Millennials: Ethics And Morals Become Identity Markers For Brands


Millennials: Ethics And Morals Become Identity Markers For Brands




by  @lauriesullivan, July 16, 2018

Millennials expect more from brands with ethics and morality becoming part of their identity and culture in real life and online.


Honesty at 77%, reliability at 74%, helping family at 74%, compassion at 72% and commitment at 72% are the most important values to millennials, according to data released by Morning Consult, a technology company.


The top five most loved brands by Millennials include YouTube at 82%, Google at 81%, Netflix at 80%, Amazon at 74%, and Sony at 72%.


The study — “What Millennials Expect From Your Brand” — tracked more than 1,800 brands and products with about 200 interviews per day per brand to analyze how the values and the ethics of millennials play a role in consumer choices.


Millennials care about helping people, but not as much as generation Gen Z, 18 to 21 year olds. About 62% of Gen Z say they care more about helping people of the world, followed by Millennials at 52%, Gen X at 43%, and Boomers at 37%.


They also care less about respect for authority. In fact, they care the least out of any recent generations. Boomers respect authority most at 63%, followed by Gen X at 55%, Gen Z at 54%, and Millennials at 47%.


Profit-sharing with a good cause seems important to Millennials, with 38% admitting a company that gives away a small share of profits to a good cause would make them like the company. They are, however, much less likely than their parents to care about goods being made in America.


While 58% of Boomers say they’d like a company much more if their goods were made in the United States, just 39% of millennials said they feel the same.


Only 25% of millennials said they will buy goods or services they like from companies they know may have labor practices they don’t support. Treating employees well is key for millennials. Some 51% said they would like a company more if they paid employees well and 40% said they would like a company more if it was known to be a place people liked to work.


Political affiliations of a company play a major part of whether Millennials will buy goods and services. About 29% said they will not buy goods or services from companies if they are aware the company has political positions different from their own, and 24% said they boycotted a company in the last year when it had an opposing political affiliation.


Some 38% of Millennials said they like a company much more if they’re an advocate for civil rights. About 26% said they like a company much more if it advocates gay rights. In terms of gay rights, 26% also said it wouldn’t make a difference. Only 19% said they would like a company more if it advocated for stricter gun control.


Some 68% Millennials said reliability and/or durability are important factors to brand loyalty, followed by high quality given the price at 54%, positive interactions with customer service at 50%, best available at 43%, and the ethical and the moral standards of the company at 42%.


Poor customer service is the easiest way to lose brand loyalty at 74%, followed by when a company doesn’t treat its employees well at 70% and poor labor practices at 69%.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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