{"id":12235,"date":"2026-10-28T11:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/blog\/you-are-not-prettier-when-you-stay-silent\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:21:05","slug":"you-are-not-prettier-when-you-stay-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/blog\/you-are-not-prettier-when-you-stay-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"You are not prettier when you stay silent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do consumers really want brands to stay silent? After reading this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingdirecto.com\/anunciantes-general\/publicaciones\/deben-mojarse-marcas-temas-actualidad-pregunta-millon-no-tiene-respuesta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MarketingDirecto<\/a> article, we were somewhat surprised\u2014and the truth is, we do not agree.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.com\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gallup (2026)<\/a> study, cited in the article, notes that 53% of Americans believe companies should not take a public stance on current issues.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The figure is real. But interpreting it as a rejection of brands\u2019 social commitment seems highly debatable to us.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To begin with, the study itself shows very different results when it asks about specific issues:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>58%<\/strong> want companies to speak out on climate change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>57%<\/strong> on diversity, equity, and inclusion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>56%<\/strong> on mental health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, among young people aged 18 to 29, <strong>60%<\/strong> are in favor of companies taking a stance on current issues.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And other research helps make sense of this relationship.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2024 <em>Edelman Trust Barometer<\/em> found that <strong>71% of respondents<\/strong>, across an average of 14 markets, believed brands should take a position when pressured to speak out on a controversial social or political issue.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its 2025 edition, conducted in 15 countries, Edelman identified another interesting point: the stronger a brand\u2019s connection to a social cause, the greater the expectation that it will act. The share of people who believe that obligation exists rises from <strong>37% when there is one link to 71% when there are four<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And what happens when brands use social causes as an advertising device?<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2024 experimental study published in <em>Journal of Business Research<\/em>, with 278 participants, found that <em>woke washing<\/em> harmed a brand\u2019s credibility even compared with one that maintained a neutral position. By contrast, commitments backed by action improved credibility.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These studies do not allow us to conclude that the rejection recorded by Gallup is due to <em>washing<\/em>. But they do show that consumer expectations shift depending on the issue, the brand\u2019s relationship to the cause, and the consistency of its actions.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At ROSAPARKS, we maintain that brands have a role to play in the face of social and environmental challenges. Companies are part of society, and their decisions already have consequences for it, regardless of whether they choose to communicate them.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We also believe we must be especially critical of brands that use social causes to build campaigns without taking on real commitments. <em>Greenwashing<\/em>, <em>pinkwashing<\/em>, and other forms of performative activism undermine brands\u2019 credibility and can hollow out the causes they claim to defend.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, taking a stance involves risks. A brand may lose customers for defending a position. But avoiding any controversy does not guarantee trust either.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is why we believe it is important to keep defending brands\u2019 commitment to social issues, while also demanding consistency between their messages and their practices.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because when a company decides to stand up for a cause, its actions should live up to what it communicates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do consumers really want brands to stay silent? After reading this MarketingDirecto article, we were somewhat surprised\u2014and the truth is, we do not agree. A recent Gallup (2026) study, cited in the article, notes that 53% of Americans believe companies should not take a public stance on current issues. The figure is real. But interpreting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brands-with-purpose","category-impact-marketing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12237,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12235\/revisions\/12237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosaparks.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}