Starbucks' brand perception has plummeted since it announced plan to hire refugees (SBUX)

pulse

February 22, 2017 11:10 PM

Starbucks' brand has taken a beating after the company announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide in the next five years.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Starbucks' brand has taken a beating since the company announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide in the next five years in response to Donald Trump's executive order intended to prevent refugees from entering the US.

The coffee giant's consumer perception levels have fallen by two-thirds since late January, according to YouGov BrandIndex.

The perception tracker measures if respondents have "heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative." In Starbucks' case, perception is still overall positive, but significantly lower than it was prior to CEO Howard Schultz published a public letter outlining the company's plans to give refugees jobs.

YouGov says that there's reason to believe backlash will impact the chain's bottom line. Two days before Starbucks' announcement, 30% of consumers said they'd consider buying from Starbucks the next time they were craving coffee, the highest proportion in nearly a year. Now, the percentage is down to 24%, according to YouGov.

While many customers were immediately supportive of Starbucks' actions to support refugees, others threatened to boycott.

one such Facebook user wrote on Starbucks' page in late January

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