Exploring why consumers engage in boycotts: toward a unified model

Abstract

It has become commonplace for consumers to judge companies against social responsibility criteria. Along with such judgments, many consumers are also taking up action, often using the Internet to virally spread their views. Such consumer‐led campaigns can put at risk years of investments in branding. For firms understanding what drives consumers to engage in boycotts is key to minimizing exposure to such viral risk. To date, the academic literature has offered disparate and disconnected findings with respect to boycott participation. In this research paper, we review relevant literature, confirm its appropriateness using a series of in‐depth interviews, and use our findings to identify key antecedents to consumer participation in boycotts. We then test our proposed model through an empirical study, thus revealing key drivers of consumers' intention to participate in such boycotts. Our results offer insight into factors that companies can manage so as to prevent consumers from participating in boycotts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Clustering consumers who engage in boycotting: New insights into the relationship between political consumerism and institutional trust

“…This research focus on a specific form of political consumerism that is consumer boycotts. The study of consumer boycotts is relevant for marketing because they express consumers' discontent, and should be countered by targeted organizations before they risk viral propagation (Albrecht et al 2013).…”

Social Boycott

“…Even in literature there are different perspectives on the use of the term, being both used for (i) expressing generic rejection relations (Culcasi, 2016;Gould, 2013;Schmidmayr, 2013. Viana, 2007 as well as for (ii) analyzing a dismissive attitude by the customer towards a brand, company, products or services (Makaren & Jae, 2016;Albrecht, Campbell, Heinrich, & Lammel, 2013;Cruz, Ross, Braga & Abelha, 2012;Friedman, 1999;1991).…”

“…Friedman (1999) presented an important and robust contribution to literature by systematizing five types of boycott carried out by consumers regarding their individual motivations. Further investigations have focused on the analysis of the boycott from different perspectives, such as: consumer gender difference and the boycott (Klein et al, 2004;Barda & Sardianou); the boycott as an ideological perspective of a group of consumer activists regarding a cause (Culcasi, 2016); the reasons for the engagement of consumers in boycotts (Albrecht et al, 2013. ); or the possibility of consumer boycott to be influenced, for example, by famous people in virtual social networks .…”

Why we hop on the Boycotting Bandwagon: Consumer Motivation to Participate in Brand Boycotts on Facebook

“…In particular, social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook have emerged as prominent platforms for virtual brand boycott campaigns. Although brands have responded to the challenges and opportunities posed by SNSs, negative online brand communication has received less attention, and there is a significant gap in research concerning brand boycotts and SM (Albrecht, Campbell, Heinrich, & Lammel, 2013;McGriff, 2012). This study extends traditional consumer boycotting literature to SNSs.…”

“…This study extends traditional consumer boycotting literature to SNSs. Others' boycott participation may induce heightened perceptions of boycott success (Albrecht et al, 2013) or social pressure (Klein et al, 2004) to also participate. Research has also linked boycott participation to scope for self-enhancement (Klein et al, 2004).…”