Australia’s Gen Z has more faith in brands than the Government when it comes to solving the country’s problems, according to new research by leading Australian market research agency, Edentify.
The study, which was released today, found 40 per cent of under 24-year olds believed brands had better ideas at solving Australia’s issues than governments.
Only 21 per cent of this age group backed the Government.
The views were reversed when compared with older Australians.
Of baby boomers polled (55-73-year olds) only 28 per cent backed brands compared to more than 1 in 3 (38 per cent) who placed their faith in governments to solve society’s challenges.
The nation’s future generation also directly challenged recent comments by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
More than one in three (36 per cent) GenZ respondents said they disagreed that brands should stay out of political issues.
The research again highlighted a significant difference when the views of GenZ were compared to those of older generations, such as Baby Boomers.
Of those polled between 55-73 years old, 76 per cent agreed with the Prime Minister that brands shouldn’t have a role in political issues.
Dan Banyard, CEO of Edentify, said the study showed that Australia’s future voters expected corporates to be given an opportunity to play a role in society alongside governments.
Banyard commented: “What young Australians have said to us through this research is that they recognise there are big challenges facing society.
“But they are also saying that everyone should have a role in helping to solve them and this shouldn’t be the sole responsibility of governments.
“The way brands think and ideate, can access amazing research and development resources and can innovate and bring to market quickly and effectively means that governments should ignore this potential support at their peril.”
He added: “The research tells us that it’s time to move beyond a ‘them and us’ mentality and work together to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.”
An indicator to where the future generation’s political allegiances lie was when the research was analysed across party affiliations.
As with GenZ, Labor Party voters showed stronger support for brands’ ability over governments (38 per cent) compared to just 27 per cent of Liberal aligned voters, who mirrored the views of Baby Boomers.
Surprisingly, Green voters, often harsh critics of companies and their impact on society, were the most supportive with nearly half believing brands have better ideas than Government.
