Without profitability, organizations won’t survive long. Businesses scrambling to protect profits against a strained economic backdrop have made tough decisions, with one major consequence: the erosion of customer experiences.

Quality or size reductions (shrinkflation), declines in service (skimpflation), customer service shortcomings, and unwelcome subscriptions are adding up to a sense that brands are quietly reversing their promises. At the center of this trend is a critical perception problem: where companies see actions for survival, some customers see greed.

Both brands and customers are having to reduce costs. If brands keep going down this road, people will only get more frustrated, and long-term prospects will take a hit. Loyalty suffers when finances are tight, leaving price and value as the most influential factors in buying decisions. There’s also a new risk lurking: the flip side of the concept of liquid expectations, “liquid suspicions” describes the idea that when customers are let down by one brand, they’ll be wary of all others.