There’s no doubt that growing up on pandemic-era online schooling and TikTok trends has set the Generation Z experience apart from that of other generations. According to a new survey, the generational gap between Gen Z and older cohorts applies to trust in pharma, too.
YouGov tracked the public perception of Gen Z, millennials, Generation X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation through its BrandIndex, a daily survey that explores a range of brand metrics. The starkest generational divide emerged on the satisfaction mark, showing a recent dip in the two younger generations’ satisfaction with drug manufacturers.
Over the past year, from September 2024 to September 2025, Gen Z’s satisfaction with the drugmaker sector as a whole slid from a net score of 7 to 4, on a scale of -100 to 100, making for a statistically significant drop, according to YouGov. Millennials’ score experienced a similar dip as well, falling from a net satisfaction level of 9 to 6 over the same period.
The downward trend seen in the younger cohorts may point to “shifting perceptions of how pharmaceutical companies serve them,” YouGov noted.
On the flipside, Gen X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation held steady, for the most part, with the Silent Generation’s satisfaction at the consistently highest score of 14.
The satisfaction scores may be colored by drug pricing concerns. On the value metric, which specifically measured whether respondents felt drug manufacturers offer “good value for money,” Gen Z and millennials again scored lower than many of their predecessors. Gen Z’s net score plummeted from around 7 this time last year to 2, while millennials’ score fell from 5 to 1 in the same time frame.
Interestingly, Gen X joined the younger cohorts on the value measure, matching millennials' score of 1 as of September 2025.
YouGov attributed the generally higher scores of the oldest generations to greater trust in the healthcare system built up over long-term experiences. Still, as the data-tracking company pointed out, trust in pharma and healthcare “doesn’t form in a vacuum” and is guided by where consumers get their information, raising the question of where, exactly, Gen Z turns for health information.
According to the report, 56% of Gen Z survey respondents still rely on doctors and health professionals for that information, compared to 69% of the other generations. But members of the youngest generation are also more likely than their elders to turn to friends and family for health and wellness information, at 48%, compared with other generations’ 41%.
Social media showed the biggest divide, with 38% of Gen Z using social media as a trusted source and 22% of other generations reporting the same.
“For the industry, this signals a need to engage differently, with more transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness, if it hopes to rebuild confidence among the consumers who will define the future of healthcare trust,” YouBrand said in the report.
Pharma has had a reputation issue as of late, with the industry experiencing a bit of a fall from grace after public perception hit a high during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In survey results released this past April, PatientView found that just over half (56%) of the 2,546 patient groups surveyed rated the industry’s corporate reputation as “good” or “excellent,” compared to 60% two years ago, with the lowest-rated scores of pharma’s performance falling specifically in the pricing categories.
ViiV Healthcare ranked as the most favorable drugmaker among the patient groups surveyed by PatientView, ahead of runners-up Roche and Gilead Sciences.