What motivates consumers to participate in boycotts: Lessons from the ongoing Canadian seafood boycott

Despite the tremendous growth in consumer boycotts, marketing has paid relatively little attention to consumer boycott motivations. Addressing this deficiency, this study uses netnography to investigate boycott motivations and perceived boycott participation costs by analyzing consumer comments submitted to an online boycott petition. The results show that boycott pledgees explicitly express their desire for the target to abolish its egregious behavior, their anger about the behavior in question, and their desire for punitive actions. Signatories also pledge participation for moral reasons and identify with the cause reflected by the boycott. Boycott motivations also include the belief that consumers have the power to impact the boycott target's bottom line and/or behavior as well as the belief that the boycott will succeed in forcing the target to cease its egregious behavior. Signatories, however, rarely refer to the costs of boycott participation.     

A socio-cultural approach to exploring consumer boycott intelligence: A commentary essay

The paper, “A socio-cognitive approach to exploring consumer boycott intelligence,” effectively explores issues surrounding the boycott behavior of Muslim and Christian consumers in Lebanon. This commentary is to promote further development of the research domain, both the specific topic of this paper as well as wider issues of boycott behavior, by considering the limitations and discourse of the adopted methodology, the positioning of the paper within the extant literature, and future development of methodology. This commentary considers several frameworks and research traditions identifying a need for a longitudinal research strategy of which Farah and Newman [Farah, MF, Newman, AJ. A socio-cognitive approach to exploring consumer boycott intelligence. J Bus Res 2009-this issue.] is only one part within a particular situation and context. The commentary suggests potential prospective research strategies for further development of the topic.     

Consumer motivation for the decision to boycott: The social dilemma

This study suggests a rational framework to explain consumers’ decision to boycott. We proposed an instrumental boycott framework based on rational response to the offending behaviour of a target company. The hypotheses embedded within the research model are empirically evaluated. The data were collected by questionnaire survey, and structural equation modelling was utilized for data analysis. The results show that social factors (message credibility, expected overall participation and perceived boycott effectiveness) generate motivations for consumers’ boycott decisions. In addition, it is identified that these factors increase consumers’ perceived likelihood of boycott success. Further, it is also found that consumers' perceived likelihood of boycott success positively affect their boycott decision via the possibility of changing a target company's offending behavior and unwillingness to purchase the target company's products. The results of this study explain consumers’ instrumental boycott decision‐making process in terms of social dilemma. Further, this study provides practical contributions for understanding consumers’ rational boycott behaviour. Specific implications for marketing managers and boycott organizations are outlined in the general discussion. Suggestions for future research are also presented in the conclusion.     

The Effects of Search-Related and Purchase-Related Mobile App Additions on Retailers’ Shareholder Wealth: The Roles of Firm Size,Product Category,and Customer Segment

Mobile channel additions have been shown to increase consumer-brand relationships, brand satisfaction towards and overall purchasing from a retailer, but what is less apparent is whether shareholders are fully rewarded for retailers’ mobile channel additions. Results from an event study on 115 announcements relating to mobile app additions of publicly traded U.S. retail firms between 2009 and 2016 indicate that the stock market responds generally positively to mobile app additions, but specifically to the two mobile app addition types. Stock market responses to search-related and purchase-related app additions are moderated by firm size, product category, and target customer age. For announcements of search-related apps, the market responds more positively to product retailers than to service retailers, and to small firms than large ones. For announcements of purchase-related apps, the market responds less positively to firms that target younger customers than firms who do not especially target them.     

Anticipating,preventing, and surviving secondary boycotts

Even the best stakeholder-managed firms can suffer when they become targets of a secondary boycott, as recent headlines attest. By definition, a secondary boycott is a group's refusal to engage a target firm with which the group has no direct dispute, in an attempt to sway public opinion, draw attention to an issue, or influence the actions of a disputant. This article provides a new perspective and tools for both scholars and managers concerned with this phenomenon. Building on a stakeholder theory foundation, we examine possible actions managers can take to avoid being surprised by a secondary boycott, propose conditions that raise the probability of becoming the target of a secondary boycott, and develop four alternative approaches for managing stakeholder relationships in a world of secondary boycotts.     

