The Opt-Out Economy '26: It's Not a Trend. It's a Movement.

Last Year It Was 46% of Gen Z Women. This Year the Men Joined.

Last year, one of my most shared pieces was the Opt-Out Economy.

Photo by Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash

In 2025, Gen Z women were protesting their rights being stripped from them, and 46% said they had “no interest in supporting the economy at all”. We asked what happens when nearly half of them stop shopping?

This year we found out. The as the movement continues to grow.

What’s interesting this year, is that Gen Z men have joined the women.

A 21-point jump from ‘25, standing and aligned with Gen Z women in a way we haven’t seen before.

Now half (52%) of all Gen Z, men and women, say they have no interest in supporting the economy this year. And 41% of all Americans feel this way.

What started as a women-led movement went mainstream.

This Is a Movement. Here’s the Proof.

Movements don’t need a leader. They need a shared instinct, a low barrier to action, and proof that it works. The Opt-Out Economy has all three.

The instinct is already there.

Over half of Gen Z is actively finding ways to opt out. Not thinking about it. Doing it.

Why are they opting out?

• 31% are protecting their stability: “It’s better for my finances if I cut my spending.”

• 29% need a break from consumption and culture: “I need a mental health break from the current economic and business cultures.”

• 28% are making a political statement: “I don’t want to support the current administration’s economy.”

Meanwhile, where they shop is just as important as whether they shop at all. 6 in 10 Gen Z say they have shifted their spending entirely in the last few months to align with their morals, followed closely by Millennials.

4 in 10 Gen Z (41%) say they don't shop at their favorite stores anymore because of their politics, rising to 47% among BIPOC Gen Z. Think about that if you're a brand marketer. All that love, all that loyalty, poof. Dried up overnight.

The barrier to action has never been lower.

The cancel button is the new protest sign. In October 2025, the “Don’t Stream Fascism” campaign urged users to cancel Spotify after the platform ran advertising for ICE. Spotify changed course. In late 2025, a boycott of Disney+, Hulu, and ABC gained traction after Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air. Disney adjusted.

And just this month, Scott Galloway launched “Resist and Unsubscribe” — a month-long grassroots boycott targeting ten major tech companies, from Amazon Prime to Netflix to Uber, as economic pressure against aggressive immigration enforcement.

The opt-out economy isn’t one battlefield anymore. It’s every transaction, every subscription, every autopay.

And the proof that it works is accumulating.

Spotify and Disney didn’t change positions because of op-eds. They changed because of cancellations. Disney reportedly lost 1.7 million subscribers during Kimmel’s suspension. A study of Tesla found that Elon Musk’s polarizing political activities cost over 1 million U.S. car sales between October 2022 and April 2025, contributing to a 45% drop in European sales in early 2025.

Every time a company flinches, the movement learns: this works. Every course correction becomes a case study shared across group chats, TikTok, and Reddit threads. The feedback loop is locked in.

It’s Not Just the Ones Who Can’t Afford to Spend

Here’s what should really get your attention: Americans earning $100K+ are opting out too. 40% are actively finding ways to disengage from the economy, and 49% have shifted spending entirely to align with their morals.

When people who can afford to spend are choosing not to, this isn’t economic necessity. It’s economic protest. And it means the opt-out movement isn’t something brands can wait out until people’s finances improve. There’s nothing to improve. The wallet is closed on principle.

The Short-Termism Trap

The brands retreating from commitments right now to avoid controversy aren’t playing it safe (e.g., see recent Tim Cook issues). They’re making a bet: that the generation currently opting out will somehow opt back in once they have more money, more influence, and more options. That is not how movements work. People don’t forget which side you were on.

If you aren’t on their side now, why would you think you will be once they’re set in their ways?

The Bottom Line

Everyone is focused on what Gen Z is opting out of.

The better question is: what would they opt into?

Because this generation isn’t apathetic. They’re selective. There’s a difference. They’re not refusing to spend. They’re refusing to spend without meaning. And the brands, artists, and leaders who understand that are already winning.

Look at Bad Bunny. He brought $700 million to Puerto Rico’s economy. He turned the Super Bowl halftime show into a love letter to an island and a culture. He didn’t chase a mainstream audience. He amplified his community’s voice so loudly that the mainstream came to him. That’s not opting out. That’s building something so real that people line up to opt in.

That’s the playbook. When a whole generation is walking away from brands that have gone quiet, the opportunity isn’t to convince them to come back. It’s to build something worth walking toward. Give them a voice. Amplify their point of view. Meet them where they are.

Because the issue isn’t that brands stand for nothing. It’s that they’ve gone silent at the exact moment this generation needed them to speak up. 67% of Gen Z say they’re upset that business leaders aren’t speaking out against aggressive immigration enforcement. That silence isn’t safety. It’s a choice. And Gen Z is reading it loud and clear.

52% of a generation has found a reason to opt out. The question is whether you’ll give them a reason to opt back in.

This is Part 1 of a two-part series on the Opt-Out Economy 2.0. On next week, we release Part 2: how young Americans feel about ICE, the brands associated with it, and what that means for the companies caught in the crosshairs. The data is striking. Stay tuned.

HUGE shout out to my research partner on this work Jacklyn Cooney.

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Penned by Libby Rodney and Abbey Lunney, founders of the Thought Leadership + Futures Group at The Harris Poll. Thanks for reading The Next Big Think! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.