Sprout Social Argues Brands Should Take Social Positions
“New Study Reveals Socially Conscious Brands Have An Edge With Consumers” reads the headline from social media management vendor Sprout Social. That’s odd, because we’ve previously reported other studies like this one from Bambu have found the opposite. Indeed, Sprout’s own results are more mixed than their headline suggests. Sprout highlights finding that more people will praise a company they agree with (28%) than criticize one they disagree with (20%). But they don’t mention that more people reduce purchases when they disagree with a company (53%) than increase purchases when they agree (44%). Liberals are more likely than conservatives to want brands to take a stand and to take positive or negative action based on whether they agree. So taking a liberal position is safer.