The Business of Purpose

A carefully curated collection of stats and numbers to showcase a purpose-driven business’s high impact and return on investment - to get even more inspired, or convert that one Board member stuck in yesteryear.

1️⃣ Consumers seek brands with a purpose and are more loyal to them.

64% of global consumers find brands that actively communicate their purpose more attractive. 62% want companies to take a stand on issues they are passionate about, and 52% say they are more attracted to buy from certain brands over others if these brands stand for something bigger than just the products and services they sell, which aligns with their personal values. (Accenture, 2018)

64% of US adults say a company's “primary purpose” should be “making the world a better place”. (New Paradigm Strategy Group & Fortune, 2019)

US consumers are more likely to have a positive image of (89%), trust in (86%), and be loyal (83%) to brands that lead with purpose. Nearly eight-in-10 (79%) consumers surveyed say they feel a deeper personal connection to companies with values similar to their own. And 72% say they feel it is more important than ever to buy from companies that reflect their values. (Cone/Porter Novelli, 2019)

70% of US consumers want to know what the brands they support are doing to address social and environmental issues, and 46% pay close attention to a brand’s social responsibility efforts when they buy a product. (Markstein & Certus Insights, 2019)

74% of consumers believe companies can take actions that both boost profits and improve economic and social conditions for their local communities. (Edelman, 2018)

79% of respondents in Cone/Porter Novelli’s Purpose Study said they’re more loyal to purpose brands, and 73% said they would defend them. Another 67% said they are more willing to forgive such a company for a mistake. 78% said they would tell others to buy from their companies, and 73% would share content about that company. (Cone/Porter Novelli, 2018)

Globally, 68% of people agree that it has become more important that the brands they choose make a positive contribution to society, beyond just providing a good service or product. This is the majority view in virtually all countries surveyed. (Ipsos, 2017)

72% of surveyed Gen Z in the US factor in a company’s purpose when shopping. 75% will do research to see if a company is walking the talk when it takes a stand on an issue. And 85% say that they will share their positive opinion about a company that is doing good. (Cone/Porter Novelli, 2019)

Among Generation Z, as many as 48% base their brand purchasing decisions on a company’s impact on the environment, while 44% make choices on their ethical stance, and 21% on the charity work undertaken by the brand. (KAM Media, 2018)

Gen Z is 3x more likely to say that the purpose of business is to “serve communities and society” rather than to simply “make good products and services,” and they are more likely than all other generations to call on brands to make a difference by “using their voice to advocate or speak out” on the most pressing issues of our times. (BBMG & Globe Scan, 2019)

While in 2013, only 44% of respondents thought that corporations should stand up for their political beliefs, by 2018 that percentage had jumped to 81%. (Global Strategy Group, 2018)

64% of people globally expect CEOs to lead on social change rather than waiting for government intervention. And a significant 84% expect CEOs to influence policy debates on social issues. (Edelman, 2018)

2️⃣ Purpose-driven businesses outperform the market.

Brands with a purpose set on improving our quality of life outperform the stock market by 120%. (Interbrand, 2017)

According to Kantar’s Purpose Study, purpose-led brands have seen their valuation surge by 175% over the past 12 years, versus a growth rate of just 70% for listless brands uncertain of their role. (Kantar, 2017)

In 2018, Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands grew 69% faster than the rest of the business, compared to 46% in 2017. (Unilever, 2019)

Babson professor and Whole Foods advisor, Raj Sisojdia, studied 28 companies from 1996-2013 and concluded: purpose-driven enterprises grew by 1681% compared to the S&P 500 average of 118%. (Sisodia, 2014)

The Global Leadership Forecast 2018 by DDI World finds that purposeful companies outperform the market by 42% financially. (DDI World, 2018)

Researchers at the School of Management at SUNY Binghamton found that certified B Corps had an impressive 51% revenue growth rate during the 2008 financial crisis. (Yale, 2018)

Certified B Corps in the UK are growing 28 times faster than the national economic growth of 0.5%. Leading B Corp FMCG brands grew on average 21% in 2017, compared to a national average of 3% across their respective sectors. (B Corp, 2018)

3️⃣ People seek meaningful, engaging work - even if it means sacrificing income.

The percentage of “engaged“ workers in the U.S. - those who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and workplace - is only 34%, with 53% being “not engaged” and 13% being “actively disengaged”. (Gallup, 2018)

There is a rise in people’s expressed importance to live life with a sense of purpose: 80% in 2016, 89% in 2017, 91% in 2018. (Enso, 2018)

LinkedIn members want jobs that offer a sense of purpose: 74% of members place a high value on finding work that delivers on a sense of purpose. (Imperative & LinkedIn, 2016)

Only 28% of respondents in a PwC employee survey reported feeling fully connected to their company’s purpose. Just 39% said they could clearly see the value they create, a mere 22% agreed that their jobs allow them to fully leverage their strengths, and more than half weren’t even “somewhat” motivated, passionate, or excited about their jobs. (PwC, 2019)

