• by Joe Mandese , June 5, 2025

Many polls have shown significant percentages of voters across the spectrum look askance at brand marketers who take public positions on politics and/or controversial social issues, but new research released by Ipsos this morning indicates Democrats actually put their money where their politics are.

The study, based on a survey of American voters conducted May 30 to June 1, found nearly a third of all respondents stopped purchasing a brand because of its politics, but Democratic voters indexed two-thirds higher than Republicans when it came to actually boycotting the brand from their shopping cart, reducing purchases of the brand, or going out of their way to purchase a competing brand's product or service.

Despite the potential liability for marketers who speak out, most of the respondents said they also believe companies have a responsibility to address issues impacting their employees and their customers.

The release came as Ipsos' political tracking team also held one of their periodic "Know The New America" public opinion briefings, which reaffirmed that the American public isn't just divided politically, but is feeling acute uncertainty regardless of what side of the political spectrum they are on.

"America is in limbo right now," Ipsos' Mallory Newall said during the briefing, citing "three main realities" characterizing the new, post-Trump 2.0 America:

• Distrust in institutions is as pervasive as ever.

• Americans are nuanced, not binary in their political sentiment.

• Words matter more than ever.

On that last point, Newall teed up the new Ipsos findings and said it's more important than ever for brands to understand what their brand actually represents, who their audience is and to begin treating "communications territories like political issues." Lastly, she advised that brands test their strategies to understand the nuances of the consumers they are communicating to to ensure they are aligned.

While some of the top issues have shifted ground recently, the Big 3 remain the economy, political extremism and immigration, but something that has begun to spike recently in the hearts and minds of Americans is the prevailing sense of "uncertainty" under Trump 2.0.

In fact, the Ipsos team showed a startling eye chart showing that "uncertainty" -- at least in terms of how its been referenced in media coverage -- has skyrocketed over even Trump's first term in office. And that was no picnic either.