“Media will become the mainstream platform for Millennials to express themselves”

MSL Group recently unveiled its study ‘The Future of Business Citizenship’. The global study interviewed 8,000 millennials across 17 countries.

 

Sharing the findings of the study, Scott Beaudoin, MSL Group global practice director, corporate and brand citizenship, said, “Millennials and their expectations of businesses, which we had prophesised would be quite different from the generations past. There is a sweeping wave of millenials in active engagement driving for social and environmental change, which is greatly needed. They trust the government lesser than businesses. They want industries to make sustainable changes in business practices.”

 

He further asserted that in the near future, it is likely that social media will become the mainstream platform for Millennials to express themselves, as India's internet penetration improves from the current 12 per cent.

 

The study found that 90 per cent of Indian millennials strongly believed that businesses should be more active in solving the world’s biggest problems. Indian millennials are more concerned about International affairs (+14 per cent), education (+11 per cent) and environment (+7 per cent).

 

Beaudoin is of the view that with the Companies Act Bill 2013 coming into effect (which makes it mandatory for every company which falls over the designated cap to spend at least two per cent of its average net profit on corporate social responsibility activities), Indian companies will now take cognizance and invest in program to raise the social standards in the country.

 

The study further underlines that Indian Millennials want to learn about company's social initiatives through traditional channels such as TV, radio and print as well as through the Internet and social media. With the boom of the digital era, people now have a platform to shape key stakeholder opinions, forcing corporations to stand up and be cognizant of their social, environmental and economic impact on society.