From the fallout of Brexit and the lead-up to the US presidential election, it’s impossible for consumers to ignore the effects of political decisions on their lives
A new report from J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group is making sense of the impact politics has on consumers and consequently, the brands chasing them.
Launched exactly one week before the 2016 US Presidential Election and just four months post-Brexit, “The Political Consumer” confronts a new world where hot-button topics are difficult to sidestep and where more consumers are choosing sides and watching where brands stand.
Why are we suddenly so politicized? How do brands navigate today’s hyper-politicized landscape?
“The Political Consumer” looks into the economic, technological and cultural factors that are crucial to answering these questions and ties in original data from a survey of 1,001 US consumers conducted by SONAR™, J. Walter Thompson’s proprietary research unit.
Key findings from the report include:
– Live video on social media, despite being a very new medium, comes in second in importance as a source of political news for both of these groups, at 51% for Generation Z and 56% for millennials.
– 60% of the public say they generally trust political content from brands on social media – far more than they trust online political content from celebrities (45%) and politicians (41%).
– 39% of millennials say brands should play a larger role in politics, and 51% say they appreciate when brands take a political stance in their advertising.
Lucie Greene, Worldwide Director of the Innovation Group, said of the new report: “In an atmosphere of extremes, we’re seeing a rising politicized consumer who is viewing the world in a new light through the lens of their personal circumstance and vocally questioning brands, institutions and platforms – propelled by social media, live video and digital platforms. ‘The Political Consumer’ charts this cultural shift, exploring the digital media sphere and how brands can navigate the political consumer landscape.”