Infographic: Same-Sex Marriage Supporters Want Brands to Take a Stand

As recently as five years ago, taking a political stand was often far too much of a risk for many brands, but now, it seems to be more of a risk not to, according to new research from global media and marketing services company Mindshare in partnership with software provider Lightspeed.

Focusing on respondents who agree that same-sex marriage should be legal, Mindshare found that 65 percent of people ages 18-24 like it when brands take a stand on issues, compared with  just 12 percent who don’t. Those numbers remain relatively consistent until they start to swing in the opposite direction with older generations—but not as much as you’d expect.

“When it comes to inclusiveness, society, while still having a long way to go, is moving forward faster than the majority of brands,” said Victoria Cook, partner, audiences, Mindshare. “Companies need to think quickly about how to be more progressive in all of their communications to not be considered out of touch, particularly among today’s youth.”

Click for more from this issue

This story first appeared in the Feb. 4, 2019, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Sammy Nickalls

@sammynickalls

Sammy Nickalls is the departments editor for Adweek.