WHAT THE DATA SAY: 76% of Americans support labor unions today; 56% worry UAW demands are going too far

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from Stagwell. Among the highlights of our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

AMERICA ON STRIKE

As the United Auto Workers and Kaiser Permanente strikes continue – building on historic labor walkouts all summer – our new Harris Poll labor survey finds that Americans overwhelmingly stand behind unions, regardless of politics.

• 63% of Americans say they are very familiar with the UAW strike.
• 83% believe the Big Three automakers should provide greater fairness in auto worker wages.
• 75% say autoworker labor rates need to grow at a similar pace with CEO and executive-level compensation.
• At the same time, 56% feel what the UAW is asking for is unsustainable for the Big Three automakers.
• 47% fear the demands of the UAW will mean that vehicle quality and reliability will suffer
• Overall, 76% support employee unions – including 64% of Republicans, 89% of Democrats and 73% of Independents.
• 65% believe that employees seeking unionization reflects misdoing on the employer.
• 49% take a negative view of companies trying to prevent unionization or when employees strike.

THE NEW DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and the climate crisis have been among the top headlines of 2023 – with July the hottest month on record and heat waves and natural disasters causing devastation globally. Stagwell’s National Research Group’s The Green Psyche study finds brands no longer can separate people who care about sustainability from those who don’t.

• 48% of consumers in the U.S., UK, Germany and France believe sustainability is one of the biggest global issues today – highest among young people (53% for Gen Z, 49% for Millennials, 46% for Gen X and 45% for Boomers).
• 28% of Gen Z fear it’s already too late to address climate change.
• 60% of Gen Z believe that oil and gas companies knowingly lied to the public about the climate impact of fossil fuels and ought to be punished for it.
• In the U.S., views on sustainability tend to vary across political parties – but not as much across age groups. Today, 26% of Republicans say they care “a lot” about climate change and global warming, compared with 64% of Democrats. At the same time, 64% of U.S. Gen Z members say they care “a lot,” 60% of Boomers, 51% of Millennials and 50% of Gen X.
• Consumers who research sustainability before making purchasing decisions most trust search engines (41%), product reviews (40%) and a product/brand’s website (39%) and least trust social media influencers (17%) and a product/brand’s social media (19%).

BEST REPUTATIONS ARE LEAST POLITICALLY POLARIZING

The companies with the best reputations in America also are viewed as the least politically polarizing, according to Stagwell’s Risk and Reputation Unit.

• Our research shows a direct link between reputation and political neutrality. In fact, 16 of the top 20 companies in our 2023 reputation study have a low Republican-Democrat partisan split. This includes Patagonia, Costco, John Deere, Trader Joe’s, Toyota, Samsung, Amazon, 3M, Sony, Honda, UPS, Subaru, American Express, LG, CVS and HP.
• Conversely, the top 20 companies viewed as most partisan and polarizing rank at the bottom for reputation. They include Fox, Facebook/Meta, TikTok and Twitter/X.
• 82% of Americans say companies are becoming more political than ever.
• 71% are not interested in supporting companies that have become too political, regardless of whether they agree with their stances.
• To help businesses navigate the road ahead, Stagwell’s Risk and Reputation Unit is conducting off-the-record, in-person briefings for C-suite executives seeking intelligence about business risks heading into the 2024 election. To join one of the forums, send us an e-mail.

ICYMI

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