As a consumer, how important is it for you to align with a company's values?

Question

I am curious to learn about this community. If you learnt that the founders of the product you use or the company is involved in activities that you don't personally (morally or value systems wise) align with, are you less likely to go back to the product? On the other hand, if you do find founder aligning with your vision of the world, are you more likely to use their products?

For example: will you stop going to a bar if the owner misbehaved with people or it's own staff? Will you buy into a brand because it does good for the world(save up for a more expensive jacket instead of buying a cheap fast-fashion brand)? Will you stop using a giant company because it is driving local businesses to bankruptcy?

Dance Azmanova · Accepted Answer

In my opinion, if leaders of the company don’t appear to believe and exhibit company values, employees and consumers won’t either.

Abadesi · Answer

It's a tough one. Not all companies fully act in the values they expound. It makes it hard for a consumer to know if a company really walks the walk they walk. We need better transparency and more informed reviews and company information to really know.

Sarah Loertscher · Answer

@abadesi I try my very hardest to strive for #1, but sometimes the fiscal reality makes that impossible 100% of the time. I do believe that dollars are votes, and I do my best to vote responsibly and with as much education I can gather. Finding that information can be tricky, but if a company doesn't talk much about how their products are created or what their values are, I try to steer clear.

Abadesi · Answer

@sarahloertscher agree... i mean I aim to follow what i said earlier but I don't always. I still use lots of FB products even though I strongly disapprove of how they are interfering with politics... and exploiting minors to mine data... and mistreating the people that moderate content. Its a tough one

Abadesi · Answer

@shangataup I agree! I feel like my money is power and I don't want to give any more power to those who act in a way I don't align with.

Shangata Afsana · Answer

Really its very important 😍😍😍😍😍

Javier Treviño · Answer

Products are just worth because of their utility , the value they bring to our lives unless the company is known for being extremely corrupt or something along those lines

Sarah Loertscher · Answer

@abadesi all we can do is our best, and keep learning and finding alternatives!

Abadesi · Answer

@sarahloertscher hear hear

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar · Answer

@abadesi Thank you for your response. I agree, 100%. In some cases, people do get a hint through personal stories from inside the company or just facts through other information channels. I am curious if people really graduate from a momentary reaction( writing on social media etc.) to a long term response(their own actions).

Ademir Abazagic · Answer

i agree with Abadesi on this one!

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar · Answer

@dance_azmanova I completely agree. Establishing values and holding accountability has to be carefully stitched into the company culture and leaders must make sure that it's happening as it must. Two people I have serious respect in this space are Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia and Manoj Bhargava of Five Hour Energy. They hold not just their employees, but even their customers accountable.

Milania Greendevald · Answer

I would never return to a place that categorically contradicts my values. Another thing is that the service was not provided in the best possible way, and the brand has the opportunity to work on improving and fix it. In addition, there are now many sites where you can leave reviews of this kind. I advise you to find out more about this in an interview about PissedConsumer

Answer

I think it depends on the specific values of the companies and how much they contradict mine. After all, these can be completely different things, like not entirely environmentally friendly materials, or they support the war or kill animals. I think that I would be able to measure minor things in favor of a quality product. Also, I think on the topic this article https://www.mycustomer.com/community/blogs/joanna-clark-simpson/5-best-practices-for-consumer-satisfaction which will talk about consumer satisfaction

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar · Answer

Everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time and answering/voting! Really appreciate it. 
Just an update on this. I spoke to a few deep thinkers IRL and they asked me a follow up question to this. Are these values that I speak of, moral values or ethical values? And honestly, that has thrown me off a little bit. I am unsure how to answer that. Could anyone here point me to a place where I could educate myself a bit more about morals and ethics and their role in products? I know the surface level differences, but to answer my question, I probably need to dig much deeper. Will really appreciate your help :)

As a consumer, how important is it for you to align with a company's values?

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