Gen Z’s New Rules of Boycotting: From Cancel Culture to Conscious Consumption
If you thought cancel culture is over, it’s not. It’s just evolved. Gen Z has rewritten the playbook, with boycotting taking center stage in this shift. In a recent think tank we held this past year, five Youthtellers from across the country shared how their generation navigates activism, ethics, cancel culture, and boycotting in 2025.
Cancelling celebrities is rarer now, and boycotting has moved beyond performative call-outs and turned into a deeper act of protest that is highly intentional, researched, and deeply personal.
This is no longer the Millennial cancel culture of unfollowing a celebrity after one uneducated Tweet, or never shopping at a brand again because of an issue one employee had. Sure, that’s all considered. But for Gen Z, boycotting and cancelling means rethinking each purchase, diving deeper into either a celebrity or a brand’s history, and understanding if this is repeated behavior or something they’ll be able to forgive. It’s about values now, not posturing.
From Cancel Culture to Boycotting with Intention
As one 21 Y/O Youthteller from Colorado put it, “I can’t raise my cost of living if I heard one bad thing about a brand.” This statement caused a resounding set of head nods from around the room. It’s a statement that highlights the tension of Gen Z. They want to shop with integrity and give money to brands that align with their values, but they are wary due to the financial limitations of their generation.
This is why the beauty brand E.L.F. Cosmetics was met with so much enthusiasm when mentioned in our think tank. Their website has a checklist on it, explaining where each item is made. In the past, they’ve donated to different causes. And their price? Incredibly reasonable. It’s clear to the consumers on the call (and elsewhere) that E.L.F. isn’t posturing, but highlighting their values.
For Gen Z, this is the behavior they love. They don’t want to boycott brands, but they want honesty and authenticity. It’s the same with celebrities, but as many noted in our think tank, boycotting or cancelling celebrities now is much less impactful today than boycotting a corporation. Influencers may bounce back from the drama, but brands that violate trust or appear fake may not.
Why Brands Get Boycotted
Our think tank revealed consistent themes around what drives the boycotting (or cancelling) behaviors among Gen Z. The main reasons someone might stop shopping at your brand? Right here:
Funding or profiting from war and oppression
Lack of transparency in production and sourcing
Unethical labor practices and poor treatment of workers
Greenwashing and hollow activism
As one Youthteller noted, a 22 Y/O from New Jersey, “I’m capable of boycotting because of my free will.” Many aren’t waiting to be handed a list of ‘bad brands’, they’re taking it into their own hands to research who owns what…or even who has shares in what. Because Diddy gained a profit when shares in Ciroc went up, causing three of our Youthtellers aware of him owning these shares to stop drinking the alcohol entirely. In the world of free will, Gen Z is caring exactly where and to (whom their money) is going.
Authenticity is key here, while many brands will jump on social or political movements just for good PR, your younger consumers are going to smell that fakeness from a mile away.
The Personal is Political (And So Is the Purchase)
The first step to any good boycott? Tuning out someone entirely. And once that happens, it’s hard to tune back in. One Youthteller, a 19 Y/O from California, described how her peer group evaluates a brand's values compared to their own before making a big purchase.
This often goes beyond just consumer goods. Let’s go back to Diddy as an example, because he’s one of the celebrities who has recently gotten cancelled beyond repair (and rightfully so.) Now, any brand that touches Diddy–or that Diddy touches— is in the hot seat. It’s not just about liquor brands and company shares. But even a brand continuing to follow him on social media can make a consumer do a double-take.
In our think tank, a 22 Y/O Youthteller in Texas summed it up perfectly, “Celebrities and companies need to use their platform for good, instead of saying nothing. We’ll notice.” Silence is no longer neutral, especially when basic ethics or labor violations are at stake.
Boycotting Is Evolving, But It’s Still Emotional
Despite much of Gen Z’s choice to boycott a brand or celebrity centering around logic, the emotional element hasn’t disappeared. Particularly when it comes down to cancelling celebrities or brands you once liked. “Once you’ve tuned someone out, you’re tuned into canceling them,” one youthteller noted. Canceling becomes a coping mechanism—a way to distance oneself from complicity, even if the actual impact is minimal. Besides, multiple people doing the small act of boycotting only builds momentum. Look at the Target boycott from earlier this year–the company lost shares, money, and value.
But it’s important to note that Gen Z is also self-aware. They know that boycotting isn’t always black and white, particularly depending on your income level. One Youthteller, a 22 Y/O in New Jersey, brought up the fact that she wished she could boycott Walmart, but it’s the only affordable option near her.
This nuance is critical to understand. It’s easy to demand that a boycott makes sense. But in practice? Gen Zers are making the best choices they can for themselves and others, while acknowledging the gray area that exists.
The Rise of Digital Boycotting as a Form of Protest
To many Gen Zers, physically boycotting a brand or taking to the streets in protest over an issue is the second step. The first? An online cancellation in hopes that a brand or celebrity might change their ways and come forward with an apology.
The 2024 ‘Blockout’ movement that encouraged people to stop engaging and following celebrities who remained silent on global issues is a prime example of this. It was a form of protest, but it was also faith in humanity.
If clicking ‘unfollow’ or ‘block’ is the first step, the second step is to stop buying, and the third is to protest. According to our Youthtellers, boycotting can escalate into offline action if the digital efforts fall flat.
That said, Gen Z isn’t speaking on things just to speak on them. They hate performative activism. One Youthteller, a 19 Y/O from California, highlighted this, “You shouldn’t speak on something you don’t know about.”
The Future of Boycotting: What Brands Need to Know
For the brands trying to earn and keep Gen Z’s loyalty, the goal is simple: be authentic, be transparent, and take responsibility for your actions. This isn’t just in how you market products, it’s how your products are made and how your employees are treated. It’s not enough to slap a Pride flag on products in June or share an anecdote about Black history in February. Those actions reek of an obvious PR stunt.
And when Gen Z feels betrayed, they won’t go Karen, they’ll go silent. Meaning you lose any profit you’re making from this generation. Here’s what boycotting looks like in 2025:
Research before purchase
Holding corporations (not just individuals) accountable
Choosing ethical convenience when possible
Valuing actions over optics
Understanding that silence can be meaningful, but so can speaking up
Gen Z doesn’t expect perfection. They expect honesty. And in the age of boycotting, that’s the only way to stay in their cart.