Consumer Boycotts: Twenty-first Century Boycotts
Consumer Boycotts: Reasons for Boycotts
Advances in technology have made boycotts easier to set into motion by means of Internet Web sites, blogs, USENET newsgroups, and e-mail mailing lists. Indeed, within a matter of hours, consumer watchdog groups can arrange for thousands of consumers to boycott a product with a simple e-mail message. In addition, consumer boycotts often focus on advertisers of television shows. For instance, gays and lesbians boycotted the advertisers of the Dr. Laura talk show in response to Laura Schlessinger’s statements about their community. Other twentyfirst century boycotts have involved Wal-Mart for unfair labor practices and Philip Morris for continuing to manufacture cigarettes.
In the political arena, concerned consumers may band together and boycott the companies that make contributions to a candidate who fails to support their issues. For instance, after GeorgeW. Bush failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, consumers were urged to boycott products made by Bush’s corporate funders. However, boycotts have begun diminishing in favor to some degree because of the recognition that these actions may miss their mark, failing to harma company’s bottom line but causing its employees and their families to suffer. Writing large numbers of letters to corporate executives stating that their company’s products will continue to be purchased, but only if changes are brought about, seems to be an effective alternative.
