When politics hits the checkout: Why more consumers are turning against brands
More and more, social and political division is shaping the world we live in.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2025, polarised societies are now one of the top five long-term risks to global stability.
For businesses, this isn't something happening on the sidelines, it's front and centre – and they're most certainly feeling it.
There was a time when taking a stand on social issues helped brands stand out. But now, those same messages can spark major public backlash. Pic: Getty Images
In today's climate, some consumers are making their opinions known with their wallets.
In fact, Ipsos data shows one in four Americans have boycotted a company because of its political stance or reaction to current events.
In the US, political pressure is pushing some big companies to pull back from their public commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In the US, political pressure is pushing some big companies to pull back from their public commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Pic: Shutterstock
Elsewhere, companies are finding more nuanced ways to stay the course. In Europe and Asia, multinationals are still committed to DEI, but they're adapting their messaging to fit local contexts and avoid political flare-ups.
The same balancing act is happening around ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). In early 2025, the EU responded to competitiveness concerns by easing sustainability rules, a sign of how economic pressures are now weighing against long-term ESG goals.
Security is also back on the agenda. In Europe, 36% now say it's the EU's top priority.
Across Asia and Latin America, shifting alliances and social pressures are changing how businesses operate and engage with stakeholders. Pic: Getty
This new environment means businesses need to tread carefully, with clear plans for when to speak up, when to stay silent, and how to align their actions with their values and long-term goals.
Ibec's Global Compass report, Navigating Polarisation: Business Leadership in a Fragmented World, dives deeper into how businesses can lead through today's ideological divides – not by avoiding difficult issues, but by learning to navigate them with care and strategy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Ireland is most expensive country in EU after Denmark as prices continue to soar
Prices here are 38pc above the EU average – we are behind only Denmark when it comes to high costs. In 2015, prices in Ireland were 28pc above the average, but since then Ireland has been getting increasingly more expensive. The findings, from the statistics agency Eurostat, will put a new focus on the Government's decision not to pay out universal cost-of-living packages in the next budget. Eurostat found that when it comes to alcohol and tobacco, prices here are the most expensive in the EU – more than double the average. Daragh Cassidy, of price comparison site said this is due to taxation and, more recently, minimum unit pricing on alcohol. When it comes to alcohol, prices here are the second-highest in the EU. Finland has the dearest. Food and non-alcoholic drink prices here are the third-highest in the EU at almost 15pc above the EU average. We are behind only Luxembourg and Denmark when it comes to what we pay for food. However, this is an improvement on recent years, as these prices were more than 21pc above average in 2020. Ireland's restaurant and hotel prices are the second-highest in the EU – Denmark's are dearest – at 29pc above the average. Communications costs are almost 40pc above average. Ireland is the third-most-expensive country for electricity, gas and fuel, with prices 17pc above the average. However, clothing prices in Ireland are 1pc below the EU average and cheaper than in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Mr Cassidy said Ireland will never be a cheap place to live Non-EU countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland were also included in the research and generally have prices higher than those in Ireland. Mr Cassidy said we have known for a while that Ireland is an expensive country and these figures from Eurostat confirm that. 'There are several reasons why prices here are so high,' he said. 'These include our higher wages, a lack of competition in certain sectors, high taxation on certain goods such as tobacco, alcohol and fuel, and lower government subsidies in certain areas such as public transport and childcare compared to our European neighbours.' He said businesses are also faced with high insurance and energy costs, which then get passed on to consumers. Mr Cassidy said Ireland will never be a cheap place to live. 'And it's worth noting that many of the world's most expensive countries, such as Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark, also have some of the highest standards of living in the world,' he added. He said wages in Ireland, while high by international standards, generally do not match the salaries in those countries. At the same time, taxpayers in more expensive countries tend to get back more from their governments in terms of better and more affordable healthcare, childcare and public transport, though there have been improvements made here in recent years. Mr Cassidy called for the Government to lower the standard rate of Vat, which at 23pc is one of the highest in the world.
