As the world continues to grapple with the confluence of a pandemic, racial
tensions, a worsening climate emergency, and other profound and unprecedented
global crises; Generation Z is calling for the business world to provide
transformative brand leadership, co-created solutions and radical change.
According to a forthcoming global study of more than 27,000 respondents by GlobeScan
and BBMG, Radically Better Future: The Next Gen Reckoning Report, six
in ten respondents under age 30 say the priority for the post-pandemic
recovery
should be restructuring society to deal with challenges including inequality and
climate change, rather than just getting our economy back to normal as soon as
possible.
Described
as authenticity-obsessed,
motivated by meaningful work and the most entrepreneurial generation yet, Gen Z
will soon make up 30 percent of the US
workforce.
In fact, numerous factors have influenced and will continue to influence this
generation and others, as well as what they expect from employers and the brands
that they support. Much like
Millennials,
Gen Z is a more conscious, activist and tech-savvy generation of consumers that
expects brands to share its
values
and recognizes its purchasing power as an important way to support responsible
companies. Brought up in an age of recycling, conscious consumerism and
diversity education, Gen Z is well
aware of
the social and environmental challenges the world currently faces. According to
a recent Cone
Communications study,
92 percent say they care about these issues and express concern for the future,
and 89 percent indicate that they’re worried about the health of our planet.
And while Gen Zers feel personally responsible to make a difference, and 76
percent believe we will have made headway on important issues in the next five
years, according to recent research by Porter
Novelli,
this next generation is looking for brands to lead the way — of those under 30,
81 percent surveyed believe that brands are an essential part of the solution
for the challenges facing humanity today. And 93 percent agree that the more
socially and environmentally responsible companies are and become, the more
motivated and loyal Gen Zers will be as employees and customers.
The 50 Liter Home: Lessons from a multi-industry global collaboration
Join us as leaders from Electrolux and Procter & Gamble share insights and progress to date on ‘The 50 Liter Home’ — a partnership aimed at reducing water consumption in the home, while also generating awareness that leads to better lifestyle choices for sustainable water use — Wednesday, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
“There is great urgency for brands to connect with their customers in different
and more powerful ways,” says GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter. “Our global
consumer research illustrates the enormous opportunity for purpose-driven brands
to build more trust, loyalty and market share; and help to solve environmental
and social challenges while doing so, especially with younger generations.”
The Next Gen Reckoning — findings include:
-
Radical renewal: Six in ten respondents under age 30 say that we need to
prioritize building back
better
after the pandemic, compared to 53 percent of respondents over age 30.
-
Co-creating solutions: 85 percent of respondents under age 30 say they
are interested in “sharing my ideas and experiences with companies to help
them develop better solutions to social and environmental problems,”
compared to 77 percent of those over age 30.
-
Urgency of climate action: More than six in ten respondents (61 percent)
under 30 strongly agree that “we as a society should respond to climate
change with the same urgency” as we have responded to the health pandemic,
compared to 53 percent of respondents over age 30. And 65 percent of
next-gen respondents say they “feel guilty about my negative impact on the
environment,” compared with only 51 percent of those over age 30.
-
Future optimism: Despite our current societal challenges, 61 percent of
respondents under age 30 believe “our children and grandchildren will have a
higher quality of life than we do today,” compared to 54 percent of
respondents over age 30.
“The next generation is calling out business as usual, and they want brands to
lead the way to a radically better future,” says BBMG founding partner Raphael
Bemporad. “Today’s intersecting crises are not merely temporary trends that
can be waited away. These are fundamental challenges to a broken status quo that
all of us have to reckon with. We are being called to lead in an era of shifting
paradigms, not just shifting preferences.”
Research findings in the Next Gen Reckoning Report — to be released on October 20 — are taken from GlobeScan’s
global Healthy & Sustainable Living
survey,
which is based on nationally representative online samples of approximately
1,000 adults in each of 27 countries, weighted to reflect general population
census data. The survey was performed in June 2020.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Sep 22, 2020 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST