State of Mind Report Intro

Young adults are feeling “all the things” right now: guilt, loneliness, stress, vulnerability, and hurt—but also hope. It’s been an emotional year on top of what has already been a mentally tough decade for these young adults; one that's characterized by gun violence, racism, cyberbullying, climate concerns, and heated political polarization. In the past few months, we’ve seen them increasingly pouring out their feelings, taking to social media and to the streets as they mourn missed milestones, march for Black lives, and find a laugh in sharing 2020 memes. Given the enormous mental weight young adults (and Gen Zs especially) are struggling under, it’s critical for brands to not add difficulty, depletion, or drama to their lives, while also engaging with them in an emotionally supportive way.

As physical health (a topic we’ll be probing in our upcoming November 2020 report) and mental health become increasingly important for young adults to not only talk about, but actively address, brands across all verticals are remodeling their customer service strategies to align with this new consumer prioritization. A standout insight from our research is how important this is to young adults, as the clear majority agree that in the future, all brands will need to integrate health and wellness components into their business models in order to exist—and to survive.

The State of Mind Report explores three key topics in light of the macro sociocultural and economic factors defining life today.

• See how today’s young adults are navigating their PTSD: The Pandemic, Turmoil, & Social Disruption, and what this means for brands today, tomorrow, and long into the future.
• Check out From Service to Support to understand the new customer service renaissance and how it more fully supports Gen Zs’ and Millennials’ mental health.
• Examine young adults’ attitudes and mindsets around the shadow epidemic of aloneness in Loneliness & The Pandemic.