1.
Should Brands Take a Public Stand on
Political Issues?
Survey shows the complexity brands must navigate if they do.
A survey by Sword and the Script Media, LLC
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2.
Key Findings
1) Most respondents say brands should stay clear of politics. Nearly half (49%) of overall
respondents said brands should not weigh in on political issues. However, it’s not a majority because about one-
third said they believe brands should get involved, while another 22% were unsure. Sentiment analysis around this
question suggests context matters.
2) Younger respondents more likely to mix business and politics. A cross-tab analysis by age shows
a compelling correlation between age and the viewpoint on this question. Younger people, ages 18-29, were more
likely to say brands should take political sides publicly (56%). The older the respondent, the more likely they were
to stay brands should abstain from politics.
3) To agree or disagree is a critical question. If a brand takes a public political position that respondents
agreed with, about half (48%) were more likely to make a purchase while the other half (47%) were indifferent.
However, the numbers swing the other way if the brand takes a position with which they disagree – 53% were less
likely to make a purchase and 40% were indifferent.
4) Women are more likely to act than men. A cross-tab analysis of this question by gender shows
respondents that identified as women were 16% more likely than men to take action against a brand that takes a
political position with which they disagree. This shows while men are more likely to say brands shouldn’t get
involved in politics, they are also less likely to act if a brand does pick a political side.
5) Quality, convenience, and price have a mitigating effect. If the quality, convenience or price of a
product or service was better than the competition, respondents said they would still buy from a brand even if they
took a political position with which they disagree.
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3.
More respondents say brands
should not take a stand on
political issues, however, it’s not
a majority. About one-third think
it’s okay and one-fifth are unsure.
The fractured responses along
with sentiment expressed
(shared on subsequent pages in
this report) around this question
suggests the topic has nuance
worth considering.
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4.
Gender
31% 53% 16%31% 53% 16%
28% 45% 27%
A cross-tab comparison by
gender shows men are more
likely to believe brands should
not take a stand on politics.
While more women checked the
“unsure” box this is probably
more like saying “it depends.”
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5.
56% 31% 13%
22% 51% 26%
21% 52% 27%
20% 59% 20%
A cross-tab comparison by age
shows convincingly that younger
respondents are more inclined to
say brands should take a stand
on political issues. Similarly, the
older the respondent, the more
likely they are to oppose brand
involvement in politics.
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6.
48% are more inclined to make a
purchase when a brand’s political
view mirrors their own.
About half of respondents say if
a brand takes stand that aligns
with their beliefs, they are more
likely to make a purchase. The
other half are seemingly
indifferent.
But wait, there’s more…
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7.
53% are less inclined to make a
purchase when a brand’s political
view conflict.
Disagreement seems to provoke
a slightly stronger reaction.
Indeed 26% respondents
selected “much less likely”
versus 17% that selected “much
more likely” on the previous
question (Q2).
This is reminiscent of the
principle of loss aversion in
marketing: losing hurts twice as
bad as winning feels good.
The brand that picks a political
issue it’s constituents disagree
with conjures up the proverbial
pitchforks.
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8.
46% 21% 23%
34% 32% 28%
44%
60%
A cross-tab analysis of this
question by gender shows
women are 16% more likely than
men to take action against a
brand that takes a political
position with which they
disagree.
Remember, the cross-tab on the
first question (Q1) showed men
were more likely to say brands
and politics don’t mix. Even so,
men seem to be less inclined to
take action, even if they disagree
with the position taken. Keep in
mind details matter and 44% is
not zero.
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9.
46% are less inclined to make a
purchase when a brand’s political
view conflict.
Brand loyalty, if it exists for a
brand, seems to soften the
response slightly. This goes to
show it’s not just the issue or
position taken that matters.
Interestingly, as we’ll see over
the next few pages, factors like
quality, convenience and price all
have a heavier weight than brand
loyalty.
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10.
37% say they are less likely down
8% from the question on loyalty.
18% are more or much more likely to put
political differences aside over quality.
Quality matters. Respondents
seemed more willing to put aside
their political differences with a
brand if the product or service
was of higher quality. These
percentages visibly changed as
compared to the previous
question on brand loyalty.
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11.
38% suggest convenience does not make a
difference.
17% will put political differences with a brand aside
if it’s more convenient.
Business already know
convenience matters because it
appears in value propositions
across many different industries.
