The Optimism Gap: Is your age the biggest driver of your outlook?
With long-running conflicts still raging on, Trump’s tariffs causing global economic uncertainty, constant reminders from Mother Nature about the impacts of human-led climate change, and a stagnating UK economy, you’d forgive consumers for feeling rather down in the dumps.
But somehow – despite a backdrop that’s increasingly akin to the plot of a disaster movie – optimism in the UK has actually been rising. Over the last few months Maru’s Optimism index has shown a general improvement in the feeling of UK consumers. In March 2025 42% of consumers gave a rating of 8-10 out of 10 for how optimistic they were feeling, compared with just 33% back in October 2024 – the low point of the last few months.
So what’s driving consumer’s increasingly glass half-full mentality, and what does the improving national sentiment mean for brands as they try to connect with consumers?
The big picture does matter, but it’s how it impacts personally that counts
There’s no doubt that the difficult wider geo-political situation influences how optimistic consumers feel; many of those who score 1-3 out of 10 on how optimistic they feel say the wider geo-political situation is a reason for this. And the low point in our tracking seen in October 2024 was directly related to an increase in mentions of the political situation by consumers (up to 17% vs 14% in March 2025).
But, it’s how these wider issues impact someone’s individual circumstances that appears to play a greater role, especially where this directly impacts individuals financially – for example if they lost their job, have their benefits cut, or are struggling to pay the bills due to the challenging economic situation and ever-increasing prices.
Whether the wider situation has gotten so bad that consumers are actively choosing to ignore it to protect their wellbeing, or whether they are perhaps becoming better able to distance their own day-to-day life from that of the general chaos, is still to be seen. But what is clear, is that consumers are increasingly focusing on the local – their personal situation, their health and well-being, and their family – as the main drivers of their happiness. They are looking to celebrate the smaller, everyday wins for them and those they care about, despite the backdrop of despair.
Gen Z and Millennials are hopeful for the future, while Gen X struggle to see past the gloom
There’s a clear divide across the generations in how optimistic consumers are, with Millennials leading the way. In March 2025 66% of those aged 25-34 gave a rating of 8-10 out of 10 for how optimistic they were feeling, the highest of all age groups. The combination of good health, regular employment, limited caring responsibilities and multiple exciting life events (marriage, first homes, having children etc.) combine to deliver an upbeat personal outlook for many. This group feel confident, capable and resilient: even if one aspect of their situation isn’t going entirely to plan, the likelihood is that they have many other aspects that are positive, keeping them upbeat overall.
But the data suggests this purple patch may soon be eroded as they move further into middle age. Gen X are the least positive, with just 25% of those aged 55-64 giving a rating of 8-10 for how optimistic they were feeling; while those aged 45-54 are the most negative – 1 in 5 (19%) give a rating of 1-3 for how optimistic they feel. For this group, the start of failing health, coupled with caring responsibilities for both children and parents, and increasing financial struggles puts a strain on their financial and physical resources, clearly leading to a more pessimistic outlook.
What does this mean for UK brands?
There’s an opportunity to connect with consumers by focusing on the moments that matter to individuals. And these are not just those big life events; consumers are increasingly focused on celebrating the smaller everyday moments of happiness as an antidote and antithesis to the wider context. Supporting consumers so they can make the most of these moments through personalisation of content and rewards, gamification of working towards milestones, and using technology to support real-time celebration of the moments that matter with those closest to you, will resonate and connect.
Given it’s personal situation that really drives how optimistic someone is, brands can’t rely solely on a more positive national sentiment to cut-through to all, even where there is an improvement in national feeling, there will still be those who are “losing” at any given moment. While shaping messaging to fit a national trend may be appealing, brands need to be aware that this could alienate others. Making sure campaigns are well tested, across the consumer base will help ensure any areas of concern can be removed or adjusted so your messages land.
There’s no need to reference the wider context when engaging with consumers, and doing so may be detrimental. Unlike Covid when consumers were grateful of brands acknowledging the general situation when engaging with them, it’s clear there’s not the same requirement right now. Consumers are focused on their world, what they can control and what they hold dear, perhaps as a way of insulating themselves from everything else going on. Referencing the wider context could be an unwelcome reminder, and as a result could well lead consumers to disengage with such messaging.
Tailoring engagement across life-stages will offer the best opportunity to cut-through. Optimism is higher among younger groups, so those brands associated with a younger customer base, have more opportunity to dial up campaigns that tap into this positive sentiment, as it will resonate with a wider proportion of the base. But that doesn’t mean older generations don’t want to celebrate too, but there’s a need to be more mindful of the other things on their plate, and the impact this has on how they generally feel.
If you’d like to discuss any of these findings in more detail or learn how to better connect with your customers, please get in touch.