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Consumer boycotts have become an increasingly powerful tool for citizens to express their ideals and values. The rise of social media allows business practices to be widely discovered and scrutinized, empowering consumers to organize boycotts. Recent boycotts like #DeleteUber punished businesses for prioritizing profits over community concerns. While taking a stand on social issues can benefit some brands, it presents risks for mass market brands and may require real changes across supply chains. Going forward, companies will need to demonstrate leadership on issues that matter to citizens in order to align with consumer values.

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19 views2 pages

Article (21 12 23)

Consumer boycotts have become an increasingly powerful tool for citizens to express their ideals and values. The rise of social media allows business practices to be widely discovered and scrutinized, empowering consumers to organize boycotts. Recent boycotts like #DeleteUber punished businesses for prioritizing profits over community concerns. While taking a stand on social issues can benefit some brands, it presents risks for mass market brands and may require real changes across supply chains. Going forward, companies will need to demonstrate leadership on issues that matter to citizens in order to align with consumer values.

Uploaded by

anshul10stylo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Consumer Boycotts

Source: The New York Times

In the book "The Naked Corporation," Don Tapscott and David Ticoll
examine novel business risks that have popped up with the internet. The
democratization of free information and rise of social media means
business practices can be discovered and scrutinized on a much wider
scale.
“You're going to be naked,” the authors warn businesses, “so you'd better
be buff.” At a minimum, that means considering customers and employees
beyond tomorrow's profit margin. As people take to the streets to protest
the actions of the new president, C.E.O.s of corporations are being
challenged to take a stand — something many have been reluctant to do in
the face of market pressures to keep one's head down and focus on the
numbers.
The challenge today for all corporations is clear: Citizens are looking for
leadership on issues of real consequence, and they are aligning their dollars
with their ideals. But for some businesses, taking a stand is good for the
brand. Tech C.E.O.s are speaking out forcefully against the visa ban because
they depend on the best skills and talent, no matter the nationality. Other
tech employees may believe it is morally wrong to turn away refugees and
legal residents — or, at least they are confident that their customers feel
that way. There’s safety in numbers of course, and its best when
corporations can articulate why an issue matters to their business bottom
line.
Still, cultivating positive brand identity has become undoubtedly important
for consumer-facing companies. Take #DeleteUber. The real aim of the
boycott that went viral seemed to be to punish a business — for placing
profit over community and/or for appearing to support President Trump's
refugee ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. The boycott could not
reverse President Trump's executive order, but it did cause Uber’s C.E.O. to
drop out of President Trump’s business council.
The power and speed of social media has allowed campaigns to evolve
from focusing on the consequences of a product — like the legendary
Nestlé infant formula boycott in the 1970s — to labor-related issues that
are within the control of the corporation. From there, they have spread to
include more complex global concerns like child labor and climate change.
Boycotts over an issue like deforestation could require a radical kind of
agency from a company if it had to disrupt its entire supply chain to make
real progress. But some companies see real market advantages in this
consumer trend. Levi Strauss and Starbucks, for example, have gotten out
ahead on issues like H.I.V./Aids and water scarcity to help cultivate positive
brand identity. They didn't wait for a protest or boycott: They took a
preemptive moral stance.
For mass market brands, like Pepsi and McDonalds, that road can be more
treacherous. Still, to address consumer demands — often articulated by a
sophisticated NGO working to corral public opinion — companies typically
tie their brand to big social issues, like human rights. These initiatives can
require real changes for companies, however, including a change in how
they source their products. The challenge today for all corporations is clear:
Citizens are looking for leadership on issues of real consequence. These
issues are no longer confined to the ballot box. And consumers are aligning
their dollars with their ideals.
The answer for businesses may require new forms of association in which
courageous C.E.O.s can stand up and be counted. There is a challenge for
consumers, too. They must distinguish between the companies that truly
push positive social change and those that just pay lip service to it.

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