Why Purpose Marketing Isn't Resonating With Consumers—and How Brands Might Change That
But does anyone care?
However, research shows that very few people see the purpose of branding, or at least marketing.
Last year, CivicScience's 18-24 year olds focused on social brand awareness when making purchasing decisions (the same age group in 2015). It decreased from 43% to 30%.
CivicScience found a decrease in the number of people of all ages who say general brand awareness is most important to their purchasing decisions. That number will rise to 39% in 2020 and fall to 27% in 2023, based on more than 1 million surveys based on US Census data. According to Civic Science, 50% of Gen Xers and 56% of the general US population believe that brands should not take a position on political and social issues.
Also Read: 20 Brands That Are Gaining Popularity Among Generation Z.
These numbers conflict with the Edelman Confidence Scale. The study found a positive trend in the percentage of "certified shoppers" among US residents, from 47% in 2017 to 65% last June. These are people who say they buy or argue with brands because of their social or political affiliation. These findings are based on more than 1,100 people who answered six statements each year that people agreed or disagreed with on a nine-point scale.
Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman and his PR firm, has long promoted the concept of purpose in marketing. And at last year's course in Cannes, Edelman expressed the idea that everything changes with target marketing.
"Activists are quick to attack brands that occupy the space," he said in a session on overcoming bias in AI. And we can call them out and say, “You're wrong: here's the data. We know that 85% of Gen Zs buy with confidence.”
In a follow-up interview, Edelman said he hasn't seen any disruption to his targeted marketing efforts and doesn't expect it to because the results show they continue to benefit brands.
Indeed, 81% of Civic Science's ZZ respondents say overall brand awareness matters at least somewhat in their purchasing decisions, up from 82% five years ago. Now, people from 18 to 24 are not so important. Those who described public awareness as "very important" dropped 13 points to 30 percent from the same age group five years earlier.

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