Consumers Want Businesses to Stay Out of Politics

As the 2024 presidential election draws closer, U.S. adults are likely to find themselves subjected to a heavy dose of political media and content. But according to a new survey from Bentley University and Gallup, U.S. consumers do not want to hear from businesses on current events: Fewer than 4 in 10 U.S. adults (38 percent) believe businesses should take public stances, a decline of 10 percentage points in just the past two years.

The results show Americans of nearly all age groups, genders, races, and partisan groups have become less likely to want to hear from businesses on current events than they were in 2022. Groups that were previously the most receptive to hearing from businesses are now considerably less likely to say so. In 2022, three-quarters of Democrats thought businesses should take stances on current events; yet, over the past two years, support for that position has decreased by 22 percentage points.

Over the same period, Asian and black adults have become 27 and 18 percentage points less likely, respectively, to think businesses should speak out. The only groups who now express majority support for businesses taking public stances are LGBTQ+ adults (55 percent), black adults (54 percent), and Democrats (53 percent).

While Republicans’ support for businesses speaking out has increased from 17 percent to 22 percent over the past year, they remain the political constituency that is least likely to want businesses to take public stances overall. Adults 60 and older saw a similar 3-percentage-point increase in their support for businesses speaking publicly on current events in the past year, from 35 percent to 38 percent, though both percentages are lower than this group’s 43 percent who favored businesses speaking out in 2022.

The research also found that businesses that publicly endorse a political candidate risk harming their bottom lines among consumers who do not share that candidate preference. More than 6 in 10 Democrats and Republicans (68 percent and 61 percent, respectively) say they would be less likely to purchase from a company that endorsed the candidate that they did not support.

Independents are about three times more likely to say they would avoid purchasing products from companies that endorsed a candidate from either party than to say such an endorsement would make them more likely to purchase their products. Most independents say it wouldn’t affect their purchasing decisions.

If companies endorse a candidate from a person’s preferred political party, it is unlikely to hurt the business within that group. Just more than one in three Democrats (34 percent) and Republicans (38 percent) say they would be more likely to purchase products from a company that endorsed a political candidate from their own party, and at least 6 in 10 say it wouldn’t affect their decisions. Meanwhile, less than 5 percent say an endorsement from their preferred party would make them less likely to do business with the company.