Over the last several years, our research at The Conference Board has documented the shift among US consumers from their initial receptiveness to companies engaging on social and political issues to growing resistance, coinciding with increased political polarization in the country.
Speaking out publicly on social/political issues placed last in our fall 2023 survey of US consumers about a range of corporate citizenship activities that make a brand appealing. In the fall of 2024, we found that nearly half of US consumers perceived brands as either conservative or liberal, whether implicitly or explicitly (Figure 1).
But brands’ political leaning has become less appealing to consumers—and possibly employees. The share of US consumers who believe companies should engage in major societal and political issues declined from 47% in 2022 to 33% in 2024. During the same period, the percentage of people buying or recommending a brand more because of its social or political stance fell from 43% to 34%, with under-35s showing the hig
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