Americans are changing their shopping habits and even dumping their favorite stores in a backlash against corporations that have shifted their public policies to align with the Trump administration, according to a poll exclusively shared with the Guardian.
Four out of 10 Americans have shifted their spending over the last few months to align with their moral views, according to the Harris poll.
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31% of Americans reported having no interest in supporting the economy this year – a sentiment especially felt by younger (gen Z: 37%), Black (41% v white: 28%) and Democratic consumers (35% v 29% of independents and 28% of Republicans).
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A quarter (24%) of respondents have even stopped shopping at their favorite stores because of their politics (Black: 35%, gen Z: 32%, Democratic: 31%).
More Democrats (50%) indicated they were changing their spending habits compared with Republicans (41%) and independents (40%). Democrats were also more likely to say they have stopped shopping at companies that have opposing political views to their own – 45% of Democrats indicated so, compared with 34% of Republicans.
It is a sign that consumers with liberal views are starting to use their wallets in response to politics in the private sector.
Most recently, this has been seen with a backlash against Target – the seventh-largest retailer in the US that has enjoyed a typically favorable reputation among liberal consumers.
In January, Target announced it was ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, including a program that helped the company carry more Black- and minority-owned brands in its stores, saying it was trying to “stay more in step with the evolving external landscape”. Along with calls for a boycott on social media, Twin Cities Pride, the organization that runs the annual Pride festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Target is headquartered, said it was dropping the company as a sponsor because of its announcement.
“What is more important is that we send the message that companies do the right thing,” Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in January.
The last few years have shown that boycotts usually come from the consumer base whose party is not in power in Washington. When Joe Biden was president, conservatives boycotted companies that were deemed too “woke”. After the beer brand Bud Light partnered with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a sponsored social media post, a backlash against the beer grew online. Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, lost $395m in the ensuing months amid calls for a boycott.
Now that Donald Trump is back in the White House, liberal consumers seem more ready to respond to political tides.
After Trump won the election, multiple companies announced they were rolling back their DEI policies and pledges – much of which was created in response to Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Though some companies had been quietly rolling back DEI programs after the supreme court ruled affirmative action in higher education unconstitutional, raising questions about whether the court could end up scrutinizing diversity efforts in the workplace in the future, most companies were reticent about announcing any rollbacks publicly. That changed after Trump won the election, as the president said in his campaign that he would end all DEI.
Walmart said it would phase out its DEI initiatives, including ones focused on diversity of suppliers and offering DEI training. Amazon said it was “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to DEI. McDonald’s announced the end of specific diversity goals for senior leadership. The companies largely said they were responding to the changing legal landscape around DEI.
Trump’s impact on DEI in the private sector is still up in the air, though his administration has indicated it is looking for ways to curtail DEI in the private sector. Trump signed two executive orders that essentially ended all DEI in the federal government, including laws from the civil rights era that were meant to prevent discrimination when choosing private contractors.
In response to the executive orders, the activist and Baptist minister Rev Al Sharpton announced in January that a council with his organization, the National Action Network, would conduct a study on companies that are ending their DEI policies. By May, the council will select two companies to focus on. Sharpton and his organization will then publicly scrutinize the companies for backing away from their DEI goals.
“Donald Trump can’t make us buy your stuff. The Senate can’t make us buy your stuff,” Sharpton said at a speech last month. “In the name of Dr [Martin Luther King Jr], we’re going to do what King did.”
Some companies have stood by their DEI policies, even when faced with pressure from conservative shareholder activists. Costco, Microsoft and Apple have all indicated they have no plans to cut back on their DEI policies.
It has all made for a confusing landscape for American consumers, many of whom are frustrated by the political system. The Harris poll found that a third of Americans (36%) are trying to “opt out” of the economy – cutting back on spending to avoid getting involved with the muddle of companies and shifting politics.
“Think of this as ‘laissez-faire consumerism’. Buyers aren’t boycotting, they’re just opting out,” said John Gerzema, CEO of Harris Poll. “Instead of demanding more, they’re simply disengaging with the marketplace and businesses who disappoint them.”
