Do you do do business with businesses that express their political opinions? Would you buy from a business that has views in opposition to your own?
I just visited a website that I use almost exclusively for materials for woodworking. I was surprised when I pulled up their website and saw a paragraph in all caps at the top announcing they won’t be restocking many of their items because of the decline in business, and pretty much blaming Obama for everything wrong in the world. It seems ridiculous to me that a business which is already struggling would post something like this and risk alienating roughly half of their customers.
How would this affect you if it was a business you frequently purchased from?
If it was a company that offered a product or service that I absolutely loved, that was generally unavailable elsewhere, significantly less expensive that other places, or much higher quality than the competition, then I would probably be inclined to ignore the preaching, bite the bullet and continue to buy from them…
There is a local pizza place I love that fits 3 of the 4 criteria I listed above----The food is SO good that I would still get my pizza from them if I found out they were donating 10% of thier profits to the Society to Advance the Music and Wisdom of Mr. William Hung.
In all seriousness, if I found out a company I liked was supporting a cause or belief I found truly reprehensible (neo-nazi sympathizers etc.) I would not do business with them no matter how much I liked thier products or services; finding out that they didnt like the same political causes I did would probably not dissuade me, depending on the specific details…
In general, it’s not a good idea to bring politics into any public forum where they don’t naturally belong (like, say, a political debate).
The CEO of Whole Foods recently penned an anti-“Obamacare” op-ed and a pretty big uproar of boycotting and flaming ensued. I think this is particularly notable because a company like Whole Foods thrives on a certain politic; most people don’t go there because they’ve got good beef, they go because they’re into the whole organic thing. When you go out and do something like that, you instantly polarize yourself and invite chaos.
There are certain companies I highly support because of their ideals. Costco, for instance. My love for Costco is less about their good products at good prices and more about the fact that everybody there is treated well, and the highest-paid executive at the corporate level makes under $500,000 and answers his own telephone. Because I am emotionally invested in Costco’s ideals, if I found out that Costco was a major supporter to the GOP, or the CEO wrote an anti-obama editorial, I would be furious.
If it were some other company, like Target, I wouldn’t care nearly as much. Because I don’t care about Target’s politics anyway.
So, generally, I would say people should stay out of it. If a company going out of business thinks it’s Obama’s fault, when he hasn’t done anything that directly effects the economy of small businesses yet, you’re pretty stupid already, so best to keep your mouth shut lest your teeth fall out.
I seldom ever deal with businesses who feel it necessary to tell me about their political or religious beliefs.
Unless they are selling some good or service that I absolutely cannnot get anywhere else, I’ll do business with the guys down the street who don’t care to run the risk of alienating their customers.
For me it would depend on the nature of the opinion. Merely criticizing Obama, for example, if done in a reasonable, Bricker- or Sam Stone-like way: no problem. If it was in a wacko, name-calling, lie-spreading way, akin to Sarah Palin’s Facebook ranks, than I would certainly cease my association with the business in question.
In general, I prefer that businesses not use their business as an opportunity to be evangelists in general, whether right- or left-wing.
I think it would depend on the issue and how passionately I feel about it. I am extremely pro-gay rights, including same sex marriage rights, and I’ve made a couple of small purchasing changes due to businesses’ stances on the issue. (In one case, it wasn’t even the business’ stance, but I stopped buying a company’s product when I found out that the CEO of the company contributed a rather small donation to support Prop. 8. It was just her, it had nothing even to do with the company, but it pissed me off enough that I didn’t want to buy the product anymore.)
In general, though, I think that it’s a terrible business decision for a company to make statements like that and I tend to think less of them as a business, just because I begin to wonder if they’re run by idiots.
If you want to know more you can check out campaign donation reports and find out if the CEO is donating to one side or the other. Also the company might have a PAC that donates as well. All of that is public record. A lot of company PACs hedge their bets by donating to both sides but there are a few that are slanted in 1 direction.
My attitude is, if I found out that a company believed something totally heinous, if they were Nazis or Communists or Al Qaeda supporters, or something like that, I wouldn’t do business with them. But otherwise, it’s not going to effect my business relationship with a company just because people associated with that company believe something I don’t. I find those kinds of boycotts distasteful and don’t approve of them.
I’ve always wondered about businesses that would be so short-sighted as to use a jesus-fish in their signage, logo, or advertising. Hooray, you’re a Christian! (What does that have to do with your ability to unclog toilets?) You’ve just alienated a huge chunk of potential customers who aren’t!
And on the other hand, I love Chick-Fil-A and am willing to ignore their repugnant political views in order to eat their food. (I do shudder to think that a certain percentage of the money I gave them goes to Focus on the Family, though, every time.)
Well, if I didn’t patronize corporations whose heads are involved in the CFR or the Trilateral Commission or go to movies made by outspoken Lefties, I wouldn’t do much of anything.
I will occasionally patronize a business whose product I like a bit more if they’re under attack for supporting something I do. When I heard that Domino’s Pizza was slammed in the film Reality Bites for supporting pro-life causes, I tended to order it more frequently. When I’m in L.A., I hit In-N-Out at least once because of the faith of its founders. I’ve never been near a Chik-Fil-A, but if I were I’d try it out at least once because of its founders’ religious & political principles.
On the other hand, even though Amway supports religious & conservative causes, I don’t seek out vendors to buy their products because they never try to sell products, just the plan, and I’m turned off by the constant manipulation.
In-N-Out is or was run by a family of Christians, in fact there’s bible verse references hidden on the drink cups and burger wrappers, but they’re much less severe about it than Chik-Fil-A. I dig I-N-O, hate C-F-A.
I pretty much don’t patronize Hobby Lobby (a chain of craft stores) because they, due to the Christian beliefs of the founder, give their employees Sundays off to spend with their families. It’s not religiously motivated on my part, it’s that Sundays are my major shopping day, and the day that I have the car! On days that I would be able to shop there, I look at the store with annoyance about the days that I’ve wanted to go but they were closed since it was Sunday, and end up not going.
The Whole Foods’ CEO’s comments ticked me off, but he’s been shady for a while anyway, like his actions right before the Wild Oats buyout.
I’ve boycotted based on animal treatment/testing, too. Frankly, I’m going to accidentally “boycott” some product/company at some point, out of cost/taste/whatever considerations, so I don’t care about adding another reason on the pile.
See, I can respect Hobby Lobby for closing on Sunday and losing revenue in order to not compromising their sabbath. And since they can’t enforce that I not use their products to embroider pillowcases with needlepoint images of Alestair Crowley and Anton LaVey splitting a fetus omelette, I can’t enforce what they do with the money I paid them for those products.
Domino’s is one of three national pizza chains that were formed within 20 miles of my current location. Two of those three make absolutely horrible pizza. Domino’s is one of those two.
Of those three, Domino’s is the one chain you’re least likely to see around here. Strangely.
When a business makes a point of showing off how christian it is, I get the message that they only the business of other christians. So, I’m giving them what they want by not patronizing them. If they were open to having customers of all faiths darken their doors, they wouldn’t do that.
Generally not. I don’t think Jesus should be used to shill for business. I don’t think a business should be used to make a political statement. When I want to go into a place to buy something, I want to go buy it and get out - I don’t want a lecture (even if I agree with you).
I suppose there are exceptions. I don’t have an issue with a company that closes on Sunday - but if I’m shopping on Sunday I’ll just get it somewhere else if I can, I won’t wait for you to reopen.
Businesses, from my position as a consumer, are there for my convenience. From my position as a stockholder, to make me money.