Like most of the American public, Gen Z is reluctant to trust the pharma industry. But the young generation also might present a huge opportunity for drugmakers to build a better reputation in years to come.
The pharma industry’s reputation is dismal compared with many other sectors, and fewer than half of Americans said they place trust in pharmaceutical providers, according to an NIH study published in 2023. It’s not just the public — lawmakers have been squaring off with drugmakers in Congress over drug prices, while a growing distrust of vaccines has challenged the perception of even some of the industry’s biggest wins.
These negative ratings and public spats have contributed to a gloomy reputation that pharma leaders have found difficult to shake. In a PharmaVoice newsletter poll from January, readers cited improving public perception and trust as a top resolution for the industry this year.
That’s where Gen Z could play a critical role.
Gaining and losing trust
Defined as the generation born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is quickly becoming an important demographic for pharma as they enter adulthood, but the cohort is generally skeptical of the industry, according to a recent report from Burson on Gen Z’s attitude toward health.
Just 43% of respondents said pharma companies care about them, Burson found.
“This is not particularly surprising if you look back at the past few decades of pharmaceutical product development and supporting communications to people in the 18 to 27 age range,” said Brenna Terry, global healthcare client leader at Burson and an author of the report.
“Gen Z is actually opening the door for dialogue with pharma."
Brenna Terry
Global healthcare client leader, Burson
Young, healthy patients likely weren’t a priority to pharma companies in the past.
But this generation of young patients stands apart. Gen Z is more engaged in some aspects of their healthcare than previous generations, and the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have washed away “an air of invincibility” commonly held among young people when it comes to health, Terry said. Specifically, this group cares equally about their physical health and mental wellbeing, the report found, prioritizing a more holistic approach.
“Gen Z is prioritizing their health in ways that other generations hadn't during this stage in their lives,” she said.
That means pharma companies may have an opportunity to embrace Gen Z as loyal consumers. And they’re open to the idea — 55% of Gen Z respondents believed pharma companies could meet their needs and play a role in their healthcare, Burson found.
That role is also undergoing a shift as younger people are being diagnosed with cancer at higher rates than previous generations, for example. New breakthroughs in obesity, such as the ultra-popular GLP-1 medications, represent another significant tie to pharma for younger patients that didn’t previously exist.
Even with these opportunities for pharma, there’s still a big trust gap.
“Gen Z’s trust in pharmaceutical companies is the lowest of any generation,” said Ian Baer, CEO and founder of marketing intelligence firm Sooth, which tracks trust in brands and institutions. “In fact, each younger generation trusts pharma companies less than the last. Specifically, while Boomers and Gen X have relatively high levels of trust in drug companies, Millennials trust them 13% less than does the average American — and Gen Z’s level of trust is 39% below average.”
There are some bright spots for the pharma industry to make inroads with Gen Z patients. Another recent report from Tebra found that while most Americans choose generics for their medications, 35% of Gen Z prefer name-brand drugs. That’s higher than other generations, and 78% cited trusting name brands more than generics as their reason, while 69% said familiarity with the brand was a factor.
Compared to other generations, Gen Z is also more influenced by tried-and-true marketing strategies like packaging.
“One in 10 Gen Z and Millennial Americans said they base their preference for brand names on the packaging alone — that's some pretty effective product design at work,” the Tebra study noted.
Communications are open
Several key differences separate Gen Z from older generations when it comes to improving trust in pharma.
This cohort is generally considered to be chronically online, having grown up with access to digital devices since they were born. While Gen Z may be viewed as having diminished social skills than older generations, their online connections offer more opportunities for engagement, according to Baer.
“They’re in more spaces and places than other generations,” Terry noted.
“Gen Z is actually opening the door for dialogue with pharma, where typically Gen X and Millennial audiences have been more skeptical and less comfortable engaging,” she said. “There is a phenomenal opportunity ahead for pharmaceutical companies to build relationships with this diverse, digitally native generation.”
Another opening for pharma companies is Gen Z’s acceptance of mental health help.
“They are open to discussing mental health issues and have much greater empathy for people struggling with it, unlike older generations who tend to avoid the topic altogether,” Baer said. “And since there is a strong connection between mental health and overall well-being, this creates a big opportunity for pharma marketers to embrace a more empathetic and less clinical approach with this generation of Americans.”
Gen Z’s openness toward mental health also coincides with pharma’s renewed focus on finding new drugs in depression, schizophrenia and sleep disorders.
But deep knowledge of the internet also means Gen Z is savvy. As digital natives, this group uses their devices to educate themselves and aid in their decision-making toward health. Pharma companies marketing to Gen Z patients need to meet them where they are and understand how they interact online.
“Communicators need to be very intentional about channel choices, ensuring partnering is not transactional, and bringing in the right third-party representatives who will resonate with this cohort to deliver your messaging,” Terry said. “The language, tone and visuals of the content produced needs to reflect Gen Z, and this can be particularly challenging for brands in this highly regulated industry. It's a balancing act.”
Overall, one factor pharma marketers can count on is that Gen Z is open to the idea of trusting in healthcare solutions.
“The drug companies have a lot of bridges to build with this generation, but they are absolutely open to empathetic voices that allow them to reach their own conclusions,” Baer said.