At companies that have clearly defined and communicated how they create value, 63% of employees say they’re motivated, versus 31% at other companies; 65% say they’re passionate about their work, versus 32% at other companies. (PwC, 2019)

83% of Gen Z in the US consider a company’s purpose when deciding where to work. (Cone/Porter Novelli, 2019)

Four out of five US college graduates say it is very important (37%) or extremely important (43%) to derive a sense of purpose from their work, but only less than half of college graduates succeed in finding purposeful work. Those graduates are, however, almost 10x more likely to have high overall well-being. (Gallup & Bates College, 2019)

67% of 6 to 9-year-olds say that saving the planet will be the central mission of their careers in the future. (Wunderman Thompson Commerce, 2019)

84% of Millennials value meaning in day-to-day work (top priority for respondents), but only 53% of business leaders agree with that. (PwC, 2016)

Not only would 49% of Millennials quit their job within two years (a new high in this global survey), but also about 25% of the same respondents reported leaving an employer within the past two years. (Deloitte, 2019)

Compared to other generations, Gen Z is most likely to say they can make a difference by doing meaningful work through their career - 32% vs. 17% for all other generational groups in the survey. (BBMG & Globe Scan, 2019)

Among US survey respondents aged 25 to 34, 80% say they want to work for “engaged companies”. (New Paradigm Strategy Group & Fortune, 2019)

More than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work. (Better Up, 2018)

27% of managers in British companies would likely accept a salary cut to work for a company that has a clear purpose beyond profit. 32% would actually consider leaving their job if a greater purpose was unclear, while more than half (53%) would if their company’s values and purpose didn’t align with their own. (Danone/YouGov, 2018)

4️⃣ Purposeful work increases workforce productivity, well-being, and loyalty.

Employees who report that their job has a “special meaning: this is not ‘just a job’” are 4 times more likely to give extra, 11 times more committed to staying with their organisations, and are 14 times more likely to look forward to coming to work than employees at peer companies. (Great Place to Work, 2017)

Research by Bain & Company concludes that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100%, an engaged employee’s level is 144%, but the productivity level of an employee who is truly inspired by the purpose of their employer is a whopping 225%. (Bain & Company, 2015)

A global talent trends survey found that the highest-performing employees are 3x more likely to work for a company with a strong sense of purpose. Yet only 13% of the 7,648 respondents surveyed said that their organisation is differentiated by a “purpose-driven mission”. (Mercer, 2018)

If employees feel they are working towards a good cause, it can increase their productivity by up to 30%. (LMU Center for Economic Studies, 2014)

5️⃣ Business leaders recognize the need for purpose.

Public discourse about “corporate/organizational purpose” has increased five-fold since 1994, now trending at an exponential rate that surpasses the rate of public discourse about sustainability. (EY, 2016)

94% of CEOs feel a personal responsibility for laying out their company’s core purpose and role in society. (UN & Accenture, 2019)

41% of Fortune 500 CEOs say solving social problems should be “part of (their) core business strategy”. (SurveyMonkey & Fortune, 2019)

86% of B2B companies recognize purpose as important to growth, but they are still working out how to implement their purpose so that it influences business and social outcomes. Only 24% said purpose is embedded into their business to the point of influencing innovation, operations, and their engagement with society. (Carol Cone, 2020)

9,913 companies from 160 countries are currently members of the UN Global Compact - an initiative launched to align businesses’ strategy with social goals, and to support the Sustainable Development Goals. (UN, 2019)

79% of business leaders believe that an organization’s purpose is central to business success, yet 68% shared that purpose is not used as a guidepost in leadership decision-making processes within their organization. (PwC, 2016)

65% of CEOs think the main role of purpose is to connect with employees or customers. And 84% of executives strongly agree that business transformation efforts will have greater success if integrated with purpose but only 46% of executives think their organization has a strong sense of purpose. (Brandpie, 2019)

While 76% of marketing heads were of the belief that their own organisation had a defined sense of purpose, only a paltry one in 10 could produce a corporate purpose statement and plan to back-up these beliefs. (Kantar, 2017)

66% of executives surveyed are profoundly rethinking their purpose as a result of disruption, and most of those (52%) are moving toward a human-centered, socially-engaged conception of purpose that seeks to create value for a broad set of stakeholders. 59% of business leaders see purpose as being very important to their own personal job satisfaction. (EY, 2017)

When asked which were the most critical factors when integrating purpose throughout their business, 93% of executives at purposeful companies cite the need to embed purpose in “our culture and behaviors, especially our leaders”, 93% also say purpose should be “clearly embedded into our goals, strategies and objectives”, and 92% say it should be “embedded in our governance and decision-making processes and systems.” (EY, 2017)

89% of executives believe that a clear purpose is a good guide/inspiration for future innovation of products and services. And 84% of executives believe that business transformations will have greater success if integrated with purpose. (HBR & EY, 2015)

A strong majority of executives of purposeful companies - 75% - tell us that the integration of purpose creates value in the short term, as well as over the long run. 73% of business leaders say that having a well-integrated purpose helps their company navigate disruption. (EY, 2017)

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