eMarketer’s demographics analyst, Mark Dolliver, took the data with a grain of salt, suggesting that the above-average number for young men might reflect an above-average willingness to claim a virtue—in this case, open-mindedness—that they and others actually lack.
But, he said, to the extent that the data reflects true open-mindedness, it might be a reflection of the prevalence of #metoo content on social sites. “Seeing this—and, perhaps, not wanting to be out of step with the young women expressing strong opinions on the subject—a significant proportion of young men may have come to acknowledge that sexual harassment is more of a problem than they had previously been inclined to believe,” he said.
In a somewhat surprising parallel, recent data about the impact of influencers suggests that men are more likely to relate to influencers and heed their advice. According to an August survey by GlobalWebIndex, 41% of men surveyed said influencers affect their purchase decisions, compared with 30% of women.