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Poll shows Republicans have no strong feelings about companies cutting ties with NRA

While Democrats have responded positively to the decisions, Republicans are unswayed.

The booth of National Rifle Association (NRA) is seen during CPAC 2018 February 22, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. CREDIT: Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The booth of National Rifle Association (NRA) is seen during CPAC 2018 February 22, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. CREDIT: Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

In the wake of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida last month that left 17 people dead, a number of companies cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA), the nation’s largest gun lobbying organization. According to a Morning Consult poll released Wednesday, some of those companies are now facing backlash for their decision to cut ties with the gun lobby.

The poll is constructed in such a way that it reflects more on respondents’ opinions of the NRA itself than anything else. Researchers told respondents about a number of companies, explaining they had recently cut ties with the NRA and then asked, “Knowing what you know now, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of each of the following companies?”

According to Morning Consult, the results were stark: insurance giant MetLife’s favorability rating among Republicans, for instance, was at 50 percent before they were told that the insurer cut ties with the NRA. When they were told of the company’s decision, the company’s favorability rating fell to 29 percent.

“MetLife Inc., the insurance giant that ended a discount for NRA members last week, had a 45 percent favorable rating [overall], compared to a 12 percent unfavorable rating, before survey participants were informed of that move,” Morning Consult wrote on its website Wednesday. “After learning of it, respondents with an unfavorable view of the company increased to 25 percent, while its favorability rating rose 1 percentage point.”

Overall, the response was grim. “Brands are being held to a higher standard than they have been in the past,” Mimi Chakravorti, executive director of strategy at the brand-consulting firm Landor, said in an interview on February 27. “People are making decisions on the brands that they choose to affiliate with based on how brands behave.”

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However, the Morning Consult poll doesn’t stack up to a recent YouGov BrandIndex poll, which tracks the perception of more than 1,600 major brands each day. That poll shows that the overall customer perception of the companies that stopped doing business with the NRA have remained unchanged.

YouGov’s survey did not mention the companies’ decisions to cut ties with the NRA, but rather presented two questions, one about “buzz” — “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” — and another about general impression. The answers were compared to a baseline of responses from consumers the week leading up to the first announcement — from the First National Bank of Omaha — that companies were cutting ties with the association.

The YouGov responses were also broken down by party lines, with respondents who identified as Democrats responding positively; Republicans, by contrast, didn’t change their perceptions. According to YouGov, Independents tended to respond negatively.

“While the Democrats are going as expected, it seems Republicans are divided on their brand support in light of this news,” YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli said in a statement. “For Independents, it may indicate that consumers who are less political are more skeptical of the motives behind the brands’ decisions.”

YouGov does not track FedEx, one of the only major companies still doing business with the NRA. Though it has tried to distance itself publicly from the NRA, ThinkProgress reported last week that, privately, the company has struck a deal with dozens of major gun manufacturers and dealers — including the NRA itself — to provide cheaper shipping than its competitors.

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Nearly two dozen other businesses have cut ties with the gun lobby since ThinkProgress first reported on a number of companies that have ties to the association.

On Saturday, both Delta and United Airlines severed their contracts with the NRA, joining First National Bank of Omaha, Enterprise Holdings, security software company Symantec, home security company SimpliSafe, auto insurer MetLifecar rental firms Avis and Budgetmoving companies Allied and North American Van linessoftware company Wild Apricot, and car buying service TrueCar on the list of entities who had ended their business relationships with the gun lobbying group.

The NRA has derided those decisions, saying in a statement last week that it was a “a shameful display of political and civic cowardice” that would neither “scare nor distract one single NRA member.”