The 2006 Cone

Millennial Cause Study

The Millennial Generation: Pro-Social and Empowered to Change the World

By Cone Inc. in collaboration with AMP Insights.

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Tragic world events such as 9/11, coupled with

recent natural disasters have motivated the
Millennial Generation to develop a strong
social conscience. Technology has given
them a loud and powerful voice. As a result,
Cause Branding® has emerged as a valuable
tool for reaching Millennials. Cause Branding
is a business strategy that integrates a social issue
or cause into an organization’s brand equity
and identity. If authentically embraced and
sustained, it allows that business to gain sig-
nificant bottom line and community impacts.
To better understand the emotional link that
connects Millennials to causes and Millennials
to companies that support causes, Cone Inc.,
a pioneer in Cause Branding and Corporate
Responsibility, collaborated on this study with
AMP Insights, the Consumer Insights and
Planning division of AMP Agency, a leader
in youth marketing and promotions. The goal
of the research was to understand the role that
causes play in a Millennial’s life as an individual,
employee and a consumer.
 Millennials: Civic-Minded Individuals and Consumers
Millennials have been referred to as the most civic-minded generation since World
War II. This study suggests that Millennials are the most socially-conscious consumers
to date. In fact, 61% of respondents are currently worried about the state of the world
today and feel personally responsible to make a difference. They are attempting to
live up to that responsibility by volunteering, recycling, educating friends and family
on social and environmental causes and donating money. In the past year, 81% of
respondents have volunteered in some way (either weekly, monthly or once or twice
a year).
Millennials are trying to make a difference in the world and expect others to do the
same. This rationale extends to their peers, parents, neighbors, communities and
to companies. Their expectations are high and they evaluate companies on a whole
host of factors extending beyond products or services and price, to how the company
operates within the local, national and global communities.
When those expectations are met the rewards are great. This is especially true for
companies that are socially and environmentally responsible. Millennials are more
likely to trust these companies, seek their employment and buy or recommend their
products/services to others.

83% will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible

66% will recommend products/services if the company is socially responsible

69% consider a company’s social

and environmental commitment
when deciding where to shop

89% are likely or very likely to switch from one brand

to another (price and quality being equal) if the second
brand is associated with a good cause

74% of Millennials are more likely to

pay attention to a company’s messages
if the company has a deep commitment
to a cause
Millennials as Employees
This trend also extends to Millennials’ professional
lives. The oldest Millennials are beginning to enter
the work force, extending their expectations to their
employers. Of the 28% of respondents who describe
themselves as employed full time:

79% want to work for a company that

cares about how it impacts or contributes
to society

69% feel that their company’s social

and /or environmental activities make
them feel proud to work there

64% report that their company’s social and/or environmental activities make them feel loyal
to their company

Cause Interests
Whether they are acting as consumers or
employees, Millennials’ support of causes
is broad. Causes that topped the list include:
education, poverty, the environment and
health and disease.
Harnessing the Power of
the Engaged Millennials a.k.a. The “Doers”
Millennials who are actively engaged with causes respond very
differently to the world around them than those who are not
as engaged. “Doers” are volunteering at least once a week and
represent close to 20% of the Millennials surveyed. Millennials’
direct participation with causes unleashes a more engaged citizen,
consumer and employee. They not only have a more positive
outlook and attitude toward responsible corporations, they
actually go out of their way to support companies and products
that give back. There are an estimated 15.6 million “Doers” in the
United States alone, representing a huge potential opportunity for
companies embracing Cause Branding.
The “Doers” are not only the most loyal brand ambassadors a
company can have, but they are also ready to listen and endorse
companies that have put a stake in the ground within an issue.
To support the causes they care about, the “Doers” will reward
a company that meets its standards and are not afraid to refuse
to work for an employer that does not.

