Dive Brief:
- Consumers in the U.S. care about quality, fair pricing and product reliability more than a brand’s political or ethical values, according to a new survey from Kearney Consumer Institute.
- While 39% of consumers reported they had boycotted a brand in the past 12 months, 79% of consumers surveyed said they think “it’s less important for a brand to voice its values than to deliver on quality expectations,” per the report.
- However, 68% of consumers surveyed said they think brands should voice their values, and 51% of consumers said they have stopped buying from a brand that did not align with their values.
Dive Insight:
Kearney Consumer Institute is an internal think tank of consultancy group Kearney. The report, titled ‘Weighing value with values,’ surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers in May who represented the general population in terms of demographics, according to a spokesperson.
The research explored the intention gap between what consumers say matters and how they actually behave, per an accompanying press release.
KCI lead Katie Thomas said that many consumers are prioritizing the price and product value over values-based decisions.
“Despite the broad hype around boycotts, consumers do not seem to be increasingly voting with their wallets,” Thomas, who led the research, said in the release. “Consumers are feeling the pinch right now — money is tighter, time is tighter — and they will shop how, where, and as it best suits them.”
Shopping based on values is sometimes more expensive, according to 80% of consumers surveyed, and 71% said that shopping by values is sometimes or usually less convenient. In addition, 65% said they don’t have time to research brands that align with their values.
Thomas said consumers’ low ratings of politically driven factors, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments, labor practices and brand politics, illustrate “the relatively minor role of consumer activism” or of consumers shopping by their values.
“We’ve seen underperforming companies try to place blame on boycotting and other external values-based factors for their suffering, when in reality these factors are affecting everyone,” Thomas said.
Thomas added that a brand’s values should stem from who the company is, rather than how consumers might perceive them. For example, an organization may lose consumer confidence if it voices public support for a movement but whose internal structure — leadership, employees resources, suppliers and vendors — doesn’t reflect that ethos, per the report.
“Too often, the corporate value proposition is disjointed from the brand values, which may put out high aspirational promises to the consumer,” Thomas said. “Taking a values-first approach without focusing on the fundamentals risks losing the consumer.”
