LUSH: SOCIAL PROOFING THE DIGITAL FUTURE

With the belief that tech should give more than it takes, Lush, in partnership with strategic foresight consultancy, The Future Laboratory, has set out to fathom how this future might unfold in the new report: Digital Engagement: A Social Future.

This report investigates the rapidly shifting digital landscape, its impact on consumers, and existing barriers to digital transformation. Significantly, through the research conducted in this report, Lush was able to announce a revolutionary manifesto for all brands to access free of charge in the hope of enabling an optimistic future of social with greater ease.

Five leading experts in the tech sector contributed to this research, and over 12,000 consumers across the UK, US, and Japan were surveyed to understand their digital wants, needs, and desires, as their views on the future of digital engagement and social media.

Why is a cosmetics company getting involved in the work of digital ethics? Well, because Lush believes we all must care about our planet's future and its life.

Jack Constantine, Lush CDO comments:

"At Lush, we vehemently believe that digital rights are human rights; without conscious change, on a global, holistic level, those rights are compromised."

Annabelle Baker, Lush Global Brand Director: "We wanted to report to show the optimism around social. There's been so much skepticism around Lush's Anti-Social policy that we wanted to show a different future beyond the one we see now, where people can engage within safe environments online. We need to be able to move the narrative from what we can't do to what we can."

According to the research, global consumers also care about it. Almost seven in 10 adults (69%) across the UK, the US, and Japan believe that if a social media platform is unethical, then brands should step away from it, with six in 10 (62%) respecting a brand that cares more about a social media platform's ethics than the number of people they can reach.

At the same time, more and more consumers are spending less time on social platforms.

Over a third (35%) of Meta users (Facebook and Messenger at 17%and Instagram, 18%), almost a third of Pinterest users (27%), a quarter of Twitter (24%), Discord (24%), and Snapchat (24%) users, over a fifth of BeReal (22%) users, 18%of TikTok users and 16%of Line users are on these social media platforms less frequently than a year ago.

Gen Z consumers (54%) believe select groups are marginalized or ignored in digital spaces. A big reason for this could be that 57% of consumers surveyed felt like big brands and corporations dominate technology and online culture, while 55% want Big Tech to have less control online. Many are worried about safety, with 70% of those surveyed calling for international legislation protecting users' security throughout their digital experiences.