NAACP calls for consumers to leverage their purchasing power as some companies pull back from DEI policies
NAACP calls for consumers to leverage their purchasing power as some companies pull back from DEI policies
The crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government follows a steady rollback of similar efforts in the private sector. Now, the NAACP is calling out some of those businesses and asking Black consumers to respond by leveraging their purchasing power.
The NAACP issued a “Black Consumer Advisory” over the weekend, calling for accountability for the businesses that have rolled back their DEI initiatives and encouraging Black consumers to prioritize shopping in places that are sticking to them.
“Black consumers have $1.8 trillion of spending power,” said Keisha Bross, director of opportunity, race and justice at NAACP.
The organization is researching and building resources for consumers to track where companies stand, she added. “What we’re saying is, ‘You have a choice that you can make and how you choose to use your dollars.'”
While the NAACP is calling out companies like Meta, Walmart and McDonald’s, Bross said that the realities of the economy make it hard for people to avoid some companies altogether.
So rather than calling for boycotts, the group wants shoppers to be intentional. And many already are, according to a recent survey from the Harris poll, which found consumers of all political stripes are already changing their shopping behaviors.
“It seems there is a group of consumers that are sort of breaking up with the economy. 43% of them have shifted their spending in the past few months to align with their moral views,” said John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll. “That goes up to 66% of Black consumers, 65% of Black women, and even 69% of under-35 black consumers.”
Some shoppers are boycotting stores and products that don’t align with their political views, but others are going out of their way to support the companies that do — a buycott, if you will.
“Things like buycotts are going to be one of the results that I think are going to shake out, with respect to those companies that are actually going to remain true to what they claim they were in the first place,” said Americus Reed II, a marketing professor at the Wharton School.
Reed predicts we are at the beginning of a larger movement, where consumers demonstrate with their wallets that when companies move away from their DEI commitments, “then you’re going to pay a long-term price for that with respect to the credibility and authenticity of your brand,” he said.
Of course, many of these same companies are facing similar pressure to drop DEI efforts, and have to decide which backlash will cost them more.
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