Market valuation of marketing alliances in East Asia: Korean evidence

This paper investigates firm value created by non-equity marketing alliance announcements of Korean listed firms in terms of stock price reactions to the announcements. We find evidence that on the Korean stock market, the announcements of marketing alliances produce significant positive abnormal returns, which reflect an increase in firm value, around the announcement date. This suggests that firm managers need to seek for various marketing alliances not only for an effective competition in competitive business environments but also for enhancement in shareholder wealth. The increase in firm value has inverse relationship with firm's size and growth opportunity. In particular, marketing alliances with firms based in G7-countries create greater firm value than ones with firms based in the home country. Our study provides investors, firm managers, and academics with valuable implications of an importance of marketing alliances for valuation of firms in other Asian countries as well as in Korea.     

Consumer Religiosity: Consequences for Consumer Activism in the United States

In recent times, organizations have experienced consumer backlash as a result of decisions to support controversial causes. To date, little research has attempted to explain consumers’ negative response as a function of religion. This study addresses that gap in the literature and examines consumer religious commitment and Christian consumers’ conservative beliefs in the United States as motivating factors for consumer activist behavior and boycott participation. Findings from a national sample of 531 consumers suggest that consumers evaluate seller’s actions and form ethical judgments. These judgments are a major explanatory variable in consumers’ voice complaints, third-party complaint intentions, and boycott intentions.     

Consumer boycotts due to factory relocation

Multinational companies that decide to relocate subsidiaries often appear socially irresponsible. Consumer boycotts are a common response to this type of action, especially in the subsidiary's homeland; however, the factors that motivate individual boycott decisions remain largely unexplored. Consumers' degree of concern and level of trust in the management might influence this reaction. Furthermore, consumers may distinguish between the role of the multinational holding company and that of the subsidiary when making the decision to boycott. Seven hundred and twenty-four subjects were surveyed during an ongoing consumer boycott in Germany providing data that support the assumptions of the study. Multiple-group SEM shows that the intervening variables have a stronger impact on the boycott decision for those subjects who are customers of the company. Lastly, the article provides implications of these findings for managerial strategy.     

The share of small and medium-sized enterprise in Greek manufacturing

This paper examines the determinants of small establishment shares in Greek manufacturing and compares the results to previous findings for U.S. small firms. Two groups of explanatory variables are used: Industry variables and small-firm performance variables. Both types of variables are found to have an impact on the determination of small firms shares, with performance variables being at least as strong as industry variables. Measures of entry barriers give mixed results. Capital intensity exercizes an expected negative impact. Advertising intensity shows a trace of positive impact for medium-sized establishments in consumer goods sectors. Operating efficiency of small firms also appears as a strong influence on their shares whereas investment intensity does not appear significant. These results are in partial agreement to earlier findings for U.S. small firms. Their generality is tempered both by the fact that they come from a small country of middle level of development and by the recognition that the year of observation (1983) was at the start of Greece's industrial adjustment to entry in the EEC. Both these concerns constitute areas of future research.     

How firm communication affects the impact of layoff announcements on brand strength over time

Firms usually undertake layoffs to improve financial performance. However, layoffs often have negative effects on various stakeholders, including consumers. In this paper, we examine the magnitude and duration of the potential negative effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. We also examine how a firm's communication accompanying a layoff can potentially counteract the observed negative effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. We compare how advertising communication intensity, social media communication (i.e., brand-initiated tweets), public relation (PR) communication, and communication of CSR initiatives moderate the main effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. Using an error correction model and drawing on 366 announcements of layoff events in Germany, this study identifies the magnitude and duration of the main effect. An examination of five years of weekly consumer brand perception data across multiple industries and domestic and foreign firms shows that advertising communication intensity and social media communication amplify the negative impact of layoff announcements on brand strength. Conversely, PR communication and communication of CSR initiatives help mitigate the negative effect. These findings provide guidance on the best way for firms to design firm communication in the context of layoff announcements.     

