Consumers Want Brands to Get Political

According to a recent Retail Dive story, more consumers than even before want brands to take a political stance.

Citing a study conducted by Social Sprout, Retail Dive says that “the majority (66%) of customers actually want brands to take a stand on big issues,” a number that jumps all the way to 80% when the polling pool is reduced to only liberal respondents.

(That figure, for the record, sinks to 52% for conservatives, which shouldn’t be too surprising when one considers that New Balance’s ‘Trump Had Some Points’ approach was embraced by literal Nazis.)

With outdoor brands like Patagonia and REI leading the charge, more and more retailers “have begun to overlook the old taboo and take firmer stances on both social and political issues.”

As for which issues are being championed, “consumers felt most strongly about retailers making a stance on human rights (58%), labor laws (55%), poverty and gender equality (both 48%), and education and the environment (both 45%).”

44% of respondents even said they’d purchase more from a brand with simpatico stances, while 53% of those polled said they’d purchase less from those with an opposing one.

You can read more about it at Retail Dive.

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