Every company and creator has a public identity, whether it be stated political views or ethical codes. This public identity can affect consumers’ purchasing decisions, especially when they disagree with a brand’s morals or politics, or when they fear negative attention for supporting that specific creator.
For some, the brand’s identity isn’t a significant factor in their decision to purchase the products. “If it’s a product, it’s a product. If it works well, it works well. People’s political views are completely separate from products that [companies] sell,” Oliver Li (Class II) said. “If there’s an influencer I’m following about car parts and they make a public comment about their political views, that’s not really my concern, because I’m not watching them for that.” Li’s belief reflects the opinion of many: that the consumer’s responsibility is to purchase products they will use and enjoy, regardless of the brand’s differing political or ethical views.
However, other students find it challenging to ignore a brand’s identity, arguing that each person’s integrity should motivate them to express their views through their purchases. Fidan Aghayeva (Class VI) said, “If I didn’t particularly like [a brand’s actions] or if I thought their actions were a bad influence on me, I would notice it, and then I don’t think that I’d buy [their product].”
Continuing this argument, Nora Voldins (Class I) emphasized the importance of using purchasing power to speak out against a brand whose values the consumer doesn’t share. “I feel uncomfortable with [buying from producers whose ethics I don’t share] because I feel like I’m enabling someone, and it feels like I’m voiding my moral value, because actions speak louder than words,” Voldins said. “If you’re saying ‘I don’t agree with someone,’ you’ve got to uphold it.” By Voldins’ reasoning, consumers are critical in swaying a creator’s success or downfall. It is not only consumers’ right to express their moral code in their purchasing decisions, but also their responsibility to use their spending power as a tool.
Others argue that public opinion guides their decisions about what content to consume. While an individual may feel it’s consistent with their moral code to purchase from a specific creator, their peers can pressure them to reconsider or feel shamed after they’ve already purchased an item. “There’s a lot of shaping at Nobles to come across as politically correct, and pressure socially to be politically correct, and things come across as suppression and pressure to not be authentic. I could buy a pair of Yeezys, but because of the creator’s reputation, I’m probably going to be hearing about it at school,” Li said. In a community setting, purchasing decisions can become an obligation to one’s peers or a way to maintain one’s own reputation, rather than a powerful means to show something you are passionate about or inspire change.
Voldins said, “A couple of years back, Rex Orange County, who’s one of my favorite artists, had sexual assault allegations against him, and everyone was saying, ‘drop his music.’ There was this balance of trying to contend with the possibility that he did this, and also the fact that he’s one of my favorite artists. I eventually stopped listening to his music and only started re-listening once he was cleared.”
Occasionally, negative public opinion stems from a brand’s marginalization of certain groups, and consumers may feel a responsibility to condemn a company’s discriminatory actions by boycotting its products. “If [a creator has] made it clear that their art is not for a certain audience, it doesn’t make sense to support them,” Saida Muhammad (Class IV) said. Muhammad sees it as common sense not to financially support a creator who doesn’t morally approve of the consumer’s identity or the identity of another group.
Nevertheless, others question this identity-based approach to purchasing decisions, advocating instead for the recognition of common ground and tolerance for ethical or political disputes. “We’re all trying to achieve the same goal: to live happily, and how we want to live. A producer depends on people of all sorts to buy their products. In sports, say, I’m not gonna root for the downfall of a fan of another team. I’m not going to think of them as not a person, just because they have a different belief than you,” Chris Kovacs (Class V) said.
For some consumers, it is easy to accept or disregard a brand’s differing morals or politics if they find the company’s product useful and enjoyable. Yet a brand’s public image can leave consumers deeply conflicted about whether to purchase its content, and it can be difficult to fully separate the art from the artist, especially when peers pressure consumers to stop following or buying the brand’s content.