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Speaking French, Swedish, German… the migrants booted out of EU in asylum crackdown & on small boats to ‘soft touch' UK
MORE than 2,000 migrants are massing in the Jungle camp outside Dunkirk in northern France. And their aim — to cross the Channel and take advantage of 'soft touch' Britain after they were turfed out by the EU countries where they previously lived. 4 Migrants climb walls and cut fences near Dunkirk's Jungle camp Credit: Chris Eades - Commissioned by The Sun 4 While the number of asylum claims across Europe is falling, the figure for the UK is going up 4 Jungle camp residents form a queue behind an aid truck Credit: Chris Eades Shocking new figures have revealed that while the number of And as small boat crossings to Britain are increasing daily, the level of 'irregular' crossings into the EU countries from Africa, the Balkans and Eastern Europe have significantly reduced. When The Sun visited the overcrowded And that is because a huge majority of the migrants waiting to come here have lived in those European countries for years. These are people who have already paid out thousands to Huda plans to apply for asylum in the UK after her original claim in the Netherlands was turned down when she was living in the northern city of Groningen. She told The Sun: 'I don't want to cross the Channel, but what choice do I have? Most read in The Sun "I spent seven years living in Holland and I was happy and settled there. 'Then one day in 2023 they told me to leave. Channel migrants queue for cash in hand jobs as secrets of UK's £260bn illegal economy revealed "They said my asylum claim had been rejected and I would be deported. 'They kicked me out of the refugee camp and I became homeless the same day. 'I was very upset and I still don't know why my asylum claim was turned down. "The people doing the interview did not believe what I said. 'But I know many, many people who had their claims rejected in Holland. "I don't think the Dutch government understands the situation in Somalia. 'I've tried to claim asylum in France, too, but they told me to go back to Holland. 'Now I'm sleeping in 'HUMANITY IN BRITAIN' 'There is more humanity in Britain and I want my children, who are ten and eight, to join me over there.' The decision by EU countries to get tough on immigration — in response to rising public concern — is reflected in the latest figures. In the first quarter of this year, there was a 17.6 per cent fall in asylum claims across the EU, according to the European Commission's statistics service Eurostat. At the same time, there was a 17 per cent rise in asylum claims in the UK, from 93,150 to 109,343, according to the Home Office. EU countries clamping down include the Netherlands, where the Party for Freedom, founded and led by firebrand Elsewhere, the Even centrist European leaders have yanked away the welcome mat at the same time as they are ploughing millions into border security — with significant results. Irregular crossings to the Canary Islands from Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia in West Africa were down 34 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to the EU's border security agency Frontex. 4 Somali mum Huda Abdi aims to apply for asylum in UK after being rejected in Holland Credit: Chris Eades Crossings into what is termed the Western Mediterranean — Africa into mainland Spain — were down ten per cent over the same period. The Central Mediterranean crossing point, where migrants take small boats from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Algeria to Italy and Malta — has witnessed a three per cent fall compared to last year. Meanwhile, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in crossings along the Eastern Mediterranean migrant route into Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, where barbed wire fences have been erected along the border with Turkey. The Western Balkan passage through Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia has seen a 58 per cent reduction. And crossings from the Eastern land border, from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, have dropped 37 per cent despite Vladimir Putin pushing migrants in that direction to stoke political unrest. The only border bucking the trend is what Frontex terms 'exits towards the UK', with Channel crossings up five per cent compared to the first three months of last year. Around 50,000 small boat asylum seekers are expected to reach our shores by the end of 2025 — each This is a huge reduction on the 157,651 who reached Italy in 2023, before the Italians paid £85million to Tunisia to boost border security. That figure seems like a bargain compared to the £476million that was given to French border police over three years by the UK Home Office. Aid worker Rob Lawrie has seen at first hand how the migrant wave has turned towards the UK, having spent ten years helping out at camps in northern France. 'CRIMINAL NETWORKS' Rob, from Leeds, who hosts the To Catch A Scorpion podcast, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Dunkirk camp is now 'very full', with a 'few thousand' living there. He previously told the same programme: 'The problem is that asylum cases are dropping off massively in Europe in terms of being accepted. 