It’s difficult to avoid seeing politicians taking jabs at opponents. Sometimes brands attack each other, too. Is this the right approach? Nearly all of the American electorate (93%) said a candidate’s tone or level of civility will be an important factor in how they cast their votes in 2016, a new survey from Weber Shandwick, Powell Tate and KRC Research says. Civility in America 2016 found incivility continues to be a major societal issue, especially in the presidential race. Nearly 8 of 10 likely voters cited Donald Trump as the most uncivil hopeful. Hillary Clinton was #2 (39%). The poll surveyed 1,005 adults, 18 and older, and found 58% of respondents, compared to 53% two years ago, expect civility in America to “get worse” over the next several years. Seven years ago, only 39% felt that way. The top three culprits, identified by more than half of all respondents, were politicians (64%), Internet/social media (63%) and news media (54%). College/university educators (10%) and school teachers (7%) were least likely to be blamed for making civility worse.
Nearly all respondents (95%) said incivility is a major problem, and 70% believe incivility has risen to “crisis” levels, a jump of 5% from two years ago. Respondents believe the rise in incivility will have negative consequences on society. More than 75% of likely voters felt incivility in government is preventing action on important issues, the U.S. is losing stature as civil nation, and incivility is making it difficult to discuss controversial issues.
The implications for PR pros? “PR and corporate communications professionals need to think about what captures citizens’ attention, the context in which they are engaging and measure how that translates into behavior over the long term,” Weber Shandwick’s chief reputation strategist Leslie Gaines-Ross says.
Editor’s Note: Tina McCorkindale, PhD, APR, president/CEO, Institute for Public Relations, contributed this article. [email protected]
