PRWeek: Consumers will punish brands not acting ethically

British consumers will punish brands that don't act ethically', says WE Brands in Motion study

Consumers expect brands to play a greater role in providing stability in a polarised world, and to take an authentic stand on important issues, WE's Brand in Motion study has found.

Arvind Hickman, PRWeek, September 17 2019

The study polled 25,000 consumers and business decision-makers in eight global markets, including 3,704 in the UK.

Eighty-three per cent of global survey respondents believe brands can do more to provide stability (76 per cent in the UK), and 74 per cent globally expect brands to take a stand on important issues.

The research also found that British consumers (67 per cent) are more likely to support brands that combine a great product with a powerful social purpose and activism than in other markets across EMEA (61 per cent), and the rest of the world (54 per cent).

The report provides further evidence that consumers have increasingly high expectations of how brands behave, what values they stand for and authenticity.

Consumers will punish brands if they don’t act ethically. In 94 per cent of situations surveyed, the majority of respondents said they would shame a brand if they perceive them as stepping out of line, and 92 per cent said they would stop using a product or service, even though the report notes that tech giants, such as Facebook and Google, have managed to weather data breaches and other scandals in recent times.

"Being hard to replace isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card," says Rebecca Wilson, EVP of Singapore and Australia at WE. "Consumers may forgive you in the short term, but they won’t forget. As soon as a more ethical option comes along, they’ll jump ship."