The increasing diversity of the US population is reshaping culture and consumerism, requiring brands to understand and align with evolving social values to stay relevant. As social and political issues become more personal and identity-based, consumers are eager to advocate for the causes and values they support. Mintel’s Conscious Consumer segment not only pays attention to brands’ values and social mission, but also strives to put their money towards companies that align with their own personal beliefs.
Young and multicultural shoppers are spearheading the trend of aligning purchasing habits with social and political values. Consumer skepticism about the authenticity of and motivations behind cause marketing remains prevalent. To overcome doubts, brands must demonstrate unwavering commitment to their ethical purpose and values. Ultimately, authentic advocacy, transparency and consistency are critical for brands to establish a purpose-driven reputation that consumers trust and seek to support.
This report looks at the following areas:
- An overview of multicultural consumers living in the US today
- Current economic indicators and financial concerns currently affecting US consumers
- A profile of Mintel’s Conscious Consumers segment
- Consumers’ interest in and attitudes towards brands’ values and social stances
- The influence brands’ social purpose and cause marketing can have on consumer behavior
- Consumers’ expectations for and areas of skepticism regarding purpose-driven brands
- A look at the controversial and non-controversial issues consumers want to see brands support
- Consumers’ perceptions of specific brands and their ethical pursuits
The US population’s increasing diversity is reshaping culture and consumerism, requiring brands to align with evolving social values to stay relevant.
Lisa Dubina, Associate Director, Culture & Identity
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, “multicultural” refers to adults who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, or who indicate an unspecified racial or ethnic group or mixed race (denoted as “Mixed race or ethnicity”). White consumers and LGBTQ+ consumers are also included in the research.
“Conscious Consumers” are respondents who both pay attention to brands’ social mission, and strive to buy brands with similar morals/values.
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- Market definition
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Invest in purpose-driven campaigns that align with the brand’s mission and target audience’s beliefs
- Consider supporting less-controversial causes to avoid political backlash
- Remain committed to social causes and transparently disclose the outcome of advocacy efforts
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MULTICULTURAL AMERICA: AN OVERVIEW
- US culture and consumerism is evolving as the population continues to diversify
- Immigrant population grew by 5.1m in the last two years – the largest two-year increase ever recorded
- Graph 1: number of immigrants (000s) and immigrants as share of the US population (%), 1850-2024
- The US LGBTQ+ population also continues to grow, becoming its own distinct cultural group
- Graph 2: percentage of LGBTQ+ adults in the US, 2012-24
- The LGBTQ+ population is not just growing – it’s expecting more from brands
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market context
- Market drivers
- Consumer sentiment wavers amid tariff concerns and economic pressures
- Graph 3: consumer sentiment index, 2022-25
- While price and quality are top factors leading to purchasing, brand trust is also crucial in differentiation
- Signal trust to younger consumers with transparency and value alignment
- Graph 4: brand actions that earn trust (any rank), by generation, 2025
- From civic action to consumer activism
- Graph 5: reported voting, by race and Hispanic origin 2020-24
- Target audience
- Consumers’ attention to and consideration of brands’ social values has remained consistent over the past year
- Graph 6: outlook on and consideration of brands’ social purpose, 2024-25
- Graph 7: outlook on and consideration of brands’ social purpose, 2024-25
- The share of Conscious Consumers has also stayed consistent, with the segment including over half of all consumers
- Black, mixed race and LGBTQ+ consumers are more likely to be Conscious Consumers
- Graph 8: Conscious Consumers, by race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Young consumers shop by their values regardless of race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ identity
- Graph 9: Conscious Consumers, by race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ identity and by age, 2025
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Consumer fast facts
- Outlook on personal values
- Conscious Consumers feel strongly about supporting and investing in companies that share similar values
- It’s particularly important to Black, mixed race and LGBTQ+ consumers that the brands they buy have similar moral values
- Graph 10: any agreement – “It’s important that I buy/put my money towards companies whose values match my own,” by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Following the re-election of Trump, consumers are eager to advocate for their social/political beliefs over the next four years
- Graph 11: determination to advocate for social/political causes over the next four years, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- LGBTQ+ consumers are the most likely to feel a renewed sense of social/political advocacy
- Graph 12: determination to advocate for social/political causes over the next four years, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Lush Cosmetics boldly responds to UK Supreme Court’s anti-trans ruling
- Supporting a charitable and ethical brand is a low-effort form of advocacy and altruism
- Graph 13: agreement – “Buying a brand that donates to charities/social causes is an easy way for me to give back,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Graph 14: agreement – “Buying from a brand that is known to be ethical makes me feel good,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Across identities, consumers view buying charitable brands to be an easy and impactful way to give back
- Graph 15: any agreement – motivations behind shopping by values, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Influence of brand purpose and cause marketing
