As brands field daily cross-fire over politics and values, a recent study by LendingTree show 31% of Americans have boycotted a business—and 23% have spent more to support one under fire. 

Further, those with the most spending power are the most likely to use it as leverage: 43% of six-figure earners have boycotted and 37% have reverse-boycotted, the study showed.

Here’s what else LendingTree found:

• Top boycott triggers: discrimination (43%), political ties or donations (41%), and religious messaging (29%)
• 45% of consumers research a company’s values before opening their wallets; that jumps to 59% among Gen Z
• DEI divides: 21% of Americans say a pro-DEI stance makes them less likely to buy, while 45% say it does the opposite.
• Boycotts can boomerang — 48% of boycotters later returned, but the reputational scar often lingers.
• Small businesses aren’t spared from boycotts. Americans are about five times as likely to boycott a large corporation (37%) than a small business (7%) — but 28% would boycott both. Among those who’ve boycotted a business, 35% targeted a small business and 77% a corporation.
• Additionally, 20% of consumers have left a negative review for a small business due to a political, social or religious stance.

Full survey findings >> LendingTree.com/business/small/boycotting-survey

“Your potential customers are listening closely to what your business says, whether you like it or not,” warns Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst. “Any company that downplays politics in its customers’ shopping choices does so at its own peril.”

While this study focused on businesses, Tulsa Today Editors wonder what the greater perspective may be on product points of origin?

Revelations from multiple sources testify that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); created and launched worldwide the COVID Virus, actively enslave large numbers of minorities in labor, and harvest body parts for sale from living Chinese Political Prisoners. While the reports have shocked many worldwide, major media and organizations like the National Basketball Association (NBA) continue to financially support the CCP and profit by that relationship.

Will it take a Pearl Harbor style attack to awaken consumers to evil?