In Brief: Most Americans Don’t Want Public Stances From Companies, Research Shows

Americans prefer not to hear from businesses about current events, a recent survey from Bentley University and Gallup finds. Among adult respondents, just 38% believe businesses should take public stances, a decline of 10 percentage points since 2022.

Over the past two years, nearly all Americans have become less inclined to hear from businesses about current events, the results suggest. Groups previously thought most receptive to hearing from businesses on topics in the news are now considerably less likely to say so. 

Gallup reports that a narrow majority of respondents want to hear from businesses on climate change (54%), mental health (53%) and DEI (53%). 

Far fewer want businesses to speak publicly on other issues central to the November election, including gun laws (32%), immigration policy (31%), international conflicts (24%), abortion (20%) and candidates themselves (17%).

In addition, Gallup reports that brands and businesses that publicly endorse a political candidate risk losing customers, with respondents saying they would be less likely to purchase from a company that endorses a candidate from the opposing party.

Misconceptions about COVID-19 Vaccines Have Increased, Study Finds

Misinformed beliefs regarding COVID-19 vaccines have increased over the last three years, a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania reveals. 

In surveys, the majority (55%–65%) of respondents’ views about COVID-19 vaccines were consistent with scientific findings. But since 2021, beliefs that are inconsistent with scientific findings have increased, “suggesting that COVID-19 vaccine misinformation remains a concern,” the study says.

For example, the false belief that COVID-19 vaccinations have been responsible for thousands of deaths in the U.S. increased from 22% in June 2021 to 28% in July 2024. (As the National Library of Medicine reported in January, COVID-19 vaccines have been linked to myocarditis, which can be fatal. Researchers established that 28 deaths were most likely causally linked to COVID-19 vaccinations.)

According to the Annenberg survey, “the false belief that it is safer to get a COVID-19 infection than to get the COVID-19 vaccine” increased from 10% in April 2021 to 22% in July 2024. 

Civil Rights Groups Call for Companies to Stick With DEI

Twenty civil rights organizations sent a letter to Fortune 1000 companies Sept. 19, urging them to recommit to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

As CNBC reported, several major companies, including Ford, Tractor Supply, and Brown-Forman, have announced plans to change or end their internal DEI initiatives.

“Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success,” wrote the authors of the letter, whose signatories include the LGBTQ-advocacy groups the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and GLSEN. The letter argues that curtailing or ending corporate DEI initiatives will increase “the likelihood of bias and discrimination within organizations.”

Rural retailer Tractor Supply started a trend by severing ties with the Human Rights Campaign, also known as HRC. Several other companies, including Molson Coors, Harley-Davidson, Ford and Lowe’s, also said they will no longer provide data to the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, which the advocacy group calls a “benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.”

 

Online Ads that Match Happy Search Terms Get More Clicks

When people are in good moods they use happier words to search for products online, so ads that respond to those positive terms get more clicks, research from the University of Georgia suggests. 

Search engine ads that appear in response to positive words were about 50% more likely to generate site visits than those that result from similar terms that lack a “happy” modifier, researchers found. For instance, test subjects who entered emotionally positive search terms such as “cheerful” or “playful” to describe a water bottle were more than twice as likely to click on the resulting ads than people who used non-emotional descriptors such as “metal” or “lightweight.” 

“The positive feeling has nothing to do with the product … it’s just something they are feeling at the moment,” said Anindita Chakravarty, co-author of the study. 

When people are in good moods and conduct online searches using positive terms, they’re less skeptical about ads, the researchers found.

Simple Headlines Attract More Readers, Research Shows 

Short, simple headlines get more clicks and engage readers in the article better than longer headlines that use complex words, research published in the journal Science Advances suggests. 

As NiemanLab reported, the study compared different headline choices for the same articles, to see which generated the most clicks. Headlines that received more clicks were shorter and used simple words, with more pronouns, fewer prepositions and a narrative style. 

Typical news readers responded to simple headlines because the writing was easier to understand, the study found. People pay more attention to an article and remember its contents better when the writing is simple, the researchers said. Simple writing has also been linked to increased perceptions of trustworthiness, Nieman reports. 

The research does not condone “click bait” but says simplicity in headline writing lowers the barrier between the average reader and important information, helping to create a more informed public. But while readers prefer simple headlines, journalists often write complex headlines, the study found.

For Company Leaders, Does ‘Founder Mode’ Beat ‘Manager Mode’?

The battle over company leaders using “founder mode” versus “manager mode” has mostly been limited to tech companies, but the debate raises questions about management styles in general, CNN reported.

Paul Graham, co-founder of the startup-incubator Y Combinator, recently published an essay on his website advocating what he calls “founder mode,” in which a chief executive runs the business at all levels. Manager mode, by contrast, means delegating responsibilities. According to Graham, manager mode often translates to “hire professional fakers and let them drive the company into the ground.”

Rich Hagberg, a psychologist and consultant, wrote on LinkedIn that founder mode “can hinder, not help, long-term success. Most founders who refuse to step out of this hyper-involved role struggle to scale their companies effectively. Many burn out, lose focus, and create bottlenecks.”

Ashley Herd, founder of the training firm Manager Method, says founder mode “can either push employees to leave or lead them to stay but become burnt out and resentful.

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