Two business school professors recently
studied what impact Apple CEO Tim Cook's support for LGBT rights had
on the company's bottom line and concluded that it helped.
Cook, who is gay, last year criticized
Indiana and Arkansas for approving controversial “religious
freedom” laws, saying that they “rationalize injustice.”
(Related: Tim
Cook calls “religious freedom” laws “dangerous.”)
Aaron Chatterji, an associate professor
at Duke, and Michael Toffel, a professor at Harvard, wanted to know
whether Cook's advocacy had alienated a segment of the population.
“When people were told that the Apple
CEO had spoken out against Indiana's religious freedom law, they were
more likely to say they intended to buy Apple products in the near
future,” The
Washington
Post wrote of the studies. “By contrast, when people were
told about one of Tim Cook's bland opinions on management philosophy,
it had little effect on purchase plans.”
It seems that opponents of marriage
equality were unconcerned with Cook's stance.