Consumer Boycotts

A consumer boycott is a means of protest by consumers of products or services. In the best-known type of consumer boycott, consumers stop buying products from a company or cease using a company’s services to protest actions the company has committed. Boycotts have stemmed from consumers’ concerns over violations of human rights, animal rights, and environmental regulations. During the 1990s, consumers boycotted the athletic footwear and apparel company Nike, alleging poor working conditions in Nike factories outside the United States. Consumer boycotts also played a significant role in the American civil rights movement, perhaps most famously when a boycott led to the end of segregation on city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956.

Boycotts may be organized to draw attention...