It seems to matter in politics as
well since respondents say they
are willing to make a purchase
from a brand if it saves them
time, even if they disagree with a
political position.
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12.
The pricing of a product or
service has about the same
weight as quality and
convenience.
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13.
Why?
Along with the first question (Q1) – should brands take a public stand on political issues – we included
an optional open ended comment box that asked, “Why?”
We received 73 responses in total (19-yes, 35-no, 19-unsure).
A word cloud of the responses is near by – the larger the word, the more frequently it was used. A
representative sample of verbatim comments can be found on subsequent pages.
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14.
Those that answered yes (19):
• “They are a part of the community and are entitled to a voice.”
• “It’s a free country.”
• “It's their right to free speech.”
• “Values matter.”
• “Because businesses are private entities. They shouldn’t flip flop to appease a select few.”
• “Because it will give the people a better feel of the type of people/person that they are patronizing.”
• “Because it would probably make more of a difference.”
• “Because they can help speak for the victim.”
• “Businesses should be permitted to reflect the beliefs of the owners if the owner wishes to do so, and is willing to
accept the resulting fall-out, if any.”
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15.
Those that answered no (35):
• “Because having a platform doesn't automatically mean you're qualified to assert yourself as a public authority
on issues that don't concern your business' field of expertise.”
• “Because opinions are bad for business.”
• “Businesses and brands shouldn't be affiliated with political parties they should remain neutral.”
• “Corporations should stay neutral.”
• “I believe they would be taking a risk of losing sales.”
• “It may cause them to lose customers and can ruin their reputation.”
• “I don't think business and politics should go together this way.”
• “I will boycott them. I already do.”
• “It is just adding to the divisiveness of our country.”
• “It is not their place to push politics.”
• “Just sell me a product that l need.”
• “It’s not fair to make all stakeholders in a business have to support a social or political agenda. Why can’t
people make those choices on their own?”
• “They have way more money for political influence than the average citizen.”
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16.
Those that answered unsure (19):
• “Depends on the business.”
• “Controversy in work places”
• “Controversy does not help to sell products; however some products/brands are inherently part of the issue and
need to show their stand.”
• “I can't imagine they would do so for moral reasons.”
• “I think they should carefully consider what they support; charities and children's issues are always good.”
• “If a business exists to make money for its investors and owners, taking public stands on political issues can
only lead to loss of business from those who do not go along with that view.”
• “We have become such a divisive nation that boycotting has become a major political action.”
• “If laws made affect the business has a right to be involved.”
• “Only if the issue directly affects the business or brand.”
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17.
Demographics
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18.
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19.
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20.
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21.
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22.
Methodology
Sword and the Script Media, LLC conducted this survey using a commercially available online research panel from October 19,
2018 to October 20, 2018. The poll queried U.S. respondents ages 18-79 about their views about the public endorsement of political
views by commercial businesses. A total of 263 respondents completed the survey and has a margin of error at (+/-) 6%. The
percentages on individual questions may not add up perfectly to 100% where rounding is applied.
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23.
About Sword and the Script Media, LLC
Sword and the Script Media, LLC is veteran-owned public relations agency,
based outside of Atlanta, that is dedicated to business-to-business (B2B)
technology. The firm builds consistent, sustainable, and process-driven programs
for PR, content marketing and social media. The agency publishes weekly blog
posts and a monthly newsletter, both of which are available by email subscription.
Visit or subscribe online at www.swordandthescript.com.
Frank Strong, MA, MBA, is the founder and president of Sword and the Script
Media, LLC. He brings about 20 years of experience stemming gigs at PR
agencies – small, medium and large – in addition to corporate experience. Prior to
starting his own consultancy he spent 10-years in-house at progressively larger
businesses including a IT operations startup that was acquired, an acquisitive
publicly traded mid-market business, and lastly, experiencing the machinations
within a truly global company. His agency grew out of a humble marketing blog
Strong started nearly a decade ago.
Find him on Twitter: @Frank_Strong or email frank -at- swordandthescript -dot-
com
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24.
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25.
Sword and the Script Media, LLC
www.swordandthescript.com
Effective communication is complicated:
Just because a message is sent doesn’t mean it’s been received. Just
because it’s been received doesn’t mean it’s been understood. Just
because it’s been understood doesn’t mean it will affect behavior. Just
because it affects behavior doesn’t mean it will affect it in the manner in
which we had intended.
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