America This Week Wave 225

America This Week: The Creator-Brand Disconnect, Overlooked Gen Z Workers, ADHD’s Gender Gap, And LGBTQ+ Want Strong Policies From Corporate America

The latest trends in society and culture from The Harris Poll

Good morning from Cannes, where we are at The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, hosting meetings on communications, marketing, AI trends, and sports business from Stagwell’s Sport Beach.

Yesterday, our CEO John Gerzema joined a panel on trends ahead for B2B and B2C marketers moderated by colleague Ray Day, APR, LinkedIn’s Tyrona (Ty) Heath, Sara Fischer from Axios, and Sesame Workshop’s Samantha Maltin.

The Week in Culture:

This past weekend, the highly anticipated second season of “House of the Dragon” (a prequel to the Game of Thrones series) returned to HBO and Max, with 7.8 million viewers tuning in. Yet, for those familiar with the two series, the original GOT is the ultimate “fan favorite” (78% v. HOTD: 22%)  in our America This Week Tracker, fielded from June 13th to 15th among 2,122 Americans.

We have four new polls of interest this week: 

• Creators are essential to modern marketing, but we need better communication between creators and brands. 
• A new Harris study finds that Gen Z employees struggle to feel recognized.
• There’s a gender bias in ADHD diagnosis and consideration faced by women.
• LGBTQ+ employees look closely at corporate policies for signs of acceptance.

The Creator Rosetta Stone: Creator Vision-Harris Poll

Brands and creators aren’t speaking the same language, according to our Creator Rosetta Stone, devised by The Harris Poll’s Jennifer Musil, launched this week in partnership with Creator Vision and featured in Tubefilter.

• The communication breakdown: (85%) of creators have yet to hear brand feedback about how they evaluate their content or what they think of their work.
• While (89%) say they have audience insights that brands fail to access.
• The diversity disconnect: For creators, diversity isn’t a label, as (82%) say their communities want to see themselves reflected in brand campaigns, and if brands don’t use diversity consistently, it feels less trustworthy.
• Everyone agrees on the need to drive sales and conversion, but (81%) say brands are losing sales because of poor coordination between their content and checkout experience.

Takeaway: Brands have collaborated with creators for years, but despite the massive opportunity, only a few have mastered the art of effective creator marketing. Driving measurable results and success doesn’t require a bigger budget; it requires better collaboration and communication. Until brands and creators speak the same language, the impact of their investments will be limited.

Gen Z Workers Internalize Your Complaints: American Psychological Association-Harris Poll

Recent findings from our 2024 Work in America survey with the APA, featured in U.S. News, show that younger workers often feel ignored and struggling in the workplace.

• Stuck at the kid’s table: Nearly half (48%) of workers ages 18 to 25 feel people not close to their age don’t see the value in their ideas (all employees: 32%, 65+: 16%).
• Leaving (43%) of Gen Z workers to feel self-conscious about their age at work (all employees: 29%) and lonely at work (45%).
• The office vibes are off: Younger workers are likelier to feel tense or stressed during the workday (18-25: 48%, 26-43: 51% v. 44-57: 42%, 58-64: 30%).
• This isn’t new: Previous HP research with Fortune found that (75%) of employees agreed, “newer employees have a harder time adjusting to workplace norms and expectations than those who entered long ago.”

Takeaway: “With more workers retiring later in life, the workplace demographics are changing, and younger workers seem to be having the hardest time adjusting,” said Arthur Evans Jr., the APA’s chief executive officer. “At the same time, with increased remote work and the use of new technologies like AI, younger and older workers face a paradigm shift around where and how we work. To remain competitive, employers should invest in strategies that support their workers’ well-being and mental health to help them navigate these new norms and evolving professional landscape.”

ADHD Gender Gaps: Understood.org-Harris Poll

New research in partnership with Understood.org finds that ADHD in women is overwhelmingly misunderstood.

• Nearly half (50%) of Americans believe that the negative stigma surrounding neurodiversity is stronger than ever.
• Perception is worse for women: (56%) agree that women with ADHD are perceived differently than men with ADHD, including three in four women with ADHD (75%) who feel this way.
• Notably, (75%) didn’t know that women are less likely than men to be diagnosed with ADHD, and (72%) didn’t know that women with ADHD are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men.
• Struggling in secret: (66%) of young women (ages 18–34) prefer to stay silent about their diagnosis compared to (42%) of young men.

Takeaway: “Women with ADHD are far more likely to be undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and misunderstood compared to men,” said Laura Key, vice president of content strategy and co-leader of the women’s initiative at Understood.org. “Today, too many women mask and do not seek support for their learning and thinking differences. We must break the cycle of stigma and inequities that women face every day.”

Workplace Support Needed, Say LGBTQ+ Employees: Indeed-Harris Poll

New research with Indeed, featured in HR Today and HR Dive, finds that LGBTQ+ policies and stances are deal-breakers that will not be compromised.

• It’s a no from me: (30%) of LGBTQ+ people and (50%) of transgender job seekers have refused to apply for a position due to a company’s lack of support for LGBTQ+ issues.
• While more than 2 in 5 LGBTQ+ employees wouldn’t work for a company that has a history of LGBTQ+ discrimination lawsuits (48%), has strong religious beliefs shaping its culture/employee relations (44%), and has negative reviews about LGBTQ+ treatment (43%).
• Progress, but still a ways to go: Half (52%) of LGBTQ+ employees report that their company offers an employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees.

Takeaway: Indeed’s recent findings also hint that this issue of authenticity and mistrust is crucial. While more than half of employers believe they’re doing “a good job” of being vocal in their support of the LGBTQ+ community, (29%) of LGBTQ+ workers said that they feel their employers can do “a better job” (HR Dive).