Do Consumers Care About Political Affiliations of Brands? New Survey Data Says Not So Much

News provided by

Aug 01, 2024, 09:00 ET

Sitejabber survey reveals 32% of consumers say political affiliations don't influence purchasing decisions at all

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitejabber, the leading destination for customer reviews of businesses, released survey results indicating that a brand's political stances don't strongly influence the majority of consumers' purchase decisions.

According to the report, 62% of consumers care very little to not at all about a brand's political affiliation, and only 30% have boycotted a brand over political reasons in the past 12 months. As we approach the 2024 election, 41% of buyers prefer companies keep their political positions private.

"At a time when our country feels so divided, it's refreshing to see that political sentiments might not have as much impact on purchasing decisions as the media would lead us to believe," said Michael Lai, CEO and co-founder of Sitejabber.

Other key findings from the report include:

Consumers generally refrain from writing politically motivated reviews — 80% say they have never left a public review or comment about a product or service specifically because of the company's political stance. And 78% report they are unlikely to mention a company's political affiliation when writing a review.
Many customers believe they are savvy enough to remain impartial when reading politically-motivated reviews, with 44% being aware of the practice of "review bombing" and 34% reporting that a sudden influx of negative company reviews would not affect their purchasing decision.

In recent years, the practice of review bombing has become an increasingly challenging issue for businesses across industries. Review bombing is a coordinated assault on a brand, often fueled by disgruntled customers, competitors or even online trolls for various reasons including political motivations. This form of attack can be devastating to a business's online reputation.

"Given our current state of politics, businesses have become less outspoken on hot-button issues in an effort to avoid consumer backlash," said Lai. "However, it seems as if the political temperature is starting to drop, at least when it comes to deciding which brands and products consumers want to do business with."

MarketSight conducted the survey, which included 1,000 online responses from consumers aged 21+ across the United States.

To learn more about Sitejabber and how it can help businesses manage reviews, please visit https://www.sitejabber.com/business.

Founded in 2007, Silicon Valley-based Sitejabber is a top-ranking business reviews site. The brand is powered by Jabio, a proprietary AI-enabled technology and award-winning review management platform that uses real reviews to inspire discovery and create connections between businesses and millions of buyers.

Over 50,000 registered organizations use Jabio to manage and promote customer reviews of their company and products – thereby showcasing their value, obtaining actionable feedback and driving measurable customer growth. Jabio is also the only review platform to be both funded by the US Government's National Science Foundation and an official Google review partner.

Media Contact
Patrick Murphy
PANBlast for Sitejabber
[email protected]

SOURCE Sitejabber