If it feels like every brand has been running a sale for months, you’re not imagining it. According to a recent CNBC report, shoppers are showing clear signs of discount fatigue ahead of Black Friday. Weeks of “early access” deals, endless promo codes, and AI-optimized price drops are making consumers tune out rather than buy in.
The story behind this fatigue says something bigger about today’s consumer mindset. Price cuts alone are no longer enough to inspire action. In an economy defined by inflation, product overload and short attention spans, consumers are now prioritizing trust, alignment and experience over the next 20 percent off.
For consumer brands and communicators, that shift is both a challenge and an opportunity. The question becomes: how do you sway purchasing decisions when discounts alone won’t win you customer loyalty?
Rethinking Value in a Fatigued Market
Promotions once created a sense of urgency and excitement. Today, they risk signaling desperation. The value story needs to evolve beyond savings and into meaningful relevance.
That starts with asking: What is the real value exchange between your brand and its audience? Is it about helping them save time? Feel more confident? Live more sustainably? The strongest consumer brands are reframing “value” through a mix of utility, personalization and purpose.
For example, a fitness brand might shift messaging from “limited-time discount” to “designed to help you stay consistent year-round.” The promise becomes the outcome, not the percentage off.
Campaigns grounded in authenticity and transparency consistently outperform purely transactional ones. When marketers pair emotional connection with functional benefit, they build equity that lasts beyond the sale season.
At the same time, consumers are changing how they make those purchase decisions altogether. As AI tools become mainstream discovery engines, people are increasingly asking ChatGPT-style assistants what to buy, which brands to trust or which gifts best fit their needs. The path to purchase is no longer limited to Google searches or social feeds— it’s moving into conversational interfaces powered by generative AI. For communicators, that evolution means rethinking not only messaging but also how content is structured to appear in AI-driven answers.
How Communicators Can Lead the Charge
This isn’t about abandoning sales altogether (especially in this economy). It’s about rebalancing the mix between urgency and understanding. Here are five ways consumer marketers and PR pros can help reposition their brand narrative before the next promotional wave hits:
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Reframe the value story.
Move from “save money” to “save energy,” “save stress” or “save time.” Use a brand’s story to show how a product improves daily life. For consumer tech brands, that could mean translating complex features into tangible lifestyle benefits. -
Integrate storytelling into sales moments.
Use earned and owned storytelling to add meaning to peak sales periods. Feature customer testimonials to showcase the real-world insight into what benefits they see in the brand. Have someone inside the organization (outside of the C-suite) speak to what excites them about the product/service and what value they think it brings or problem it solves. -
Rebuild anticipation, not urgency.
Endless “limited-time” messaging erodes trust. Instead, use editorial content, influencer collaborations and short-form video to reignite excitement before key shopping dates. Showcase product stories that connect emotionally rather than relying on countdown timers. -
Personalize with precision.
Consumers now expect every interaction to feel relevant. Use insights from social listening, engagement data and previous campaigns to tailor communications by mindset, not just demographics. A college student shopping for tech gadgets needs a different value story than a parent upgrading their home device ecosystem. -
Optimize for how consumers discover products now.
More shoppers are turning to AI tools rather than traditional search. Bain recently found that shopping-related prompts in ChatGPT rose sharply in the first half of 2025 as consumers began using conversational tools to make purchasing decisions. Similarly, Retail Brew highlighted the rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), where brands must ensure their content is discoverable through AI-generated answers, not just search engines. To stay visible, communicators should begin building Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and GEO strategies into holiday planning so their products and messaging appear when consumers ask search engines questions about what to buy.
What This Means for Consumer Marketers
As the CNBC piece mentioned above highlighted, shoppers are not rejecting commerce—they’re rejecting clutter. For communications teams, that means focusing more on consistency. Tell a story that holds attention without relying on percentages.
The fatigue seen this holiday season isn’t just about economics. It’s about emotional overload. The flood of deals has blurred distinctions between brands, creating a sea of sameness that undercuts loyalty.
Discounts can move inventory, but they rarely build a connection. Communications leaders have a unique role: to reintroduce meaning back into the market. The most successful campaigns heading into 2026 will be those that balance clear product storytelling with brand-level empathy, as well as incorporating AEO and GEO strategies to meet consumers where they are.
Cori Cagide is Vice President, Consumer at SourceCode Communications.