Democrats are more likely to have stopped purchasing from a company because of politics

Washington DC, February 14, 2025—A new Ipsos poll finds that Democrats are more likely to have stopped purchasing from a company in the last month because of their stance on politics or current events compared to Republicans and independents.

The poll also finds that fewer Americans say they have seen grocery or gasoline costs go down in the past three months compared to an Ipsos poll conducted in November 2024. Additionally, fewer Americans support diversity, equity and inclusion programs compared to “programs to hire more employees from groups that are underrepresented.”

Detailed findings

Overall, 31% of Americans say they have completely stopped purchasing from a company in the last month because of their stance on politics or current events and 29% say they have reduced spending. In contrast, 20% say they went out of their way to make purchases from a company because of their stance on politics or current events.

• These levels are higher among Democrats. Just under half of Democrats say they have completely stopped purchasing from a company because of their stance on politics or current events (45%) or reduced spending to protest a company’s stance on politics or current events (43%), compared to around one in five Republicans (20% and 18%, respectively).
• Just 3% of Americans say they have attended a protest in the past month, while 10% say they have shared or commented on something on social media attacking a company.

Nearly two in five Americans say they have had to delay making a purchase because they didn’t have the money in the past three months (37%), while less than one in five say they have been unable to pay a bill on time (17%), had to go into debt or use retirement savings (16%), or seen grocery or gasoline costs go down (13%).

• Fewer Americans say they have seen grocery or gasoline costs go down in the past three months (13%) compared to November 2024 (29%). Similarly, fewer Americans say they have been unable to pay a bill on time now (17%) compared to November 2024 (24%).
• There are slight partisan differences in perceptions of the costs of grocery or gasoline: Republicans are more likely to say they have seen these costs go down in the past three months (21%) than Democrats (12%) and independents (12%).

Americans remain divided on DEI. Just over half of Americans (55%) say “diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI programs” are a good thing. However, DEI is less popular in name than in concept: slightly more (65%) say it is a good thing for companies to adopt “programs to hire more employees from groups that are underrepresented in their workforce, such as racial and ethnic minorities and people with disabilities and to promote equity in the workplace”.

• These differences are especially pronounced among Republicans. One in five Republicans say DEI programs are a good thing (21%) compared to 38% that say programs to hire more employees that are underrepresented in their workforce are a good thing.
• The levels of support for DEI programs have gone down slightly compared to April 2024, when 61% said DEI programs were a good thing. Support for programs to hire more underrepresented employees is roughly unchanged since April 2024.

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted from February 14-16, 2025, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel^®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,026 adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 315 Republicans, 300 Democrats, and 318 independents.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS). The 2024 presidential vote choice benchmarks came from the federal elections 2024 election results for the U.S. President.

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• 2024 Presidential Election Vote (Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Other, Did not vote)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.13. For Republicans, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.7 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.08. For Democrats, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 6.0 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.12. For independents, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.9 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.17.

The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 374-2613
[email protected]

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