Lay Out Your Politically Liberal Stances

Consumers who are political liberals are more likely than consumers who are political conservatives to want companies with which they do business to publicly declare a stance on political issues with which the consumer agrees. The University of North Texas and Virginia Tech researchers who demonstrated this found that the difference influences patronage intentions and willingness to pay.
     The researchers also use prior study results to characterize conservative and liberal political stands and to explain the degree of attention to corporate political stance-taking. Conservatives place relatively high importance on order and structure. Their focus on free market principles results in them attending less to social stands a company takes. Liberals place relatively high importance on caring and equity. Because these ideologies affect how consumers view company's roles in society, company stances influence liberals' responses to a greater extent than conservatives' responses.
     A New York University summary provides other insights about relationships between political affiliation and consumer behavior: 

• Liberals pay more attention than do conservatives to the logical and emotional quality of a sales argument, while conservatives pay relatively more attention to the reputation of the argument source. 
• Conservatives are sensitive to statements of stability, like “We’ve been here for 100 years,” while liberals are sensitive to statements of growth, like “We’ve been changing for 100 years.” 
• In marketing to conservatives, highlight the concepts of tradition, conformity, security, power, and materialism. With liberals, highlight harmony, benevolence, universalism, and egalitarianism.

     The examples of political stance-taking given by the University of Texas and Virginia Tech researchers are all of large corporations such as Chick-Fil-A and Nike. Studies at California Polytechnic State University and Georgetown University make a case for small companies loudly taking a stand on controversial political issues.
     You might think a major risk is that your strong stand will alienate those in your target markets who disagree with you. Pipsqueak-size enterprises can’t afford to lose bunches of customers. They lack the revenue cushion and market momentum enjoyed by major players. So pick your argument topic from those where people could recognize legitimate points on both sides. Then, the research indicates, the chief benefit becomes the attention to your business your strong advocacy garners. The net effect proves to be an influx of potential customers which more than compensates for the exit of angry current customers.
     If the position the small company proclaims aligns with political liberalism, there should be an extra margin of safety.

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Market by Political Propensity 

Pick an Argument, Pipsqueak