Back in January, Starbucks Corporation SBUX 1.72% CEO Howard Schultz took a political stand against the anti-immigration policies of Donald Trump by announcing that Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in the 75 counties in which it operates around the world. While the decision may have been more about ideology than business, it seems the move didn’t go over well with Starbucks customers.
According to new data from LikeFolio, Starbucks social media sentiment took a nosedive at the exact moment the announcement was made. While positive sentiment dipped as low as 45 percent in the days following the news, it has since recovered to around 65 percent. Still, the move may have done lasting damage to the company’s reputation.
According to LikeFolio, Starbucks’ positive social media sentiment never dipped below 70 percent in 2016. It hasn’t broken the 70 percent level since news of the refugee hiring plan broke in late January.
While its long-term range of 70-75 percent previously had Starbucks trending above many of its casual dining peers, it has now dipped below the long-term sentiment range of even McDonald’s Corporation MCD 0.26%. McDonalds’ positive social sentiment has consistently been in the 67-69 percent range.
Surprisingly, McDonald’s may have benefited most from the Starbucks PR debacle. The number of social mentions of consumer spending at McDonalds have been…
Click here to continue reading
Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!
