When it comes to building consumer relationships with young women, staying informed of and being vocal about social issues is invaluable for businesses.
This is according to a consumer survey of more than 9000 women living in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, that was conducted, jointly, by A&C, Inc., and Butterly.
Forty-one per cent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 40 (i.e. millennials) said a brand’s public reaction to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement would ‘likely’ affect their purchasing decisions moving forward. In contrast, this feeling was shared by 25 per cent of gen-Xers (41 to 55 years old) and 17 per cent of baby boomers (56 to 76 years old).
The data, says Butterly’s CEO, Ali de Bold, demonstrates the need for brands to stay informed of and show support for social issues that are important to younger clients in order to build relationships with the next generation of consumers.
“Statistics show women still drive the majority of household purchases across all three of the countries we surveyed,” she says, “and our data indicates [nearly half] of these women want brands to let their position on the BLM movement be known.
“This data shows it is critical for brands to stay abreast of and demonstrate support for important social issues to maintain loyalty with one of their most important customer segments.”
When asked where they learn about a brand’s position on social issues, the majority of millennial and gen-X respondents (81 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively) said they referred to social media.
Additionally, when split into ethnic groups across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom:
- 56 per cent of respondents who identified as Black claimed a brand’s response to BLM would affect their purchasing decisions; and
- 41 per cent of those who identified as Caucasian/European stated a brand’s response to BLM would affect their purchasing decisions.
“Understanding the nuances of a particular consumer sector—where they get their information, where their values lie, and where their heads are at—will directly impact how we recommend brands communicate with their targets,” says A&C’s vice-president of creative strategy, Darren Roberts. “The key to communications, and I think we see this in the data, is authenticity, which could be the reason we see Black respondents not appearing to care as much as we would have anticipated about brand statements.”
