How behavioral science explains "woke backlash"

"Woke backlash" refers to the appropriation of the term "woke" and how pockets of American society are pushing back against the progressive social justice moment.

But why is today's so-called "woke backlash" happening?

Behavioral science — and a look back at history — help us understand why.

N. Chloé Nwangwu is a behavioral strategist, brand visibility expert, and former international conflict mediator known as “the Brand Scientist.” Today as the director of NobiWorks, a brand visibility consultancy, Chloé leverages science and strategic branding to help under-recognized brands become impossible to ignore. She’s advised everyone from small businesses to small island nations, and even the first refugee delegation to the United Nations.

In this ranging interview, Dave and N. Chloé cover:

• How "underrecognized" is a better, more accurate term than "underrepresented" when discussing people of marginalized identities
• The historical precedent of "woke backlash" and why the group phenomenon of "reactance" occurs
• The advertising advantage of homogenous audiences — and why companies want to make their audiences and customers more "the same"

Please rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help other listeners find our work!

Want to get in touch? Leave us a voicemail!

Support our partners and affiliates for exclusive discounts:

• Fathom Analytics: Get beautiful, secure website data without trading your customers’ private browsing data to Google and Facebook
• Flywheel: Seamless WordPress website hosting on US-based servers
• Hover: Register domains with ease. Save $2 on your first purchase
• MailerLite: A powerful, affordable email marketing platform with premium plans starting at just $9/mo.
• Sanebox: Take back your inbox with machine learning to automatically organize your emails. Save $5 when you join.
• Trint: Turn recordings of meetings, calls, and interviews into transcripts with 99% accuracy.

Affiliate Disclosure: Our show is listener supported through affiliate and partner links. By clicking one of the above links and registering or making a purchase, we may earn a small commission, which helps pay for the costs of our show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.