The backlash against “woke business” is loud

If you only skim the headlines lately, you’d believe “conscious consumerism” is in full retreat, backpedaling to obscurity. ESG has become a political flashpoint. Corporate purpose feels diluted. DEI has been rebranded, softened, or even shelved altogether. Brands, wary of backlash, are pulling back from impact language. And yet, consumers didn’t get the memo. According to our own 2026 Conscious Consumer Report, conducted with our partners Ipsos and Engage for Good, 40% of North American purchases are now influenced by social and environmental considerations, which is up from 38% in last year’s report. That growth struck even during inflation, heightened price sensitivity, and what we’re continuing to see as peak “anti-woke business” rhetoric. So we like to flip this concept on its head. Conscious consumerism isn’t collapsing. It’s normalizing, and it includes Republicans, too. THE MYTH OF THE AFFLUENT LIBERAL SHOPPER Two long-standing assumptions no longer hold. First, higher income n