Consumer Boycotts in International Marketing: A Multidisciplinary Assessment and Review

Abstract

There is no shortage of discipline-specific literature on consumer boycotts. On the other hand, there are no studies available in international marketing that specifically investigate and analyze consumer boycotts and their multidisciplinary contents and issues. Basically the literature in this area is sparse and limited. Consumer boycotts originate from consumer activism and have been around for a long time. A well-planned consumer boycott can also turn into a large-scale social movement (see Nestle's baby formula case). From firms' perspectives, consumer boycotts are menace and can bring major disruptions to multinational corporations (MNCs). Business history reveals that most of the consumer boycotts remain unpredictable in their origins and outcomes because of product/firm-specific causes (P/FSC) as well as country-specific causes (CSC). MNCs and businesses can also be penalized because of their county-of- origin (COO) and home country locations. From consumers' perspectives, product- and company-related blunders lead to consumer boycotts that are the results of corporate negligence, deception, and insensitivities. Regardless of the blame game and other complexities, consumer-based activism emanates from a multitude of factors such as consumer complaints, economic nationalism/ethnocentrism, product failures, consumer animosity, and negative publicity. Other causes are corporate blunders, consumer frustrations, social/human rights problems, and acts of war. Additional research topics and literature that relate to consumer boycotts encompass issues of activism, consumer ethnocentrism, consumer animosity, economic nationalism, product ethnicity and negative brand publicity and product harm issues. Other topics are national boundaries and border zones, national character and culture, customer revenge and avoidance, etc. There is a strong need in international marketing to understand consumer boycotts from multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Current literature seems to be somewhat myopic and disjointed and could be the result of limited attention to interdisciplinary investigations, discipline-specific squabbles, and philosophical differences. This paper attempts to bridge the gap by investigating and reviewing multidisciplinary issues of consumer boycotts in global marketing because of the need for cross-disciplinary interests. We included empirical and non-empirical studies based on their multidisciplinary characteristics and affiliation with other areas of social sciences. We selected those topics that have not been covered in marketing journals. The present study is one of the few attempts to bring and synthesize literature from multidisciplinary fields. The paper's major contribution is to lay the foundation for other review-based studies that may be interested in interdisciplinary discussions. Future academic research can benefit by looking at those issues that remain hidden in other disciplines.