WHAT GEN Z WANTS: BRANDS & SOCIAL IMPACT (Part 1)

Published February 2024

As we round out DoSomething’s 30th anniversary and DoSomething Strategic’s (DSS) 10th anniversary, we’re celebrating all that young people have achieved by taking action through DoSomething. However, it’s also apparent that there is much more to DO. Having lived through many interrelated crises in their time, Gen Z is hungry for deeper, systemic impact and they have come to expect brands and organizations to play an instrumental role in contributing to this change.  

DSS previously found that 85% of Gen Z believe a brand’s association or support for a social issue or cause has a positive impact on their overall impression of that brand. We wanted to unpack this further. We believe that Gen Z—both as consumers and as employees—hold brands to a high standard as changemaking engines for good. Can brands live up to these high expectations? As we look ahead to the next years of youth-led impact, we used this survey to understand what Gen Z wants to see brands DO more of to fuel social impact.

We asked nearly 1,200 young people, as consumers and as employees: are brands responsible for addressing the issues that society faces in the world? We then set off to determine what topics were most salient to young people and where there were differences across demographics.

Gen Z Sees Brands as Significant Arbiters of Social Change

DSS’s premise that young people have high expectations of brands as engines for good proved true. The results overwhelmingly showed that Gen Z wanted brands to DO more when it came to taking action on social causes, living out their commitment to social impact, and supporting employee engagement policies. Of the 15 social causes and actions that respondents ranked, 73% had a mean score of 4 or higher on a scale of 1 (not important at all) to 3 (neutral) to 5 (very important).

Unpacking the data by demographics uncovered nuances to the cause areas that young people expected brands to take action on.

• In terms of gender, males expressed lower expectations for brands to advocate for social causes across issues of equity & justice (4.1), LBGTQIA+ rights & gender equality (3.38), and mental health & wellbeing (4.0). Nonbinary and transgender individuals assigned the highest importance to these causes, respectively scoring (4.5), (4.5), and (4.4), while females ranked in between these gender groups, indicating importance for brands to take action at scores of (4.4), (3.8), and (4.3).

• Non-White individuals had higher expectations for brands to address gun violence (4.2) when compared to White individuals. Non-White youth, specifically, Black and Brown individuals, face the disproportionate effects of gun violence and therefore may see brands as being a larger part of the solution to this systemic issue.

DSS concluded that traditionally marginalized groups, including Non-White individuals, women, transgender, and non-binary folks, had higher expectations of brands than those who were white or those who identified as men. With the growing racial, ethnic, and gender-identifying diversity of the U.S. population, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, companies can expect young people to increasingly hold them accountable to drivers of social change.

Gen Z’s Expectations Are Not Being Met

To understand Gen Z sentiments, DSS asked young people, “To what extent do you think brands are meeting your expectations to demonstrate their commitment to social impact and corporate citizenship?” We followed up with, “To what extent do you feel the voices of young people are included in shaping a company's social impact commitments?”

Gen Z wants to be at the table and co-creating solutions alongside their older counterparts. Why listen? Gen Z is expected to overtake Baby Boomers in the workforce by next year, according to Glassdoor’s census analysis. They also have an estimated $360 billion in disposable income.

Employee Engagement Policies That Resonate with Gen Z

Gen Z will make up 27% of the workforce by 2025. So, your brand's employee engagement policies will be under the microscope by a generation that sees work as so much more than earning a paycheck. Among the highlights from our research, we found that:

• Gen Z rated work-life balance as most important. Young people want the ability to work flexible hours, engage in remote or hybrid work and support a lifestyle that isn’t enveloped by their job.

• At a time when the cost of living continues to soar, a competitive salary and financial benefits rate highly among a generation who feel they’ve missed out on the ‘good times’ of the economy.

• Just as young people said it was important for brands to take action to support mental health and wellbeing externally, they also expect it internally.

The employee engagement policies that resonate with this generation cascade down similar to how Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs cascades up. Physiological needs and safety and security are of most importance to an individual before one can reach love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

However, as in life, most people are hoping to have more than their basic needs met. Many respondents in their qualitative responses said that work-life balance and fair compensation shouldn’t come at the expense of corporate citizenship.

How to Exceed Gen Z’s Expectations (As Told By Young People)

2023 came and went and 2024 is upon us. A cultural metamorphosis is underway — it’s not merely a passing trend but a pivotal juncture that demands the attention of U.S. companies. The dynamics of our workforce are undergoing a significant shift, with Gen Z at the forefront, bringing with them values that underscore the importance of authenticity, transparency, and ethical practices.

In the realm of corporate social responsibility, genuineness emerges as the linchpin. The upcoming year marks a crucial period of transformation and companies that embrace original, purpose-driven initiatives will find themselves on the forefront of this evolution.

Aligning strategies with younger generations’ values are not just recommendations—they are the blueprints for success. It is time for brands to step up, embrace change, and be the architects of a future where purpose and profit coalesce.

Written by: Walker Post
Contributions by: Ashley Montcrieft, Yasmine Mahdavi, Sahil Gupta, Max Steinman

Interested in learning about the survey design? Read about our methodology below.