US Social Awareness and Engagement Market Report 2021
£ 3,695 (Excl.Tax)
Description
“Interest and participation in social causes is becoming more widespread among US consumers. With over half of the US population qualifying for Mintel’s Conscious Consumer segment, value-based marketing and cause-driven business practices are becoming more expected of brands. Conscious Consumers’ outlook on and expectations for brand social engagement can provide brands direction on the most effective ways to build a socially conscious brand reputation that’s authentic and impactful.”
– Lisa Dubina, Associate Director | Culture and Identity
This Report looks at the following areas:
- Consumers’ outlook and personal participation in social awareness and engagement
- The social issues that consumers feel are currently the most pressing and in need of support
- Consumers’ consideration of and expectations for brands’ participation in social awareness and engagement
- Opportunities for brands to engage with consumers through authentic and impactful social engagement efforts
Table of Contents
-
Overview
- What you need to know
- This Report looks at the following areas
- Definition
- Market context
- Economic and other assumptions
- COVID-19: US context
-
Executive Summary
- Top takeaways
- Target audience overview
- Figure 1: Social engagement, 2021
-
- Figure 2: Number of actions in the past year – Repertoire analysis, 2021
- Opportunities and challenges
- All social activism involves social engagement, not all social engagement is social activism
- Figure 3: Social awareness vs activism, 2021
- Racial justice, climate change and stopping gun violence are among consumers’ top social issues of concern
- Figure 4: Social issues, 2021
- Consumers want brands to be social engaged – but only if it’s authentic, impactful and consistent
- Figure 5: Role of brands in social engagement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 6: Expectations for brand social engagement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Brands should start by looking internally and remaining accountable
- Figure 7: Brands’ internal actions, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 8: Cancel culture, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Find creative ways to acknowledge and celebrate awareness holidays
- Figure 9: Impact of awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Explore ways to support mental health and wellbeing
- Figure 10: Awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
Target Audience – Key Takeaways
- Social engagement is becoming the mainstream
- Primary Activists are more socially involved, but a smaller segment of the population
-
Target Audience by the Numbers
- Over half of Americans are engaged in social issues
- Figure 11: Social engagement, 2021
- Conscious Consumers skew younger and urban dwelling
- Figure 12: Social engagement – Engaged Consumers indexed to all Americans, 2021
- Primary Activists remain a smaller subset of the population
- Figure 13: Number of actions in the past year – Repertoire analysis, 2021
-
- Figure 14: Number of actions in the past year – Conscious Consumers indexed to all Americans, 2021
- Over half of Americans are engaged in social issues
-
Factors Influencing Social Engagement
- The summer of protests and slow progress to racial justice
- The increasing threat of climate change
- The growing conversation around mental health
-
The Consumer – Key Takeaways
- Social awareness and engagement is an aspect of social activism
- The majority of Americans are doing the bare minimum to support social causes
- Racial justice, climate change and gun violence are Americans’ top social concerns
- Brands have a responsibility to do more than simply raise awareness
- Authenticity and accountability are key to brands’ social engagement
-
Defining Social Awareness and Engagement
- Social awareness and engagement is an effective way to change society, but different from social activism
- Figure 15: The role of awareness, 2021
-
- Figure 16: Social awareness vs activism, 2021
- Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists believe even more strongly in the importance of social awareness and its difference from activism
- Figure 17: Social awareness vs activism, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 18: Social awareness vs activism, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Six in 10 Americans consider voting to be a valid form of social engagement
- Figure 19: Valid forms of social engagement, 2021
- Primary Activists are more likely to consider boycotting and protests to be valid forms of social engagement
- Figure 20: Valid forms of social engagement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Among Conscious Consumers, valid forms of social engagement vary by generation
- Figure 21: Valid forms of social engagement – Among Conscious Consumers, by generation, 2021
- Social awareness and engagement is an effective way to change society, but different from social activism
-
Personal Involvement in Social Engagement
- More than half of Americans consider themselves well-informed on social issues and personally committed to a social cause
- Figure 22: Personal involvement, 2021
- Proving support matters
-
- Figure 23: Circumference’s full-circle products, 2021
- Despite claims they are committed to a social cause, less than three in 10 people have participated in any surveyed action, aside from voting
- Figure 24: Actions in the past year, 2021
- Social awareness in practice: in consumers’ own words
- Consumers are aware of their own socially conscious shortcomings
- Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists’ actions align with their claims of social commitment
- Figure 25: Personal involvement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Primary Activists are the most likely to involve brands
- Figure 26: Actions in the past year, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Generation influences the social engagement actions of Conscious Consumers
- Figure 27: Actions in the past year, among Conscious Consumers – By generation, 2021
- More than half of Americans consider themselves well-informed on social issues and personally committed to a social cause
-
Top Social Issues
- Racial justice, climate change and ending gun violence are the top social issues of concern
- Figure 28: Social issues, 2021
- Division is seen among supporting law enforcement and police reform
