Umeå University's logo

Consumer boycotts can be a powerful tool for consumers to get their voice heard when they are unhappy with the actions of a brand, by stopping to buy the boycotted brand. However, their potential impact on brands depends on consumer participation. Furthermore, political boycotts are a specific type of consumer boycott which affects a country or territory and brands within them or brands which have a connection to them.

Social media has become an every-day habit among the Swedish population, where consumers can be exposed to political boycott posts which tries to persuade them to stop buying certain brands. The purpose of this study has been to explore Swedish consumers’ boycott memory, boycott attitude, boycott intention and boycott behaviour after being exposed to political boycott posts on social media. This can give brand marketers and brand strategists at brands which target Swedish costumers an insight if Swedish costumers have seen the political boycott posts, and if so, their perception of the political boycott posts, and their reasoning regarding their participation or non-participation in political boycotts. The research question in this study have been:

“What is Swedish consumers’ boycott memory, boycott attitude, boycott intention and boycott behaviour after being exposed to political boycott posts on social media?”

The study was delimited to include Swedish costumers born between 1990 and 2010, as these use social media the most. Furthermore, reference groups and consumer ethics have not been in the scope of this study. The method used to answer the research question were semi-structured qualitative interviews, with questions based on existing theory. Moreover, the theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviour was the foundation of the study. A thematic analysis was conducted on the empirical data from the interviews which resulted in 4 themes, consisting of: boycott memory, boycott attitude, boycott intention and boycott behaviour.

The result showed that most of the respondents remembered that they had seen political boycott posts on social media, but that it was difficult to remember the targeted brands. Furthermore, the boycott attitude was mostly positive as respondents agreed with the political boycott posts and felt as they wanted to participate. Negative boycott attitude was due to possible unintended harm, lack of interest and unsureness of their impact. The boycott intention varied and actions which could create intention to boycott a brand among the respondents were investigated. Lastly four categories of boycott participation were identified and defined when exploring the respondents boycott behaviour.