Public Perceptions of Corporate Position-Taking on Abortion and Transgender Rights

Bibliographic Data

ID6389711
AuthorsWayde Z C Marsh (0000-0003-1079-867X, University of Tennessee at Knoxville), James A Peterson (0000-0003-0177-8255), Jordan Carr Peterson (0000-0003-3436-9263, University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
Year2025
Volume88
Issue1
Pages000-000
Publication date2025-09-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3816 • E-ISSN: 1468-2508
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/734277
OpenAlexW4405350807
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

Corporations regularly express preferences on questions of public policy. This can occur through costly actions like lobbying public officials, contributing money to candidates, and engaging in litigation. One less costly way of expressing policy preferences is by issuing statements of support for or in opposition to a given policy or government practice. In this article, we examine public perceptions of corporate position-taking to determine the partisan dimensions of how the public evaluates corporate expressions of policy preferences on divisive “culture war” issues. Specifically, through three original survey experiments, we find that while corporate position-taking on abortion rights and transgender sports legislation shifts mass opinion on the role of corporations in politics, such expressions do not change individual attitudes on the underlying policy. In an age during which large firms play an increasingly influential role in the construction of public policy, this article sheds light on public opinion regarding corporate messaging.

Abortion · Business · Perception · Political science · Position (finance · Pregnancy · Sociology · Transgender · Finance · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology

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