2021/12/31 by Shelley Boulianne · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · Medicine · #Social Media and Politics #Gender, Feminism, and Media #Media Studies and Communication #Boycott #Consumerism #Politics #Social media #Odds #Political communication #Reading (process) #Political science #Public relations #Consumption (sociology) #Sociology #Social psychology #Advertising #Psychology #Business #Social science #Medicine #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2021.2020872
openalex publication_date 2021/12/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Social media use enables information consumption and exchange as well as group ties that can facilitate participation in boycott and buycott campaigns. Social media also provide low-threshold activities that serve as a stepping stone towards more intense forms of cause-oriented participation. This paper uses original survey data (n = 1,539) collected in 2019. Reading political information, posting political information on social media, and following social and leisure groups increase the likelihood of boycotting and buycotting. Changing profile pictures doubles the odds of participating in political consumerism. Overall, citizens use symbolic low-effort activities on social media to mobilize their peers to participate in political consumerism but, in the end, they also mobilize themselves toward more intense forms of participation.