The Shifting Politics of Doing Good in America is GSG’s tenth annual Business & Politics Report. The report series has become the authoritative voice on the role that companies play in political and social discourse, and how this impacts brand perception.
This report examines the political landscape around recent attacks on companies engaging in environmental social governance (ESG) initiatives. It also highlights GSG’s research over time tracking a range of companies like the NFL, Nike, and Disney that often find themselves in the news for taking political or social stances.
Key takeaways include:
- 88% of Americans approve of companies that have a positive impact on their communities, and 77% agree that corporations have a responsibility to bring about social change on society’s most important issues.
- While some voters believe that many companies are too “woke”, only 8% of Americans think investigating how companies spend money on ESG issues should be a priority for Congress, and 83% trust companies more than politicians when deciding whether they agree with a company’s stance on an issue.
- Recent anti-ESG rhetoric has not had much impact on Republicans’ purchasing behavior or how they think about the role of companies in society. Only 36% of Republicans have boycotted a company because of a stance they took on an issue.
