Social impact in consumer behaviour-consumer boycotts as a consumerism activity

Abstract

Consumerism is not a new concept for marketing, but its importance is growing in the recent years. Researchers have studied the phenomenon of consumerism from within different dimensions. However, its relationship with social impact theory and consumer boycotts has not been dealt with accurately. Social impact can be defined as the effect of people on other people. A consumer boycott is a type of consumer behaviour in which consumers collectively prefer not to use their purchasing power towards a product, brand or all products of a country and boycott them. Motivations for participating in boycotts differ in accordance with various factors such as consumers' beliefs, needs or attitudes. Organizing a boycott and calling for people's participation is much easier today than it used to be in the past. Since consumer boycotts is a type of consumer behaviour and consumers are affected various factors including people in their family or friends or members in their reference groups, they can be thought a derivation of social impact. © 2017 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.