Conservative-leaning brands gained in reputation among consumers due to increased trust from independents and Democrats, a Harris/Axios poll revealed Wednesday, while businesses that pushed far-left branding trended downward.
The conservative movement is beginning to overcome the left’s culture war in corporate boardrooms, the polling suggests.
Respondents ranked brands by seven ideals: trust, character, ethics, vision, citizenship, and growth, as well as products and services.
Brands considered quintessentially American also increased in reputation, such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Their boost also came from independents and Democrats, the poll discovered.
- “Companies perceived as being overly focused on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) continued to see significant reputation declines around trust.
- Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch saw its reputation score plummet six points following last year’s right-wing backlash to a marketing campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
- Target’s score also declined after a controversy over LGBTQ+ Pride products.”
John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, believes the far-left’s culture war is wearing thin on consumers, who “are more picky this year” due to President Joe Biden’s inflation and as a result are “holding companies to account.”
“Many independents, and even some Democrats in this year’s survey are drifting rightward, which accounts for the boost in reputations of many of the more traditional or conservatively-leaning companies,” Gerzema explained.
“There seems to be a move to the center on attitudes towards companies and their role in society,” he added. “I feel this could be an important finding because swing voters are going to determine the outcome of the election, and as of yet are hard to pin down.”
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.