A Conceptual Framework for Online Business Protest Tactics and Criteria for Their Effectiveness

Abstract

In this article, the authors lay the foundation for the emerging area of research on online protest tactics mobilized against business. The authors offer a definition of online business protest tactics and distinguish them from related activities such as electronic civil disobedience and cybercrime. They also appeal to the interest-group literature as one theoretical foundation for this area of research. Based on the degree to which each tactic involves intrusion, disruption, or damage, the authors categorize the array of online business protest tactics into a typology, providing definitions and illustrative examples from the business press for each. They advance a dualistic framework to evaluate the intermediate and ultimate effectiveness of the various online business protest tactics using a set of criteria relevant to both online and off-line environments, and conclude by suggesting avenues for future research.

A Moral Evaluation of Online Business Protest Tactics and Implications for Stakeholder Management

“…A richer conception of online business protests can be found in our companion article (Martin and Kracher 2008).…”

“…The online tactics that can be used to protest business practices are described in more detail in our companion article (Martin and Kracher 2008). However, for the sake of our current discussion, brief descriptions and some examples are given below.…”

“…Futhermore, the justification for our fairness principle, which supports the various moral management strategies toward online business protests, can be expanded in greater detail. Lastly, research on the effectiveness of online business protest tactics (Martin and Kracher 2008) should be integrated with our work on the responsible online business protest tactics. Protesters may ask themselves whether it is practical to forgo responsible online protests for effective ones especially if they are confronting a business that is extremely harmful and malicious.…”

The offline spill-over of signing online petitions against companies

“…Scant research has examined the psychological processes that explain online petition campaigns' effectiveness and underpin motivations to sign an online petition and engage in subsequent offline behavior. In addition, despite significant research on the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) in activism (Earl and Kimport, 2011;Schumann and Klein, 2015), the effects and implications of exposure to online petitions against businesses are still under researched (Martin and Kracher, 2008).…”

Secondary Stakeholders as Agents of Influence: Three Essays on Political Risk, Reputation and Multinational Performance

“…Others, like boycotts and protests, may affect consumption patterns and corporate share price -particularly if they generate extensive media coverage (King & Soule, 2007;King, 2008;Martin & Kracher, 2008). All may inflict serious reputational harm, making it more difficult for the firm to attract and retain employees, suppliers, and investors, while diverting managerial attention away from more pressing strategic and operational concerns (Vogel, 2005;Yaziji & Doh, 2009).…”