Boycotts

A boycott occurs when one or more parties (e.g., consumer advocacy groups, activist organizations, local municipalities) ask that consumers refrain from making certain purchases to achieve desired goals. Boycotts target businesses directly and governments indirectly via boycotts of businesses operating under an offending government's jurisdiction. The boycott of Shell, Coca-Cola, and other companies for their operations in South Africa under apartheid is an example of such a boycott, sometimes called a surrogate boycott. Note that although some boycotts occur in an effort to meet consumer aims, successful boycotts are often used to achieve essentially non-market-based goals of primarily moral import. Boycotts have been used to combat discrimination, improve labor conditions, and raise the bar on corporate policies concerning the environment and animal welfare.

The term boycott ...