Most Americans who are likely general election voters say that businesses should remain neutral on political and cultural issues, according to two nationwide surveys conducted in June, when many businesses took public stands supporting Pride Month.
Summit.org, in partnership with McLaughlin and Associates, surveyed 1,000 general election voters June 15-19. The survey found that 73% of voters with an opinion on the issue said they would prefer to shop at a business that stays neutral on political and cultural issues, while only 27% of voters with an opinion on the issue said they would prefer to shop at a business that takes public stands on political and cultural issues.
In addition, 52% of voters with an opinion on the issue said they support efforts to boycott businesses that take public stands on political and cultural issues.
“Bud Light, Target and the Los Angeles Dodgers have found out the hard way that huge numbers of their customers don’t support what they consider to be ‘woke’ values,” said Summit.org President Jeff Myers. “This poll shows how big the issue is: nearly three-fourths of Americans say they don’t like it when businesses weigh in on controversial issues, and more than half support boycotts of companies that take political or cultural stands. CEOs and companies have a choice to make: continue virtue signaling to the progressive left minority and in turn alienate most Americans, or return to doing what companies do best—staying in their lane and providing products and services their customers want.”
In a similar survey of 1,088 likely voters, conducted June 5-9 by the Trafalgar Group for the Convention of States Action, 61.9% said that businesses should “seek to be neutral on cultural issues.” Broken down by political affiliation, 81.8% of Republican voters said that businesses should stay neutral, compared to 37.1% of Democrats who felt that way.
In the Convention of States survey, 40.8% said they had boycotted a company for taking progressive or woke stances, while 24.5% had boycotted a company for taking conservative or MAGA stances. An additional 34.7% said they do not participate in boycotts.
“Every corporate board room should be very alarmed at these poll results,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States. “American voters simply want businesses to provide products and services and not be a megaphone for political activism—especially radical activism from the left.”
The Summit.org survey had an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval. The Convention of States survey had a 2.9% margin of error with 95% confidence.
Photo of Target store in Racine, Wisconsin Tuesday June 6, 2023 by Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy Stock Photo