Nearly two-​thirds (64%) of consumers around the world will buy or boycott a brand solely because of its position on a social or political issue, according to the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study. Belief-​driven buyers are now the majority across markets, including the U.S. (59%), Japan (60%), the UK (57%) and Germany (54%); age groups, 18–34 (69%), 35–54 (67%) and 55+ (56%); and income levels, low (62%), middle (62%) and high (69%).

The survey of 8,000 people across eight markets finds that consumers believe that brands are a more powerful force for societal change than government. More than half of people (53%) believe that brands can do more to solve social ills than the government, and 54% believe it is easier for people to get brands to address social problems than to get government to act.

"This is the birth of Brand Democracy; as consumers are electing brands as their change agents," said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. "Brands are now being pushed to go beyond their classic business interests to become advocates. It is a new relationship between company and consumer, where purchase is premised on the brand's willingness to live its values, act with purpose, and if necessary, make the leap into activism."

Principled Shoppers will do their research to figure out which businesses they feel they should be buying from. Last year, according to AudienceSCAN, 64.6% of this audience used an internet search engine (probably Google, the preferred search engine of 87.7% of this audience) to research a product they were considering for purchase within the last 30 days. About 37% have used a mobile device to view a store/retailer's website within the past six months and 25.3% have been driven to action by posts on social media that weren't even advertisements. Businesses should know that a neutral stance won’t help. At least 42.3% of Principled Shoppers will buy from another business which supports their favorite cause or charity when the products or services are similar.

This year's study also found that consumers are just as likely to express purchase intent after seeing a values-​led communication (43%) as they are after seeing a product-​focused message (44%). Values-​based messaging (32%) was also more effective than product-​focused communications (26%) in driving advocacy.

"This dynamic transforms marketing from function to aspiration," said Edelman. "Brands can take a stand across a spectrum of action from purpose to activism."

Regardless of the level at which a brand enters the fray, opting out is no longer an option.

"It's no longer a question of whether to, but how to take a stand," said Amanda Glasgow, U.S. chair, Brand, of Edelman. "A brand must understand its audience and think long-​term so that the stand it chooses authentically connects its values to its customers."

Other key findings from the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study include:

• Nearly half (46%) of all consumers believe that brands have better ideas for solving our country's problems than government.
• A majority (60%) of respondents say brands should make it easier to see what their values and positions on important issues are when they are about to make a purchase.
• 56% of people believe that marketers spend too much time looking for ways to force them to pay attention to their messages and not enough time thinking of ways to make them want to pay attention.
• At 45%, a brand communication delivered on earned media — a combination of social and mainstream media – was more successful in engaging consumers' attention than paid advertising (29%) and owned media (25%).

So, how can businesses advertise their stance on important issues? Last year, according to AudienceSCAN, 50.6% of Principled Shoppers took action after receiving an email advertisement, 39.2% were driven to action by ads on their mobile smartphone apps/​text message ads and 36.8% clicked on text links ads on websites. Also within the last year, 62.5% were driven to action by TV commercials.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.