What characterizes Passionates?
Passionates made up one in five, or 20%, of our survey respondents.
Like the general population, half the Passionates are male, and half are female. They are slightly more likely to live in the United States than in Canada, but they are otherwise not concentrated in any particular geographic region. Their household income distribution also mirrors that of the general population, which suggests that income is no more significant than any other factor in making someone feel strongly about global issues.
We also found Passionates among every generation, although the younger someone is, the more likely they are to be a Passionate (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Percentage of Passionates among different generations


To understand why this matters, consider that for many of the issues we covered in the survey, the more strongly respondents feel, the more closely they align with traditionally liberal political views. Despite popular wisdom that people inevitably become more conservative with age, research consistently shows that individuals’ political attitudes remain “remarkably stable” throughout their lives, according to a study in The Journal of Politics. We expect, then, that as the remaining Gen Zers enter adulthood (the youngest are halfway through grammar school), the influence of Passionates on the market will grow accordingly – and it will not wane as each generation ages.
We found Passionates among every generation, although the younger someone is, the more likely they are to be a Passionate.
Passionates care significantly more than other people about certain issues. They feel:
- 19% more strongly about business leaders promoting a positive environment on social media
- 18% more strongly about sustainable sourcing
- 16% more strongly about poverty and hunger
- 13% more strongly about data privacy
- 12% more strongly about access to quality education
- 9% more strongly about the importance of workplace diversity
- 9% more strongly about access to healthcare
- 9% more strongly about the importance of individual rights
They are also 7% more likely to say that the drawbacks of social media outweigh its benefits.
Another way in which Passionates stand out is their sunny outlook: they’re 7% more optimistic than the general public. Further research is needed to determine the impact of COVID-19, but at the time of the survey (January 2020, before the pandemic spread to North America), 74% of Passionates said they felt positive about the future, compared to 67% of other respondents.
This finding seems counterintuitive; one might assume at first that being acutely concerned about the importance and urgency of every global issue would make people feel anxious or even desperate about the need to change things. However, it’s possible that feeling strongly about an issue gives Passionates a greater belief that they’re capable of shaping the world as they envision it.
What we do know with certainty is that Passionates believe in taking action to make the world a better place – and they expect business leaders to do the same.
Passionates believe in taking action to make the world a better place – and they expect business leaders to do the same.