What Should Brand Positioning Look Like as Consumers’ Preferred Sociopolitical Values Show Deep Rifts?

A pair of recent reports issued by Sogolytics and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) show a potential divergence in consumer demands from various U.S. consumer demographics while also signaling agreement on one major front: Shoppers are increasingly aligning their intentional spend with retailers and brands that best represent their own sociopolitical values — even if some shoppers would prefer if neutrality (or even silence) were more commonplace in this context.

The HRC report, titled “Pride in the Marketplace ’26: The Power of LGBTQ+ Consumer Trust and Corporate Inclusion,” highlighted survey data showing that LGBTQ+ consumers were pulling back from companies that had either pulled back from, or hadn’t at all, backed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and supports. That report indicated that LGBTQ+ consumers represented $1.4 trillion in U.S. annual consumer spend, and that 71.5% of shoppers whom self-identified within that category had purchased fewer products from companies “perceived as reducing DEI commitments.”

“Across every measure tested, LGBTQ+ consumers were approximately twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ consumers to change their purchasing behavior based on a company’s perceived commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the authors wrote. The top five brands linked to reduced consumer spending by LGBTQ+ respondents were Target, Walmart, Amazon, Chick-fil-A, and Home Depot, while the top five brands seeing increased consumer support were Costco, Apple, Ben & Jerry’s, Delta, and Kroger.

The following survey results were also brought forth by the HRC report:

• On the question of whether those polled had a favorable view of DEI, 79.3% LGBTQ+ adults said so, while 53.4% of non-LGBTQ+ adults indicated the same.
• Nearly three-quarters of LGBTQ+ consumers said they frequently refused to buy from brands slashing DEI efforts (69.4%), versus 29.5% of non-LGBTQ+ consumers who said the same.
• About two-thirds (65%) of LGBTQ+ shoppers said they intentionally purchased from DEI-committed brands, while one-third (33.3%) of non-LGBTQ+ respondents followed suit.

Target, Costco, and Others Caught Up in Conflicts Around Sociocultural Positioning

But as CNBC’s Brandon Gomez reported, Target is showing signs of recovery even after having endured customer furor from both sides of the issue, as Republicans cut spending in 2023 after controversy swirled surrounding the retailer’s Pride Month merchandising and Democrats pulled back in early 2025 after Target retreated from a number of DEI initiatives.

On the other hand, Costco saw notable spending growth from self-identified Democrats following a recommitment to DEI principles — backed on a shareholder vote earlier this year against a measure aimed at reducing said principles.

Second Study Suggests Consumers May Prefer Political and Cultural Neutrality from Brands or Retailers

Running contrary to one common assumption — that political progressives are more likely to champion, or withdraw, spending based on values espoused by brands — is the Sogolytics report, which largely argues that consumers prefer corporate brands remain neutral on such matters.

Titled “Consumer Brands and the Risk of the Political Stance,” the Sogolytics survey results suggested that men (22%), Republicans (26%), and households earning $200,000 or more annually (46%) were more likely to curtail their spending with retailers or brands misaligned with their values, versus women (19%) or Democrats (22%). Finding common ground with other data points, however, this survey data suggested that 51% of consumers would stop buying from a brand — even if they liked the brand previously — if strong disagreements over “what it stands for” emerged. Nearly the same number (48%) of those polled said they had put this into practice by reducing or halting shopping at establishments over a misalignment in values.

Other data points from this second survey included:

• About half (50%) of consumers learn about a company’s sociopolitical positioning from social media, and 42% from news sources. Only 23% learn about it from the brand or retailer itself, meaning that there’s a lack of control regarding the narrative.
• While values certainly matter to consumers, product quality (79%) and pricing (76%) remain the top two considerations as to where shoppers decided to park their spend.

Perhaps the most intriguing finding produced by the Sogolytics survey was that nearly half (45%) of shoppers polled stated that they would prefer “brands to stay neutral or silent when given the choice,” as opposed to less than half of that number (22%) who “want brands to speak up on major issues or actively advocate.”