- While the general population is divided, Conscious Consumers are expecting brands to take a stance of social and political issues
- Graph 16: attitudes towards brand stances on social/political issues, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- As the US population grows more diverse and multicultural, consumers’ expectations for brands’ political engagement will likely grow as well
- Graph 17: attitudes towards brand stances on social/political issues, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Dating app Chispa gets political to mobilize young Latino voters
- Taking a stance on social or political issues comes with risk
- Graph 18: agreement – “I don’t want to spend my money on a company that supports a cause I disagree with,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Mixed race and LGBTQ+ consumers are most likely to avoid brands with opposing views
- Graph 19: any agreement – “I don’t want to spend my money on a company that supports a cause I disagree with,” by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Three quarters of consumers believe brands’ charitable and philanthropic initiatives can make a difference
- Graph 20: attitudes towards the impact of brands’ philanthropic initiatives, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- White and Black consumers are most confident in the impact brands can have, while Hispanic and LGBTQ+ consumers are more likely to be skeptical
- Graph 21: attitudes towards the impact of brands’ philanthropic initiatives, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Beyond having a social impact, brands’ charitable causes can influence Conscious Consumers’ buying behaviors
- Graph 22: agreement – “A company’s charitable/philanthropic causes can influence which brand I decide to buy from,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Through cause marketing, brands can develop deep, values-based connections with multicultural consumers
- Graph 23: any agreement – “A company’s charitable/philanthropic causes can influence which brand I decide to buy from,” by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Attitudes towards purpose-driven brands
- Consumers expect brands to stay the course when it comes to their social and political causes
- Remaining steadfast in social causes and commitments can help brands build authentic trust among multicultural consumers
- Graph 24: attitudes towards brands’ commitment to social/political causes, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Not all consumers are influenced by companies’ charitable causes, but the majority of consumers respect brands that support charities
- Graph 25: any agreement – outlook on brands’ charitable giving, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Many consumers remain skeptical about brands’ cause marketing and social philanthropy
- Graph 26: agreement – “Companies support social/charitable causes just to win over consumers,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Graph 27: agreement – “Brands often behave ethically in one area but unethically in another,” by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- By remaining steadfast in their charitable causes and commitments, brands can overcome consumers’ doubts
- Graph 28: any agreement – skepticism in brands’ social/charitable causes, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Trust in purpose-driven brands is scarce
- Outlook on brand causes
- Conscious Consumers are more likely to want brands to support issues that are often see as controversial
- Graph 29: social causes consumers’ would prefer brands to support/donate to, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- Black and LGBTQ+ consumers are most likely to prefer brand support for “controversial” social issues
- Graph 30: social causes consumers’ would prefer brands to support/donate to, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Multicultural consumers are likely to support social issues that are personally relevant to them
- Graph 31: social causes consumers’ would prefer brands to support/donate to – select responses, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- There are non-controversial ways for brands to establish a reputation as an ethical brand
- Graph 32: any agreement – attitudes towards non-controversial ways for brands to be purpose-driven, by Conscious Consumers, 2025
- CVS Health takes on the issue of natural disaster preparedness by making it personal for its patients
- Perceptions of brands
- Brand trust and perceived brand ethics do not go hand-in-hand
- Graph 33: brand perceptions, 2025
- Brand perceptions vary across multicultural consumer segments
- Graph 34: brand perceptions – any positive/ethical brand perceptions (NET), by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Black consumers are more likely to view Walmart as an ethical brand and one they feel good about shopping at
- Graph 35: brand perceptions – Walmart, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Nike maintains its reputation as a purpose-driven brand despite recent setbacks
- Graph 36: brand perceptions – Nike, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
- Netflix’s commitment to diverse representation in entertainment is resonating with multicultural consumers
- Graph 37: brand perceptions – Netflix, by race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ identity, 2025
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING STRATEGIES
- Marketing and advertising
- Dove brings its commitment to diverse representation in beauty to digital spaces
- Stonyfield Organic uses Valentine’s Day campaign to urge consumers to go toxic-free by blocking their ex on social media
- Chuck E. Cheese appeals to a broad audience with it’s “play meets education” purpose-driven programing
- Mila’s Keeper: where motherhood meets meaningful social impact
- AT&T provides reliability during disaster relief through its FirstNet public safety communication system
- UPS drivers help small businesses and local communities thrive
- Delivering more than packages
- JetBlue strengthens its local community impact in Puerto Rico by investing in the island’s literacy
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APPENDIX
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
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