Does boycotting a company ever work?

Question

I hear talk of boycotting companies, but it seems that most large companies don't care about the people that finance them.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes it can work, but it has to have a lot of public support.

A link to a list of successful boycotts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Sea...

However, your impression that companies don't care about the people that finance them is exceptionally misguided.

No company can go anywhere or do anything without the capital to help it exist and it's customers to give it a reason to exist.

If there is no capital from people who finance them then there are no machines, desks, chairs, buildings, telephones or anything else to help it go.

If there are no customers, then there's no reason for the company to exist, (and the investors will go away quickly.)

The company also needs profits. They can't sell their products for less than it costs to produce them or they will soon not be able to produce anything.

If a company's needing to make a profit makes it seem as though they don't care about their customers... well, they just can't do things for free, any more than you can go do your full time job without being paid for it. (if you did, you would soon starve, unless you have another source of income.)

Good luck organizing your boycott.

Answer 2

I don't think there's been one yet that's worked (well, maybe except for the bus boycott in Montgomery in 1955, but that's a different story).

The problem is in getting everyone to agree to boycott. Most people couldn't be bothered, or just don't care enough about whatever the issue is that they're supposed to be boycotting about.

Answer 3

A boycott can only work if the people boycotting are already patrons.  Campanies care about their customers, not fringe groups who hate them and pretend they are loyal customers as they call for a boycott.

Also, there has to be a lot of boycotting patrons to make any impact.  If the boycott comes from a group that is not well-liked, or lacks credability with the public the publicity will likely just lead to more sales.

The key would be to appeal to the patrons.  In most cases, however, the group calling for the boycott is already entrenched in a philisophical war with the patrons (Wal-mart come to mind).