Elon Musk’s support of President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and subsequent role in his administration has led to a flight of Democratic consumer support for Tesla that could be harming the company’s bottom line, according to a new study co-authored by a Northeastern University faculty member.
The study shows that consumers who are self-identified Democrats are breaking with the Tesla brand, while Republican consumers are starting to embrace it. The analysis, which acknowledges that the politicization of brands is now a “global phenomenon,” seeks to document a “growing polarization of partisans’ perceptions of the Tesla brand” in the wake of Musk’s embrace of Trump.
