In two separate polls of business decision makers, in the U.S. and France, we asked the following question: "Do you agree or disagree that certain social science theories, specifically progressive ideas on race, gender, post-colonialism, and 'cancel culture' are undermining society and are not necessary?"
A majority (61%) of U.S. decision makers agreed (33% strongly agreed/28% somewhat agreed) that certain progressive ideas on race, gender, post-colonialism, and "cancel culture" were undermining society and were not necessary. Nearly a third disagreed (18% somewhat disagreed/13% strongly disagreed) that certain progressive ideas and "cancel culture" were undermining American society, while 8% were not sure.
Decision makers in the East agreed the most (67% at least somewhat agreed/24% at least somewhat disagreed) about the negative effects of certain progressive ideas and "cancel culture," while surveyed decision makers in the West disagreed the most (55% at least somewhat agreed/36% at least somewhat disagreed), albeit a majority still agreed that extreme progressive ideas and "cancel culture" were undermining society and not necessary.
A majority of every sub-group agreed that certain social science theories on race and gender, along with "cancel culture" were undermining U.S. society, but smaller companies were more likely to disagree about the negative effects of certain progressive ideas than were larger companies. For example, companies with less than 25 employees and companies whose annual revenue was less than 5 million dollars (31% at least somewhat disagreed/40% at least somewhat disagreed, respectively), were more likely to disagree than companies with more than 500 employees and companies whose annual revenue was more than 500 million (25% at least somewhat disagreed/30% at least somewhat disagreed, respectively).
Click here to view the frequencies.
We also polled the same question among French business decision makers. Overall, the numbers were very similar to the U.S. sample of business decision makers. Three in five French decision makers at least somewhat agreed that certain U.S. progressive ideas and "cancel culture" were undermining French society, while 34% at least somewhat disagreed. Both countries' business leaders see the "cancel culture" movement as a threat to our daily lives. What can we learn from our U.S. and French business counterparts?
The threat of "cancel culture" is real. People's careers, lives, and families are being destroyed because of certain beliefs, or statements made recently on social media, or in conversation many years ago. While some things people say are hateful and not easy to forget, wouldn't it be wiser to educate people and teach them right from wrong than to cancel out their existences? Turning a bad moment for someone into a teachable moment is a far better solution than mob rule and character assassinations.
Click here to view the frequencies.
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
Business Leaders
2/11/21 - 2/18/21
Zogby Analytics conducted online surveys of sales decision makers in France and the U.S.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for country is as follows:
| Country | N | Dates | MOE |
| France | 154 | 2/17/21 - 2/18/21 | +/- 7.9 Percentage Points |
| U.S. | 500 | 3/10/21 | +/- 4.4 Percentage Points |
This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.