Young consumers’ innovativeness in apparel choices: A model including consumer self‐confidence

In industries with network effects, consumer innovators help to trigger the critical mass needed for a product innovation to be successful. Thus, firms can benefit from actions that increase consumer innovativeness in their target markets. Consumer innovativeness has been associated with variables such as hedonic shopping motivation, impulsiveness and status seeking. There is limited work on the impact on consumer innovativeness of consumer characteristics that reflect consumers’ self‐confident ability to choose. This study proposes and tests a model for consumer innovativeness that incorporates variables from previous research and uncovers the importance of consumer self‐confidence. We collect survey data from 534 Chilean girls, ages 10–15. After building constructs with the help of exploratory factor analysis, we analyze the data with linear regression estimation (via OLS). Our results reveal that consumer self‐confidence is positively and significantly related to consumer innovativeness. Our findings also add evidence ‐from a younger age group‐ regarding the significance of status seeking, impulsiveness and hedonic shopping motivation on consumer innovativeness. Results suggest that companies could leverage consumer innovativeness by taking actions to increase consumers’ self‐confidence. Innovative apparel choices in young consumers could possibly also be strengthened by communicating status achievement and by enhancing shopping enjoyment.     

Why do boycotts sometimes increase sales? Consumer activism in the age of political polarization

In this article, we argue that the occurrence, trajectory, and impact of consumer activism are in large part driven by the political environment in which firms operate, particularly by their country’s level of polarization and the political makeup of their core customer base. In environments characterized by low levels of political polarization, companies are embroiled in a relatively small number of political controversies, and as a result are rarely the target of consumer activism. Conversely, in highly polarized environments, people’s political sensibilities are easily offended, which leads to a relatively large number of political controversies. These controversies tend to arise along party lines, meaning they elicit a consumer boycott exclusively from one side of the political spectrum. Such partisan boycotts lead people on the other side of the political spectrum to rally around the company at the center of the controversy and to purchase more of its products. Whether a company’s sales end up decreasing or increasing depends on the nature of the issue at the heart of the controversy as well as on the political beliefs of its core customer base. We conclude by describing how companies can successfully navigate this complex interplay between political polarization, consumer activism, and customers’ political preferences.     

Effect of consumer animosity on boycott campaigns in a cross-cultural context: Does consumer affinity matter?

Global companies have often suffered from unexpected boycott campaigns in foreign markets owing to consumer animosity toward a country of origin. This study aims to empirically investigate how consumer animosity (toward economic sanctions) and affinity predict consumer boycotts. We conduct a country comparison, employing the PROCESS macro to test the moderated mediation hypothesis, using data from 571 and 500 consumers in South Korea and Japan, respectively. The results find a negative indirect effect of animosity on purchase amount via boycott attitude and intention in both countries. The direct impact of animosity on purchase amount (in the case of South Korea) and the moderated mediation effect of consumer affinity (in the case of Japan) are partially supported. Therefore, the offsetting influence of consumer affinity in mitigating the effects of consumer animosity in the context of boycott campaigns is highlighted, offering novel managerial implications.     

EXPANSION STRATEGIES OF U.S. MNCs IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Significant economic activities in the Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) since the debt crisis of the early to mid-1980s have created opportunities for U.S. firms to expand their business presence in the region. This study provides evidence on the shareholders' wealth effects of expansion by U.S. firms into the LACs. Three hundred twenty-two announcements of expansion to the LACs by U.S. firms during 1980 1996 are analyzed using event study methodology. Statistically significant excess returns of 0.52 percent are observed for the average expansion. Analysis of subsamples by mode of expansion shows that announcements of both FDI and non-FDI forms of expansion produce positive significant excess re turns. Significant positive reactions are observed for expansion to Brazil. Cross-sectional regression results provide additional insights into the determinants of wealth effects for these announcements.     

Is corporate governance important for regulated firms’ shareholders?: Evidence from Japanese mergers and acquisitions

This paper compares the reaction of bidders’ stock prices to acquisition announcements by regulated non-financial firms, banks, and unregulated companies in Japan. Results suggest that regulated non-financial firms do not experience a significant stock price response at merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements, although banks’ and unregulated firms’ M&A announcements are regarded favorably by the stock market. Furthermore, the effect of stock option usage and strict boards on the stock price response is weak for regulated non-financial bidders. The results provide additional evidence that regulation results in managerial decisions’ having less influence on shareholder wealth and thereby changes the firm's optimal governance structure. In contrast, the results provide no clear evidence that, for bank bidders, there is a significantly stronger or weaker relationship between governance and the stock price response to an M&A announcement than that of unregulated firms or regulated non-financial firms. The result does not support the view that regulatory monitoring weakens the effect of ordinary governance mechanisms.     

