On Gay Rights, as expected, Big Business see More Upside than Risks

May 21, 2014

On Gay Rights, as expected, Big Business see More Upside than Risks

Not long ago, voicing support for gay rights might have been seen as a bold and even risky move for a business.

Yet some of Oregon's best-known companiescheered Monday's ruling overturning Oregon's constitutional ban on gay marriage. Many of them had already endorsed a ballot petition to end the ban.

A bold stand for equality? Maybe.

But businesses make careful calculations before getting out in front on social issues, says Lynn Kahle, head of marketing studies at the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business. And these days, they're seeing they can generate more goodwill than ill by supporting gay rights.

"There's been a lot of change on this issue," Kahle said. "We had a vote on this not long ago. I suspect if we voted again in Oregon the vote would come out differently, and the businesses know what their consumers are thinking about."

A little more than a week ago week ago, the Oregon Business Association launched a campaign against a ballot initiative that would allow businesses to refuse to serve gay weddings. The group called it a discrimination measure, and 190 businesses signed on in opposition. (The same day, proponents of the initiative dropped their efforts after losing a legal fight over the ballot title.)

Groups like the OBA often exist so companies don't have to risk their brands fighting politically changed fights. In this case, businesses were quick to sign on.

For many, the effort wasn't intended to sway customers or the general public, said Ryan Deckert, the OBA's president. Instead, businesses wanted to send a message to potential employees that Oregon businesses value inclusiveness.

"We're trying to — in a global, economically competitive market — attract the best minds and talent to come here," Deckert said. "We wanted folks outside of Oregon's borders to know that this is a place that is welcoming."

There was some pushback from companies that said it wasn't the business community's place to take a stand, Deckert said.

But few businesses today want to be on the other side of the gay marriage debate, where the software company Mozilla briefly found itself last month. Its recently appointed chief executive, Brendan Eich, had given money to the 2008 effort to ban gay marriage in California.

Eich left the company April 3 after the threat of a boycott, and Mozilla as a company apologized and repeated its support for gay marriage.

Even on divisive issues, Kahle said, companies often find their customer base lies on one side of the issue. Taking a side can generate a lot of goodwill with those consumers, and those who don't agree might not be as motivated to launch a response, such as a boycott.

"Companies want to map onto any kind of positive vibe they can," said Lynn Kahle, the head of the marketing department at the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business. “If they view this as being a strong positive vibe for at least some people, they're likely to want to be a part of it."