Personal branding is more than just a social media personality contest. But personal branding’s economic influence on Americans isn’t just for younger adults, according to new research from personal brand strategy firm Brand Builders Group.
In fact, the firm’s new Trends in Personal Branding study finds that 67 percent of all Americans would be willing to spend more money on products and services from the companies of founders whose personal brand aligns with their own personal values.
Key findings from the report:
It is the future
Millennials and Gen Z place an (unexpectedly) high emphasis on personal branding in determining what they buy, where they work, who they listen to, who they recommend, who they hire, who they vote for and even who they date. Comparatively, 76 percent of Older Millennials (born 1977-1986) say they “are more likely to buy from someone who has an established personal brand,” while only 33 percent of Boomers responded the same way.
It is highly profitable
Broken down by generations, the data points to a stark realization that the forthcoming generation of leaders and trendsetters with the largest spending power for the next 30 years do not consider personal branding a game of vanity or popularity. Rather, for them it is a much more “critical” and “essential” component of work, learning and trust that influences their everyday life—most importantly where they will spend their money.
It accelerates trust
A striking 74 percent of all Americans reveal they “are more likely to trust someone who has an established personal brand.” In perhaps the most powerful statistic of the entire study, it turns out that 82 percent of all Americans agree that “companies are more influential if their executives have a personal brand that they know and follow.”
“The study confirmed some hypotheses we already had in place, but what we didn’t predict is that these impacts extend far beyond that of just ‘coaches and consultants’ or ‘online influencers,'” said AJ Vaden, CEO and co-founder of Brand Builders Group, in a news release. “It turns out that most Americans believe it’s important for their lawyer, financial advisor, banker, insurance agent, real estate agent and several other key professional service providers—including their doctor—to have an established personal brand.”
Download the full report here.
Working with independent research firm The Center for Generational Kinetics, Brand Builders Group conducted the 27-question survey online between February 4, 2021, and February 15, 2021. With 1,005 U.S. respondents, the sample was weighted to the U.S. Census for age, region, gender and ethnicity.