Product Regulation and Stock Prices: The Case of the US Food and Drug Administration

This study focuses on the stock market effects associated with the announcements of product approvals, denials and recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the impact of product approvals on research and development expenditures (R&D) and forecasts of earnings by Value Line. When the FDA announces approvals, the shareholder wealth of affected firms increases significantly. The announcements of denials and recalls by the FDA are associated with stock price declines. The stock price impact of recalls is dependent on whether the firm voluntarily withdraws a product or if the withdrawal is mandated by the FDA. Specifically, voluntary recalls are not associated with a change in stockholder wealth, while FDA mandated recalls are associated with decreases in stock price. In addition, we find that partial product recalls have a smaller impact than total recalls. An examination of the effects on competitors' stock price reveals losses when the FDA announces an approval or a recall, but no imt for a d. An analysis of changes in risk around FDA decisions suggests that, on average, betas do not change around approvals, recalls or denials. In addition, our results suggest that announcement period stock price behavior is unrelated to risk changes except for approvals where returns are positive and significant for firms with either increasing risk or no change in risk. We also find that approvals are associated with increases in R&D and forecasts of earnings for the sample firms, with returns to stockholders upon announcement of the approval being related to the increases in R&D and short-term earnings forecasts.     

Credibility of corporate announcements and market reaction: evidence from Canadian share repurchase programs

Do market participants evaluate the credibility of a firm's share repurchase announcement based on the firm's share repurchase history? Using a sample of 1,507 share repurchase programs for firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange from 1994 to 2005, we find that 69% of firms fail to acquire the target number of shares specified at announcement and many firms fail to repurchase any shares. We develop credibility indices and find a positive relationship between current announcement abnormal returns and completion credibility of previous announcements. We conclude that the market prices completion credibility of past share repurchase announcements in reacting to current repurchase announcements. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An evaluation of strategic responses to consumer boycotts

This article documents the relative effectiveness of the various marketing strategies, in particular the public relations strategies, that firms use to combat the likelihood of boycotts as a politically motivated form of anti-consumption. This study focuses on boycotts that relate to corporate practices and aims to provide a rationale for appropriate publicity-based responses to the threat of corporate practice related boycotts. The purpose is to determine whether the techniques that firms use to mitigate the detrimental effects of negative publicity will be similarly effective for a boycott situation. The authors use two experiments to investigate the influence of publicity-based strategic responses to boycott requests on consumers' perceptions and behavior.     

Do you punish or forgive socially responsible companies? A cross-country analysis of boycott campaigns

This study empirically investigates how companies' social contribution affects boycott intention by considering the role of brand strength. We use a dataset from two politically and historically conflicting countries, South Korea and Japan, at two points in time. A structural equation model is employed to test the hypotheses. Our findings reveal the pivotal role of companies’ social contribution in mitigating boycott intention through enhanced brand strength. The results, which are unexpected, show that the direct and negative link of social contribution to boycott intention is stronger for South Korea than for Japan. By elaborating the mediating role of brand strength, this study contributes to the literature by examining the differential impacts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on consumer boycotts in the context of a cross-country difference. Additionally, one managerial implication of this study is that global companies should appropriately respond to public expectations of being socially responsible actors while associating CSR practices with brand strength through creative communications.     

The effect of activity identity fusion on negative consumer behavior

Negative consumer behavior is an important research topic as it explores consumer behaviors that threaten a brand's image and financial stability. However, prior research offers conflicting findings on whether a strong consumer‐brand relationship hurts or protects a brand after a market disruption or a brand transgression. To provide clarity on this issue, this work argues that disrupting the consumer‐activity relationship motivates consumers to reaffirm and protect their identity, thereby leading to negative consumer behavior. The data reveal that, after a brand‐initiated market disruption, consumers with high activity identity fusion are more likely to spread negative word‐of‐mouth, boycott the brand, and avoid repurchasing the brand in the future. Moreover, the data suggest that high brand identity fusion protects the brand during market disruptions; therefore, prior conflicting results may be due to the fact that the consumer‐activity relationship was not accounted for. Theoretically, this work establishes that consumers' relationship with their consumption activities has significant impacts on consumer behavior. Brand managers and marketers are urged to develop strategies that focus on strengthening the consumer‐brand relationship and not the consumer‐activity relationship.