2024 Americans’ Views on Business Survey

Introduction

Corporate leadership today is a challenge of the highest order. CEOs must navigate a deeply divided political landscape, rapidly shifting stakeholder demands, ongoing economic uncertainties, and myriad technological, regulatory, and environmental forces that present risk and opportunity in equal measure. Performance expectations are sky-high, scrutiny is intense, and the margins for error are nonexistent.

Against this backdrop, there is one voice that – perhaps surprisingly – provides business leaders with both calm reassurance and clear direction: that of the American people. JUST Capital’s Americans’ Views on Business Survey, our longest-running longitudinal survey, captures this voice in all its rich, diverse detail. And its central message this year is striking. Despite being highly polarized on political issues, Americans are generally united in their expectations for corporations – particularly in areas where positive societal impact dovetails with positive business performance. 

Specifically, we find that the majority of Americans – regardless of political party, ideology, or other demographic differences – not only agree that business can and should be a force for good in the world but also are closely aligned on what precisely that means: paying people fairly, investing in their workforce, treating customers better, offering products or services at a fair price, minimizing harm to the environment, strengthening communities, and even making good on climate commitments.

In tracking the public’s views on business over the past decade, we have seen the contours of American opinion evolve considerably. Whereas in previous years we saw greater demand for CEOs to speak out on social issues, opinion is now much more divided. On transparency and disclosure, it is clear that in today’s low-trust environment, people hunger for more information on what companies are actually doing, not what they say they are doing. Despite the broad agreement that capitalism and the economy need to work for all Americans, opinions clearly diverge on whether this is actually happening. 

Through it all, one message is constant: The American people want companies to create value for all their stakeholders as a path to creating more value for their shareholders, for themselves, and for society at large. As our investment work demonstrates, this “win-win-win” is not mere conjecture; it’s a fact. This report serves as a blueprint for any corporate leader, board member, or investor who aspires to this outcome.

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The Public’s Perceptions of Corporate Priorities

Each year, we ask the American public to identify and prioritize what issues matter most when it comes to just business behavior. We always start the process by hosting a series of focus groups. This year, we began by asking participants a simple question: What do you think the chief responsibility of America’s largest companies is? Although many responded that it is to make and sustain profits, participants went on to explain that companies are also expected to balance profitability with practices that value society, and they should serve the interests of their workers, customers, communities, and the environment alongside those of their shareholders. 

In assessing which stakeholder the public believes is, in fact, the top priority for companies, it is clear that (with 56% of the vote) shareholders come out on top. This is a significant increase compared to four years ago, when workers garnered a much higher share of the vote.  

Perhaps surprisingly, these opinions are relatively consistent across political ideologies, as we see below.

The next chart breaks this down even further. When asked which stakeholder companies are positively affecting, almost three-fourths identify a company’s shareholders. The health and safety of workers and the company’s customers also generate a lot of support. Only 34% of respondents believe that companies are having a positive impact on their lowest-paid workers and the environment, a proportion that has changed little in the four years since we started asking this question.

Though the percentages may be larger or smaller depending on one’s political ideology, the pattern of responses is very consistent. Liberal respondents tend to be more skeptical than conservatives that companies are having a positive effect across these stakeholder issues. Overall, though, Americans of all ideologies essentially agree that companies benefit their shareholders and are far less likely to feel companies have a positive impact on their lowest-paid workers.

Most Believe Capitalism Is Not Working for the Average American

Capitalism is the means by which the American Dream becomes reality. But according to recent polling from Pew Research, only about half of Americans (53%) say that dream is still possible. Our research findings support Pew’s: When our respondents were asked whether they believe capitalism is working for the average American, only about 1 in 3 agree.

This number has stayed relatively consistent over the past three years after falling from a high of 42% in 2021, a year in which companies were redoubling efforts to respond to the needs of all their stakeholders amid unparalleled intersecting health, economic, and social crises. 

Looking at this question from a demographic perspective, the high-level takeaway is intuitive: The older you get, the more money you make, the more you believe capitalism is working for the average American. Of those making under $30,000 a year, only 28% respond positively to this question versus 40% for those making more than $250,000 annually. Likewise, a mere 25% of Gen Z say capitalism is working for the average American versus 49% of Boomers. 

Across political ideology, however, the picture is very different, with more than half (52%) of conservatives saying capitalism is working versus only 19% of liberals.

Companies Can Make an Impact on Key Societal Issues – But How Are CEOs Expected to Respond? 

Despite their skepticism that capitalism is actually working for the average American, it is clear that a substantial majority of Americans do, in fact, believe that promoting an economy that serves all Americans is important and can be a force for positive societal change. These numbers are consistent across demographic groupings, generations, income levels, and especially, political outlooks.

We see more variance when people are asked whether companies should take a stand on important societal issues. Overall, a majority (60%) agree that CEOs of large companies do have a responsibility to take a stand – a proportion that has stayed relatively consistent since 2018. 

Our focus groups delved into this issue, with one participant saying: “I feel companies reaching out and speaking about social issues is not a bad thing because they do have a stronger platform than a group of people do.” Another participant echoed this sentiment, saying the largest U.S. companies have disproportionate size and, thus, a disproportionate impact on society.

Yet others felt speaking out on issues can be polarizing, and ultimately harmful, for many companies. As one participant noted, “If you take a side … then it continues to snowball where once you start, then you can’t stop because then you’re forced to speak on everything. And what if you don’t have the time to speak on everything? Then you’re balancing all this work in PR when that’s not really your business. Your business is something else.” 

One look at how responses to this question differ by political ideology underscores this divergence. Liberals are significantly more likely to agree that CEOs should take a stand on societal issues (73%) versus moderates (62%) and conservatives (47%).

Crucially, when asked whether CEOs should take a stand about any issue versus only those issues that are related to their business operations, the public is much more likely to say “issues related to business” now than they were just four years ago.

The survey results also provide guidance on which issues the public believes corporate leaders can play a role in addressing. Topping the list are tackling income inequality, advancing gender equity in the workplace (equal pay for equal work), and using artificial intelligence (AI) in an ethical way. Protecting voting rights, upholding women’s reproductive rights, supporting the stability of our democracy, and protecting LGBTQ rights garner less support. 

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Defining Just Business Behavior

Building on the above, it is clear that in defining the idea of just business behavior, several actions enjoy near-universal support: providing equal pay for equal work, retaining and promoting workers from within, considering the best interests of local communities, and expanding childcare benefits.

Examining this result through the lens of political ideology, we see a surprising amount of agreement. Liberals, moderates, and conservatives are seemingly in lockstep in believing that the issues of equal pay, investing in workers (including via ownership programs), and supporting communities are essential to just business behavior today. 

For business leaders, this identifies some clear common ground where actions can be taken with the least risk of backlash. Moreover, in mapping the disparities between the public’s perceived importance of an issue and their opinions on the level of corporate action on that issue, we also shed light on where there are the greatest opportunities to demonstrate authentic leadership. Notably, “promoting an economy that serves all Americans” is the issue with the greatest perceived distance between importance and action (46 percentage points).

Transparency and Disclosure Continue to Matter

Americans continue to want more information on the steps companies are taking on key business and societal issues. Here are a few illustrative quotes from this year’s focus groups:

“I tend to think favorably upon companies that are transparent and open and honest. And even if the data is lackluster or disappointing, I think being transparent and open and honest is a favorable trait. And the real kicker is when it’s combined with positive efforts and the reporting is that they’ve done some good things.”

“[Companies should] try to become transparent and more free with their information. Because at this point, I don’t see it, and that’s why there’s a lot of distrust for myself with a lot of big organizations.”

“I think we should be able to expect transparency. Whether we can, or whether we’ll get it or not, that’s to be debated, but I think we should be able to expect it.”

The chart below highlights that public demand for more corporate transparency increased across all disclosure categories from 2023 to 2024.

For many issues, the demand for greater disclosure also transcends political ideology. Specifically, product and safety violations, community involvement, corporate donations, deployment of AI, and (to a lesser extent) minimum wage and political involvement are all areas where we see cross-party alignment on the need for more transparency. Disclosure on environmental impacts and demographic wage information are the areas where political opinion is most divided.

Conclusion

This year’s Americans’ Views on Business Survey makes it clear that Americans want corporate leaders to get back to the basics of just business operations: focus on creating value for all stakeholders by concentrating on those areas where positive impact dovetails with positive business performance.  

Later this year, we will be releasing The People’s Priorities, a companion report that details what Americans believe are the actions and behaviors of just companies. Together, the data and insights from these reports will support corporate leaders in understanding how they can take action on the public’s priorities and create more value for both shareholders and society at large. 

Methodology

Since 2015, JUST Capital has surveyed more than 182,000 Americans on a fully representative basis to assess how well they think companies are doing when it comes to creating value for all their stakeholders and building a more just economy that truly works for all. The 2024 Americans’ Views on Business Survey was fielded among 3,008 Americans – a sample representative of the U.S. adult population – between July 10 and July 16, 2024. Our quantitative research partner is SSRS, an objective, nonpartisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population. Our full body of survey work for 2024 also included six focus groups conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll comprising a total of 35 participants who represented a mix of demographics (e.g., age, ethnicity/race, political ideology, household income, and education).