-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Thank God For Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was “record-setting.” Pastor Rick Warren tweeted that Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, called him with the good news. The Culture Warriors are positively giddy. But, is this level of sales sustainable?
According to YouGov’s BrandIndex’s Index score, Chick-fil-A’s perception among consumers dropped nearly 26 points since Cathy made his anti-LGBT remarks. In the South the Index score plummeted from 80 to 44. The biggest drop occurred in the Northeast where the score went from 76 to 35, a drop of 44 points.
The YouGov BrandIndex is a measure of brand perception created from thousands of daily consumer interviews. Brand perception is based on quality, satisfaction, reputation, value, general impression, and willingness to recommend.
A proper sampling would include all ages, genders, and ethic groups, but would focus on 18-34 year olds. The later demographic is important for growth of new customers. The older, white Christian conservative demographic, who has rallied in support of Cathy’s remarks, is declining.
The 18-29 year old demographic favors gay marriage by a whopping 63%. If Chick-fil-A wants to alienate this demographic, it would be like committing corporate suicide. Since Chick-fil-A is a private company, its sales figures can be kept secret. It is likely that Chick-fil-A’s plummeting brand perception will be reflected in sales.
While Cathy is free to offer monetary support the Family Research Council, designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, people are also free to withhold support form Cathy by not patronizing Chick-fil-A.