• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 4, 2018

In the volatile political climate that has existed throughout 2018, brands need to determine whether or not to speak out on specific topics across all forms of media, from search and social to video.

Morning Consult tested 12 political issues with consumers by asking them whether they would support companies that speak out on each of the issues. The top three issues that were not controversial for brands to champion were civil rights, criminal justice, and LGBTQ rights. The top three that were controversial were abortion, anthem protesting, and immigration. Gun control landed somewhere in the middle.  

The study outlined the brands that wooed the hearts and the minds of consumers in 2018.

Delivery apps had a good year in 2018, especially those delivering food. DoorDash, UberEats, and Grubhub all saw double-digit growth in the percentage of consumers who recognized their brand since the beginning of the year. 

DoorDash -- which took the No. 1 spot -- landed with 15-point growth, followed by UberEats with 12, Chewy.com with 11, Purple Mattresses with 11, and GrubHub with 10.

Ironically, Walmart came in as the brand most people wanted to buy from with a score of 71% for those with an annual income of less than $50,000. Compare that with the 70% of consumers with an income of between $50,000 and $100,000; and 62% of those with an annual income of more than $100,000.

Some 60% of all adults in the U.S. participating in the study said they would be proud to work for either Amazon or Google, the highest level for any company. Microsoft came in with 59%.

Amazon rated 65% among college students, Google came in with 64%, and Microsoft with 66%.

The findings, released Tuesday, highlighted several categories such as the most beloved brand, where survey participants were asked for their favorable or unfavorable impression.

Honesty is the most important value to Millennials, followed by reliability, helping family, compassion, and commitment.

The study also ranked brands in terms of net favorability. Amazon took the top spot in this category — the most loved brand — for the second year in a row with a net favorability score of 78.7 in the United States.

The study found that people don’t only love Netflix, they want to make sure friends know about the streaming service. Overall, 74% of adults would be very likely to recommend the company’s service.

Gen Z and Millennials were most likely with 77% each to recommend the service. Gen X was close behind with 75%. Boomers came in at 69%.