87% of the “Doers” have purchased

a product that supports a cause in
the past year’s as opposed to 48% of
non-volunteers

68% would actually refuse to work for an

employer that is not socially responsible

56% are likely to pursue working at a company that is socially responsible

 Where is the Impact?
Though Millennials “give back,” there is something important
missing from their experiences. The missing link is that they do
not understand the impact of their efforts. This is a major
challenge for companies. Millennials are recycling, purchasing
products, donating money, participating in fund raising
events, writing letters, boycotting companies and attending
protests, yet question the impact of their efforts supporting
a particular issue ( as seen in the chart below ).
As a generation accustomed to instantaneous feedback and
gratification, Millennials are frustrated because they are
not shown the direct impact of their efforts. This lack of
communication from companies is causing them to question
if they are making a difference. To keep Millennials informed,
companies need to utilize varied communications to help them
better understand their role as a part of the solution.

Recycled.

Educated family/friends/community on social /environmental causes.

Purchased products that support a social /environmental cause.

Donated money to a social /environmental cause.

Volunteered my time towards a social /environmental cause.

Used the Internet to support social /environmental causes.

Participated in a fund raising event for a social/environmental cause.

Wrote a letter to the government or a company in support of a social /environmental cause.

Boycotted.

Attended a protest or rally.

0 20 40 60 80 100
percent
 Millennials are Changing the Rules
Cause Branding is Emerging as a Loyalty Strategy
With such tremendous resources at their fingertips, Millennials
are skeptical of the advertising they encounter on a daily basis.
This savvy generation will not respond to products/services or
companies that are not genuine. Products/services need to be
priced fairly, be of good quality and most importantly have
emotional relevance to Millennials.
A significant way to gain Millennials’ trust is by walking the
walk through substantial cause alignment. Yet, few companies
are doing so. 70% of Millennials believe that companies are
NOT doing enough to support the causes that they care about.
Companies are only in the early adopter stage when it comes
to effectively embedding causes into their brand and engaging
young people in a larger social purpose. Only a handful of
pioneers, such as ALDO, Mudd, MAC, Cartoon Network and
MTV are actively engaging Millennials and communicating
their impacts.

Millennial Cause Engagement Paradigm

To best reach these consumers, traditional
marketing must evolve. A third dimension
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Sharing the impact with Millennials will create
a generation of brand ambassadors – ready to
stand up and conquer pressing world issues,
while being loyal to the brands, companies and
employers that they trust most.
 About The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study
The 2006 Cone Cause Millennial Study presents the findings of an online
survey conducted among a national probability sample of 1,800 respondents
comprised of 895 males and 905 females, between the ages of 13 and 25 years
old. This survey captured the opinions, perceptions and beliefs of three distinct
segments; Teens (13-17), College (18-22) and Young Adults (23-25).
This survey was completed during the period 5/16/06 and 5/27/06. The
margin of error is +/- 2.31 percentage points. This Executive Summary
cannot be reproduced without permission from Cone Inc. For additional
information or a customized presentation of the findings, please contact
Kiva Starr at Cone: 617.939.8335 or Allison Bacon at AMP Insights: 617.837.8163

About Cone Inc. About AMP Insights

Cone (www.coneinc.com) is a Boston-based AMP Insights, the strategic planning and
brand strategy and communications agency consumer insights division of AMP Agency,
that builds brand trust. Cone creates stake- focuses on providing targeted knowledge
holder loyalty and long-term relationships and insights to organizations interested
through Cause Branding, Corporate Re- in better understanding more about kids,
sponsibility, Brand Marketing and Issues / teens, and young adults. We employ
Crisis Management. Cone’s team of experts talented team researchers and planners
specializes in working with corporate strategy, with diverse backgrounds and experience.
marketing, communications and philanthropy This team has created and developed
professionals to maximize the business and innovative and custom methodologies
community benefits of integrating social that enable us to truly learn how teens
commitments into companies and brands. and young adults are communicating,
uncover their key influencers and establish
As a pioneer in the field of Cause Branding,
what motivates them best. We understand
Cone has partnered with leading organizations
the business challenges facing our clients
to create and implement some of the nation’s
and work with them to uncover the key
most impactful cause initiatives, including:
consumer insights so that they are best able
the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, Reebok
to answer those challenges. Our clients
Human Rights Awards, PNC Grow Up Great,
include companies such as M.A.D.D.,
American Heart Association’s Go Red For
Levi’s, American Eagle,Ben & Jerry’s, Girl
Women and ConAgra Foods’ Feeding Chil-
Scouts, Kellog’s, Burt’s Bees and Disney.
dren Better.