Fewer Americans support corporate involvement, advocacy in social issues: survey

Fewer Americans support company involvement in and advocacy for social issues now than in 2022, a new report found.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans surveyed said they support companies engaging on racial discrimination issues, down from 66 percent in 2022, the Public Affairs Council (PAC) found.

The report said the differences between Democrats and Republicans were “striking” because the GOP tends to be more pro-corporate than the left. Generally, support for corporate involvement on “hot button” social issues decreased in the past year, and the decline may have been caused by politicians accusing corporations of being too “woke,” the report suggested.

Axios, which first reported the survey, said the way companies respond to social issues and how the public views them doing it is important because “no business wants to become a political football ahead of the 2024 election.”

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say major companies should be involved in racial discrimination and gender and sexual discrimination issues. The survey found that Democrats preferred companies take a stand on voting rights, human rights, education access, improving the environment, affordable housing and hunger.

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats supported corporate advocacy on the DACA program, while 32 percent of Republicans said they want companies involved in the program.

Companies took on a more favorable view from Democrats and Republicans if they were to support the environment and sustainability, for example, than if they were to support DACA and abortion.

“Not surprisingly, opinions diverged when respondents were asked about business involvement in the abortion issue,” the report said.

More than half, 54 percent, of Democrats said major companies should be engaged in the conversation about abortion rights, while 27 percent of Republicans agreed.

Still, companies have received some credit for their efforts to reduce racism. Up 5 percent from last year, 26 percent of Americans believe companies have played a positive role in reducing racism. Fifteen percent said companies played a negative role, and 40 percent said they have not made any difference in reducing racism across the country.

The results of the PAC survey mirror other similar reports. According to a Bentley University/Gallup survey conducted in May, more people think businesses shouldn’t take a public stance on current events than years prior.

The PAC survey was conducted between Sept. 1-3 with 2,219 adults and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Updated at 4:22 p.m.