1985/06/01 by MONROE FRIEDMAN, Monroe Friedman · 4 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Action (physics) #Advertising #Business #Global trade, sustainability, and social impact #Marketing #Organic Food and Agriculture #Perspective (graphical) #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies #Political science #Variety (cybernetics)
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1985.tb00346.x
crossref issued 1985/06/01 · crossref published 1985/06/01 · crossref published-print 1985/06/01 · openalex publication_date 1985/06/01 · crossref published-online 2005/03/04 · crossref created 2010/07/22 · crossref deposited 2023/10/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01
Despite the theoretical and practical interest in consumer boycotts, little in the way of an empirical literature has accumulated on this form of marketplace action. The present study surveyed news sources and participants in an effort to understand consumer boycotts which occurred in the United States in the 1970–1980 period. A total of 90 boycotts was identified and described. The findings indicate that boycotts have involved an unusually wide variety of protest groups, target organizations, and social concerns in cities and states in every region of the United States. They also appear to be on the increase. Some factors which may influence the success of boycotts are identified and discussed. Also discussed are ways in which consumer boycotts in the United States have changed and ways in which they have remained the same since the turn of the century. Of special interest here is the growing use of “surrogate boycotts” to deal with issues with origins outside of the marketplace.