Study: Ivanka Trump Brand Avoids Boycott by Consumers
Brand Keys conducted a survey of the Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump brands, with the results showing little damage to Ivanka’s brand.
The conclusion was that while the Donald Trump brand has been negatively affected, Brand Keys found that damage to the Ivanka Trump brand was “insignificant compared to that of her father’s.” The New York-based brand engagement and customer loyalty research consultancy firm conducted the study following the release of a video clip showing Donald Trump speaking about “women in vulgar sexual terms.”
Brands Keys founder and president Robert Passikoff said, “When the video surfaced on Oct. 7, she was not among the many surrogates and apologists to rush to Mr. Trump’s defense. And, while there’s been large losses to the [Donald] Trump brand and its ability to bring added value to various products and services, Ivanka’s brand does not appear to have suffered the same fate as her father’s.”
Some groups have called for a “boycott of all things Trump,” Passikoff said. In the case of Ivanka, Passikoff said, “She’s been extraordinarily articulate about issues and generally supportive of her father, something anyone should have expected.” He added that her comments have been “pretty balance regarding the campaign overall.”
Among 950 female Millennial consumers, more than half at 51 percent are still extremely or very willing to keep the Ivanka Trump brand on their shopping lists. When asked how likely would they be to consider buying her brand of apparel or footwear, given her involvement with the Trump presidential campaign, 33 percent said very likely, while 32 percent said somewhat likely. At the opposite ends of the spectrum of responses, 18 percent extremely likely, while 11 percent said not very likely and 6 percent said not at all likely.
“It’s apparent that consumers can separate the political from the paternal,” Passikoff concluded.
He added that his firm has been tracking Donald Trump for more than 20 years. “At one point, Mr. Trump was the most powerful ‘Human Brands’ we had ever encountered…that included people like Martha Stewart and Tiger Woods. But recent revelations, and his ongoing political rhetoric, have badly damaged his brand, and history proves that when a brand has been damaged this badly, it generally doesn’t come back.”
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