in the high levels and AliExpress grows in the C3 for purchases related to the home. This combination works like a compensation valve: it is reduced where it hurts most and recovered in a space where desire is not completely occluded. It is a true emotional engineering, almost a choreography of daily survival.
Promo hunters and offer collectors. The study also shows how the rationality of spending is reorganized. Optimization becomes the norm: promotions, discounts, daily purchases of “only what is necessary”, smaller packaging, meticulous choice of channel and greater willingness to change brands if it improves budget performance.
It is a more thoughtful and tactical consumption. But this exercise of rationality, far from eliminating the symbolic dimension of consumption, reorders it. Today, paying more is only justified when a relevant emotional scene appears: a special occasion, a gift, a moment in which the product accompanies something that exceeds its function. Although the group that is not willing to pay more for anything is growing (from 13% to 21%), the appreciation that the product enables extra enjoyment, even if it is minimal and episodic, also increases.
The Argentine, an expert in crises, maintains a clear demand towards the brands: 75% had to go into debt or use savings to make ends meet and, therefore, he hopes that the brands will accompany this moment. 88% consider that this support should not be given from aspirational advertising messages, but from concrete promotions and offers: facts, not just words. This implies price, but also possible consumption scenes, accessible rituals and proposals aligned with the social climate.
Where are the values and the aspirational in times of so much rationality? National products are valued (76%), but also access to imported products (39%), because they allow one to feel part of a broader world, especially at medium and high levels and among the youngest. It is an identity tension that crosses all segments and that emerges clearly in the research.
Making ends meet and social spirit. Economic perceptions show a climate that combines realism and resignation. Half of the population (50%) feels that others are the same: difficulties are experienced as a shared experience. 36% believe that others are worse off and only 14% think that there are those who are better off, a marked drop compared to previous months. The expectation of personal improvement is also weakened: only 42% believe that their situation will improve in a year, while the idea that everything will remain the same (36%) or even worsen (22%) grows. It is a flatter social humor, without excessive optimism, which directly conditions how it is consumed and what is prioritized.
The data clearly shows that those who have more stable and predictable incomes make ends meet, something that appears most strongly in ABC1 and C2, and among men and young people. They are the segments that cut the least and that even declare being able to save a small percentage of their income. This margin, although minimal, is enough to sustain a more positive mood: these are the same groups that most frequently claim “not having had to cut anything”, a response that is around 26% at high levels.
In contrast, the C3 and, especially, the DE are the ones who feel the daily pressure the most. There, the perception that “money is not enough” becomes almost structural. 40% of the total in the country says that they do not make ends meet, but at low levels that figure intensifies and becomes a daily experience. They are also the segments that cut the most, particularly in clothing, outings, non-essential foods and activities for children.
Adding to this vulnerability is a compelling fact: 75% of Argentines had to go into debt or use savings to meet expenses, but in C3 and, above all, in DE, this behavior is even more marked. Women at these levels are the ones who took on the most card debt, and those with low SES appear to be the most exposed to informal credit: they are the ones who most frequently had to borrow money from family and friends to make ends meet. In these segments, the domestic economy functions as an extremely fragile balance, and the consumer mood falls in direct proportion to the growth of daily debt.
Looking ahead to next summer, the holidays open another chapter of this contradiction. 67% plan to take vacations in the next 12 months, but 30% already know that they will not be able to do so. When it comes to dreaming, the beaches—the Argentine coast, Brazil, the Caribbean—continue to lead the desire, while the most distant destinations are more aspirational than accessible. As in the rest of consumption, desire does not disappear: it is reconfigured.
What emerges from this edition of Consumer Mood It is not simply a country that adjusts. It is a country that redefines the meaning of consumption, makes each purchase more strategic and, at the same time, refuses to abandon desire. Taste, although small, becomes an emotional regulator, and identity is sustained by minimal rituals. Brands are challenged to move in this hybrid terrain, where the value does not reside only in the product, but in what that product enables in everyday life.
Consuming in Argentina is no longer just an economic act: it is an exercise in emotional balance. And in that balance, the data shows something clearly: even when there is no margin, you continue looking for a way to feel a little better, a little more yourself.
Ximena Díaz Alarcón — CEO and co-founder of Youniversal.
by Ximena Díaz Alarcón