- Figure 29: Social issues – Police support vs reform, by generation, by ethnicity and Hispanic origin, 2021
- Primary Activists are significantly more dedicated to the cause of racial justice
- Figure 30: Social issues, by Conscious Concerns and Primary Activists, 2021
- Focus on racial justice: in consumers’ own words
- Conscious Consumers concerns are broader
- Consumers are equally torn between feeling social causes don’t get enough attention and feeling there’s too many social issues
- Figure 31: Outlook on social issues, by Conscious Concerns and Primary Activists, 2021
- Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists feel all social issues need support
- Racial justice, climate change and ending gun violence are the top social issues of concern
-
Role of Brands
- Brands have a responsibility to support social causes even if social movements don’t need their support
- Figure 32: Role of brands in social engagement, by Conscious Concerns and Primary Activists, 2021
- Millennials in particular feel brand engagement is needed in social movements
- Figure 33: Role of brands in social engagement, by generation, 2021
- Despite expecting brands to be socially engaged, the majority of the population are also skeptical of the motives behind brand engagement
- Figure 34: Brand skepticism, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Brands and social engagement: in consumers’ own words
- Conscious Consumers look to brands to use their platform for good
- Unengaged and Skeptical Consumers
- Conscious Consumers
- Not all brands need to be socially engaged, and not all social engagement needs to be political
- Figure 35: Expectations for brand social engagement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Gen Z adults have heightened expectations for brands’ social engagement
- Figure 36: Expectations for brand social engagement, among Conscious Consumers, by generation, 2021
- Awareness and accountability are key to Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists
- Figure 37: Social awareness and accountability, by Conscious Concerns and Primary Activists, 2021
- Younger generations and people of color are more likely to feel that awareness and accountability are impactful
- Figure 38: Social awareness and accountability, among Conscious Concerns, by generation, 2021
-
- Figure 39: Social awareness and accountability, among Conscious Concerns, by ethnicity and Hispanic origin, 2021
- Brands have a responsibility to support social causes even if social movements don’t need their support
-
Brands’ Social Engagement in Practice
- The majority of people care more about what brands are doing internally to affect social change
- Figure 40: Brands’ internal actions, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Primary Activists are more likely to view cancel culture as a means of accountability
- Figure 41: Cancel culture, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 42: Sephora – We belong to something beautiful, July 2021
- Primary Activists do not want brands to censor the social issues they support in hopes of avoiding controversy
- Figure 43: Brand engagement, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Supporting too many different social causes can impact the perceived sincerity of brands’ engagement
- Figure 44: Supporting multiple causes, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- The majority of people feel that when brands support awareness holidays it helps raise awareness of social causes and issues
- Figure 45: Impact of awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Mental Health Awareness Month and Earth Day are the top two awareness holidays consumers feel brands should acknowledge
- Figure 46: Awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 47: Peloton’s “We See You” apparel collection, February 2021
- Only about a third of consumers recall brands celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month last year, indicating the opportunity it poses for brands
- Figure 48: Awareness holidays recall, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
-
- Figure 49: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex support Bell Let’s Talk Day, January 2020
- Gen Z Conscious Consumers are keener to celebrate all surveyed awareness holidays
- Figure 50: Awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- Conscious Consumers are more likely to feel brands only need to support the awareness holidays that are important or relevant to the brands
- Figure 51: Impact of awareness holidays, by Conscious Consumers and Primary Activists, 2021
- The majority of people care more about what brands are doing internally to affect social change
-
Companies and Brands – Key Takeaways
- Connecting with consumers’ Rights and Wellbeing
-
Market Opportunities and Brand Strategies
- Connecting with consumers through the Rights Trend Driver
- Brands should start by looking internally and remaining accountable
- Find creative ways to acknowledge and celebrate awareness holidays
-
- Figure 52: Old Navy’s new Head of “Fun-cycling,” April 2021
- Connecting with consumers through the Wellbeing Trend Driver
- Explore ways to support mental health and wellbeing
- Snapchat snaps up the opportunity to be a mental health advocate
- Figure 53: Snapchat: Meet Club Unity, October 2021
-
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Marketing creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Why Mintel?
Gain access to high quality market research with every purchase of Mintel’s consumer reports. Here's what else you can expect when buying from us:
Mintel’s Clients Portal
After your purchase is completed, you’ll receive an invitation to join Mintel’s Clients Portal which provides instant access to supplementary insights from Mintel’s industry experts.
Multiple Report Formats
Mintel’s reports are available in PDF and PPT formats, and arrive in your inbox alongside an excel datasheet, so you can share Mintel’s market intelligence with ease.
Interactive Databook
Mintel’s bespoke consumer data is presented as an interactive website, so you can deep dive into your chosen topic, explore demographics and download specific statistics.
Custom Presentations
Using Mintel’s custom presentation tool, you can easily incorporate selected research data and analysis into a tailor-made presentation to win over clients and stakeholders.
Browse our sample PDF report below:
Please Note: All of the figures, graphs, and tables in this sample report have been redacted.
Trusted by companies. Big and small.
