Consistency On DEI Delivers Market Trust In 2025.
Sticking with Diversity Commitments Sustains Buzz, Reputation, and Purchasing Intent across Polarized Consumers.
A Test of Principle in a Polarized Market
The politicization of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) placed brands in a bind under Trump’s second administration. Complying with executive orders meant scaling back, but sticking to commitments risked political blowback. Morning Consult’s Brand Impact of Sticking with DEI (July 2025), using daily brand tracking data since 2021 and quarterly surveys of at least 2,200 U.S. adults (margin ±2%), tested whether consumers rewarded or punished brands.
The results overturn conventional fear. Brands that held their DEI course saw no penalty. Instead, they show upward trajectories in buzz (+3.2 points overall, +5.2 among Republicans), purchasing consideration, and community impact scores. The data shows that market trust can withstand (and even outlast) political headwinds when brands stay consistent.
Partisan Perception Shifts Without Market Damage
Since spring 2024, Democrats and Republicans diverged in their perceptions of corporate inclusivity. Democrats became less likely to see companies as diverse, while Republicans became more likely after Trump’s renewed targeting of DEI programs. Attention to DEI commitments also dipped among Republicans. Yet these ideological divides didn’t translate into consumer punishment.
By mid-2025, 60% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats reported hearing “a lot” or “some” about DEI in brands, proof that awareness is widespread across both camps. The difference lies not in exposure but interpretation. Consumers filter brand actions through ideology, yet the outcome metrics, buzz, reputation, purchase intent, reveal resilience.
Buzz: Net Positivity, Even Among Republicans
Morning Consult’s net buzz metric (share hearing mostly positive brand news minus share hearing mostly negative) shows a consistent rise for DEI stalwarts. From June 2024 to June 2025, net buzz rose +3.2 points across all consumers, +5.2 among Republicans.
Both parties showed higher positive buzz than negative, with Republican sentiment paradoxically climbing despite the administration’s stance. The reason lies in macro mood: a strong surge in consumer confidence among Republicans after Trump’s reelection lifted brand sentiment broadly. DEI-aligned brands benefited from this momentum, disproving assumptions that partisan politics would translate into brand hostility.
Purchasing Consideration: A Commercial Signal
Purchase consideration, the share of consumers likely to buy from a brand minus those unlikely, has also risen steadily for DEI-committed brands. Gains accelerated after late 2024, when inflation remained high and discretionary spending tightened.
Republicans: Saw the largest gains post-election, demonstrating that partisan alignment with Trump did not diminish their likelihood of considering DEI stalwart brands.
Democrats: Showed no significant drop despite political disillusionment, maintaining purchase intent even under economic strain.
Overall: The share not considering these brands fell, while the share considering them rose, a double-positive shift in net purchasing momentum.
High-value segments are pivotal: Gen Z and millennials, along with households earning $100k+, increased their purchasing consideration most sharply. Even baby boomers and lower-income consumers, historically less responsive, trended upward. For CMOs, this means DEI consistency intersects directly with the cohorts driving long-term category value.
Reputation Stability, Community Impact Gains
The Morning Consult Reputation Score, blending trust, value, favorability, employer admiration, and community impact, held steady for DEI brands into 2025. This stability matters: while reputations often wobble under political spotlight, sticking with DEI has not eroded broad perceptions.
Underneath the composite, the community impact score has strengthened. Millennials rate DEI stalwart brands especially high on local community impact, with Republicans also registering improvements since 2024. By June 2025, Republicans and Democrats rated community impact nearly identically for some DEI brands, showing how consistent commitments can normalize across partisan divides.
Costco
Costco exemplifies the durability of consistency. The warehouse club combined reliably low prices and service quality with sustained DEI commitments when competitors backed away.
Community impact: By June 2025, Republican and Democratic respondents gave Costco nearly identical ratings.
Buzz: Net buzz rose equally across partisan groups, signaling no brand risk from sticking with values.
Broader lesson: Delivering everyday value and service steadiness anchors trust. Political noise fades when core brand codes remain intact. Costco’s continued $1.50 hot dog, unchanged since the 1980s, is more than a novelty, it’s a cultural shorthand for reliability. Pairing this with principled DEI commitments shows how symbolic consistency and structural inclusion reinforce each other.
To Conclude
Hold the line on DEI commitments: The data proves no consumer penalty; reversals invite confusion and erode long-term trust.
Pair values with value: Consumers reward inclusion when it comes alongside price reliability and service quality.
Measure beyond reputation: Community impact is the strongest forward indicator of resilience.
Prioritize high-value cohorts: Gen Z, millennials, and affluent households are rewarding consistency; align strategy to these segments.
Defuse polarization with consistency: A steady hand through political cycles builds immunity against partisan volatility.
Bottom Line: DEI Consistency Translates into Commercial Resilience
The July 2025 data is decisive: sticking with diversity commitments does not erode brand trust or sales intent, even under hostile political conditions.
Buzz is up, purchase intent is rising, reputations are steady, and community impact is strengthening. Brands that waver lose coherence; brands that stay the course gain resilience.
