Detroit, MI – August 13, 2026 – DonerColle Partners, in partnership with NRG (National Research Group), today releases the Main St. American Values Study, a proprietary research study examining how values influence brand relevance, affinity, and long-term consumer loyalty. Based on a study of 5,000 U.S. adults ages 18-74, the report introduces a proprietary study designed to help brands understand which values unite divided Americans and how those values shape real consumer behavior.
“We didn’t want to build another values audit because brands already have plenty of those,” said David DeMuth, Executive Chairman of DonerColle Partners. “What’s been missing is a framework that explains the implications for brands. This study shows that values are not simply cultural talking points. They’re predictive signals of affinity, loyalty, and growth.”
“We hear a lot about how divided Americans are, and many brands have played into that purposefully or unwittingly and ended up becoming pariahs or irrelevant,” said Fotoulla Damaskos, Chief Client Strategist at NRG. “There are still some values that are widely shared, and the strongest brands actively cultivate universal, aspirational, and identity-driven values simultaneously. That balance can build enduring relevance.”
Findings show that Americans are not as divided on values as public discourse often suggests. Instead, values operate across multiple layers. While values like trust, respect, and integrity remain universally important, the role brands play in reflecting those values is more nuanced.
Among the study’s findings:
- “Family” ranked as the No. 1 most deeply held personal value among Americans, yet ranked 8th as a societal value and 11th among values consumers believe brands should reflect.
- More than 95% of Americans said universal values such as trust, respect, and integrity matter personally and are expected from brands by default.
- Brands that fail to demonstrate these baseline values risk not backlash, but invisibility with consumers.
- Differentiation and growth stem from what the study defines as “Reach” and “Roots” values:
- Reach values connect to aspiration and reflect who consumers want to become.
- Roots values connect to identity and reflect who consumers already are, creating deeper emotional resonance while carrying greater reputational risk if misaligned.
More than 30 brands were analyzed in the initial study, with 5,000 participants and representation across all 50 states. The report also found that shared values outperform traditional demographic indicators when predicting consumer behavior. Consumers who perceive a brand as values-aligned are more likely to engage, pay more, and remain loyal over time.
The study’s methodology combined quantitative surveying with advanced analytics designed to isolate which values meaningfully influence brand perception and choice. Researchers tested 33 values informed by existing work from organizations including Gallup, PRRI, and Pew Research Center. Analytic approaches included Relative Importance Modeling, Key Drivers Analysis using Naïve Bayes, and perceptual mapping (PMAPS).
The research was conducted online in February and March 2026 among 5,000 U.S. adults ages 18-74.
