UNH Today

Politics may not only influence your voting choices this November — it could also affect your holiday gift-giving. 

New research from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Colorado, published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, reveals that while political alignment has little impact on individual consumer preferences, people tend to overestimate the role it plays in others' preferences — potentially impacting the purchasing decisions we make for others. 

For example, when companies send political cues of their ideology through their marketing and branding — such as Starbucks (liberal) or Black Rifle Coffee (conservative) — most consumers are not basing whether to buy or not buy something for themselves primarily on these signals, but they might assume their friends and families are. 

“When it comes to marketing products, like selling coffee, it might not have that big of an effect on people when they're making decisions for themselves,” says Justin Pomerance, assistant professor of marketing at UNH’s Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics and lead author. “It may have a bigger effect when people are purchasing gifts, because that's a case where people are making a decision based on how they think others feel.”   

Pomerance and his co-author, Leaf Van Boven, professor of psychology at the University of Colorado, build on previous research showing people overestimate how politically extreme others are. Their study focused on how political cues — like labeling a product or artist as liberal or conservative — impact others' consumer preferences.  

Across five studies involving college students and online respondents, participants consistently overestimated how much others cared about politics, whether selecting songs or paintings or predicting how much others would enjoy experiences versus material goods. 

“Each study reveals a similar pattern: Participants assume political cues are far more impactful on others than they actually are," Pomerance says. "This overestimation holds true across a variety of consumer choices, from music and art to more personal purchases like gifts."

In one study, participants were asked to create music playlists for themselves and another person. When choosing for themselves, 58% of the songs they chose for themselves came from artists who aligned with their political ideology. However, when making a playlist for someone else, 64% of the songs matched their target’s political leanings. A similar pattern emerged when participants chose paintings for others, favoring politically aligned art for others more than for themselves.  

The researchers also compared political cues to other identity markers like gender and race, telling participants in one study that the major donor of a museum was either conservative, liberal or identified by gender or minority status. The results revealed that political cues had a stronger effect on participants’ perceptions than either gender or race.  

"There are a few reasons for this," Pomerance says. "For one, it seems more socially acceptable to like or dislike people based on politics than on race or gender. Political identity feels more like a choice and more reflective of personal preferences.”  

Additionally, the research found that even when making selections for people they know well, such as friends or family, participants still overestimated how much political identity influenced their preferences. And in situations where product information was ambiguous — like when images of paintings were blurred — participants leaned even more on political cues, choosing 61% politically aligned items for others compared to 54% for themselves.  

Pomerance says these findings have important implications for businesses because while companies may believe that taking a political stand or sending political signals will significantly influence their customers' purchasing decisions, the research suggests otherwise. However, understanding judgements by consumers is important because people frequently make purchases for others, such as co-workers, friends, family and others in their community. 

“If you're going to take a political stance, maybe think about doing it more in a gift-giving context … that's where political cues might have an impact because people are making choices for others,” Pomerance says. “But, it’s also OK to not take a stand. The research indicates you’re not necessarily missing out.”  

For now, Pomerance believes this research offers a silver lining — while polarization may dominate political discussions, it hasn’t completely infiltrated the marketplace yet.  

"Politics are certainly important, especially during an election season, but most people aren’t constantly thinking about it when making consumer decisions. It’s not the chief factor influencing what we buy, despite what many people might assume," Pomerance says.  

Pomerance sees room for further research into when political cues might influence personal preferences and exploring how political identity shapes decisions in high-stakes areas, such as selecting service providers like doctors, or in more personal contexts.