As brand leaders increasingly feel motivated — or pressured — to take a stance on societal issues, Morning Consult’s study explored whether ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) positions translate to changes in consumer behavior. The findings offer new insights into the attitudes and behaviors of different consumer types.
Morning Consult’s research (a cluster analysis of survey data) resulted in six distinct consumer types. These varied widely in their likelihood of considering a brand’s stand on causes and political issues. The six types are:
- Apolitical shoppers (10%) are most likely male and politically conservative. They are the least interested in ESG brand traits; they choose brands based on price, product availability and brand trust.
- Disengaged shoppers (16%) are mostly young and lower income. They don’t have strong feelings on brand stances on social issues, brand trust or even price.
- Practical shoppers (20%) are primarily driven by price, product availability and value. This group is not interested in brand ethics.
- Reputation shoppers – the largest group (23%) - claim they want the brands they shop from to be a force for societal good, but their actual behavior does not match their attitudes.
- Ethical shoppers (14%) are higher income and liberal. They pay a lot of attention to company stances and policies on ethical matters, sustainability commitments and diversity, equity and inclusion commitments. Three quarters of them say they have boycotted a company for political reasons. They are the most likely to change their purchasing behavior based on ESG considerations.
- Experience shoppers (16%) prioritize the in-person shopping experience alongside brand ethics. They want to shop from brands that sell environmentally friendly products, as well as from companies that treat their employees well. These shoppers, likely to be female, prefer brands to limit their activism to issues that are directly related to their business.
Morning Consult concludes that brands stand to gain more from acting on left-leaning issues (like supporting environmental initiatives), as those are the causes that will score points with the customers who pay attention to PR buzz and with those who are much more likely to match shopping behavior with attitudes. But it likely won’t change consumer behaviors. Meanwhile, Apolitical and Disengaged shoppers aren’t likely to be paying attention, and if they are, they probably won’t boycott because they disagree with a brand’s stance.
Source: Tassin, C. (2022, June 2).
ESG Statements and The Retail Industry: 6 Consumer Profiles to Know.
Morning Consult.
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