Does DEI matter more for clothes or coffee? How consumers choose based on brand values

In today’s conscious consumer landscape, diversity and inclusion are no longer mere keywords. In this piece, we’re discussing the impact of brands’ diversity and inclusion policies on consumers’ purchase decisions across different categories of products.

“A brand’s policies on diversity and inclusion make a difference to where I shop.”

A recent YouGov survey asked consumers across 17 international markets about which product categories the above statement holds true.

Almost two in five consumers across markets (39%) say that a brand's policies regarding diversity and inclusion does not make a difference to where they shop in any of the product categories listed in the survey.

But among those for whom diversity and inclusion-related policies do make a difference, consumers across markets are most likely to cite clothes (43%), followed by groceries (40%). A little over a third of shoppers (34%) choose restaurants and bars, and a third each say healthcare services (33%) and hotels/accommodations (33%).

Let’s look at markets where consumers are most likely to look into a brand’s DEI work when making purchases, by category:

Clothes: 

• Indians are the most likely across markets (57%) to say a brand’s diversity and inclusion policies are an important factor when buying clothes. Consumers in Indonesia (50%), Australia (50%) and the UAE (50%) follow Indians.
• Over two in five Brits (45%) are of the same opinion.

Restaurants or bars:

• Americans are most likely (46%) across markets to factor in the establishment’s DEI policies when deciding which restaurant or bar to order from or visit, while Germans (19%) are the least likely to do so.
• In Asia, Singaporeans (39%) and Indians (38%) lead.

Grocery:

• The grocery shopping experience isn’t devoid of DEI considerations as well - Indians (49%) and Indonesians (49%) lead in this category.

Healthcare services 

• Australians (43%) account for the largest proportion of those who would factor in diversity and inclusion policies of the brand when seeking healthcare services.

Hotels and accommodation

• Singaporeans are the most likely across all markets (43%) to keep in mind the brand’s DEI policies when choosing hotels and accommodations.
• In Europe, Britons (37%) are most likely to follow suit.

Flights

• DEI matters thousands of feet above the ground as well - respondents in the UAE (41%) lead in saying that an airline’s diversity and inclusion policies do influence their booking decision.
• Poles (16%) and Germans (16%) are least likely across markets to do the same.
• In Asia, Singaporeans (39%) are most likely, and Indians (28%) are the least likely to lean towards the brand’s DEI initiatives when choosing flights.

Movie theatre and TV shows

Americans leads (36%) in this category across markets and Indians (34%) lead in Asia.

Financial and investment products

Hong Kongers (39%) lead across markets when it comes to financial and investments products and how DEI-incline they are when considering purchases in this category.

Hong Kongers (43%) are the most likely to bear in mind a brand’s diversity and inclusion policies when buying consumer electronics and Indians (35%) are most likely to do so when purchasing cars/vehicles.

Consumers in the Nordic markets surveyed are the most likely (44% in Denmark, 39% in Sweden) across markets to say they don’t know or aren’t sure about how much really a brand’s DEI policies impacts their purchase decisions across product categories.

In fact, these consumers are among those that are least likely to factor in DEI when shopping across a number of categories. These include:

• Healthcare services: Poles (20%) and Danes (20%)
• Clothes: Germans (29%) and Danes (30%)
• Grocery: Danes and French (26% each)
• Hotels and accommodation: Danes (22%)
• Movie theatre and TV shows: Swedes (15%) and Danes (15%)

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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from
nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 355 and 879 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in January 2024. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash