Eighty percent of consumers believe shopping by their personal values is more expensive, while only 39% report boycotting a brand in the past 12 months, according to the Q2 2025 report, "Weighing value with values,” from the Kearney Consumer Institute (KCI).
Economic concerns, especially the impact of tariffs, could be driving the focus on quality and value-for-money. On a scale of one through 10, 51% of U.S. consumers rate their concern surrounding tariffs an eight or higher, per the report. Seventy-nine percent of U.S. consumers believe it is more important for companies to deliver on value rather than voicing socially minded values.
“Consumers are feeling the pinch right now — money is tighter, time is tighter — and they will shop how, where, and as it best suits them. Many consumers are prioritizing the price/value equation over values-based purchasing decisions,” said KCI lead and report author Katie Thomas in press materials.
Despite this, 68% of consumers believe brands should voice their values and 51% have stopped shopping at a brand which did not align with their values. Quality and product value remain the top influencers of purchasing behavior. Consumers list good quality (69%), fair price (63%) and reliability and durability (46%) as the top considerations when making a purchase, per the report. However, when consumers do take values into consideration, buying local tops the list. While 20% of survey respondents put “made in country/locally” as a top three consideration for purchase, sustainability was a top three priority for 10% of respondents.
“We were surprised to see ‘locally made’ outstripping sustainability and brand trust among consumer priorities,” said Thomas. “Their low ratings of politically driven factors — DEI commitments, labor practices and brand politics — point to the relatively minor role of consumer activism, or consumers shopping by their values.”
The report is based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers reflective of the general population. The survey was fielded in May 2025. The global version of the survey included an additional 3,200 respondents from the United Kingdom, India, France and Indonesia.
Value is of increasing importance to both brands and consumers. Notably, advertising around value helped chain restaurant Chili’s boost comparable sales by 31%. Brands are taking note of the change in perspective, with 21% of marketing executives indicating they have no plan to align marketing efforts with social issues, up five points from 2024, according to a 2025 report on brand safety from Advertiser Perceptions.