'What we see in the camps of France is different nationalities from African nations — from Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations — they speak either German or Swedish or Belgian and Danish. 'And that's because they've been in those countries for two or three years and eventually had their second or third appeal denied. 'They're not going to go back to Eritrea, or whatever their country was, because of why they left. 'So their only option is now to go down to northern France and once again put their lives into the hands of these organised criminal networks.' Teenager Adau Abraham, from Adau, 18, said: 'It is clear they don't want me here in France. "I tried to claim asylum at the application centre, but they told me I was too late and I would have to come back the next day and try again. 'Then, when I was walking back to the Jungle, the police stopped me and arrested me. I can't afford to waste any more time in Europe so I am going to England to try again Sadia Hassan "They said that as I didn't have any papers, I was illegal in France. "They put me in jail for three hours, which was terrifying. 'They told me they didn't want to see me again, that I had one week to leave France, or else.' Student Ali Yousef, 25, intends to move to Britain after he was kicked out of Germany. He said: 'I was living in Munich for a year or so and everything was good until they told me to leave. 'I had friends there and German people seemed nice, but the authorities do not care about our needs. 'They rejected my claim, even though I have tribal issues in Somalia. "I was deported last year and now I will go to the UK and try again.' Sadia Hassan, 20, from Adale, Somalia, had her asylum claims rejected by two EU countries. Standing with a female friend outside the Auchan store, she said: 'I lived in Holland for two years and they wasted my time. "Then I went to Germany and lived there for three months, but they said no, too. 'I can't afford to waste any more time in Europe so I am going to England to try again. Read more on the Irish Sun 'If they reject me, I don't know what I will do" Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
Irish Daily Star
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Star
'Demented' Trump slammed for 'cruel' joke as he warns White House worker's lives 'will be destroyed'
Donald Trump took his crackdown on illegal immigration to a new level as he targeted construction workers at the White House with a 'cruel' joke by quizzing them about their status Donald Trump has been branded "ignorant" and "deranged" for making a cruel joke about the immigration status of his own White House construction workers before warning them their lives could be "destroyed". As the world awaited the president's decision on whether the US would intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict on Wednesday, Trump stepped out onto the White House lawn to tout the installation of new flag poles. Trump used the opportunity to begin talking about his mass deportation efforts. "We're taking them out by the thousands. Murderers, drug dealers, people that are mentally insane, from insane asylums," Trump began. His comments come as undocumented people could be deported to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in Trump's intensified war on illegal immigrants. READ MORE: Donald Trump dementia fears spike after 'symptom' spotted in President's suit The president then turned around toward a row of hard-hat-wearing construction workers he'd asked to stand behind him. "Do we have anybody here who's a member of -- no, I don't think so. You've known these people for a long time?" he asked. "Any illegal immigrants?" The construction workers, who helped erect two 88-foot-tall flagpoles, one on the North Lawn and one on the South Lawn, at Trump's direction, shook their heads. "If there were, we'll find out," Trump continued. "Your whole life will be destroyed because of this press conference. They'll destroy these people. I didn't want to tell them that before they stood up," Trump said. "Don't worry, I think you're gonna be OK," he told the workers. The president received swift backlash for the comments on social media as Americans were left stunned. One incredulous person wrote on X: "He said this…to the people…putting up his flagpoles?!?" A second responded: "Cruelty is fun for him." "He. Is. Insane," another said. One claimed the cruel joke indicated a cognitive decline. "He's a cruel, demented man. Some people with dementia become very mean-spirited," they wrote. Another agreed, adding: "He is deranged and consumed with cruelty." Some said the workers should have put down their gear and left after the insulting remarks. On Tuesday, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the flagpoles were a gift from him to the White House. He wrote: "It is my Great Honor to announce that I will be putting up two beautiful Flag Poles on both sides of the White House, North and South Lawns. It is a GIFT from me of something which was always missing from this magnificent place." The president continued: "These are the most magnificent poles made – They are tall, tapered, rust proof, rope inside the pole, and of the highest quality. Hopefully, they will proudly stand at both sides of the White House for many years to come!"
