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Comment on “Frontiers: Spilling the Beans on Political Consumerism: Do Social Media Boycotts and Buycotts Translate to Real Sales Impact?”

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  • Bart J. Bronnenberg

    (Department of Marketing, Tilburg School of Economics and Management/CentER, Tilburg University, 5037 AB Tilburg, Netherlands; Centre for Economic Policy Research, London EC1V 0DX, United Kingdom)

  • Jean-Pierre Dubé

    (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637; National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138)

Abstract

We discuss a fascinating new case study of the boycott and buycott of Goya products in 2020. The authors use detailed consumer-level shopping panel data to document two surprising and striking findings. First, social media calls to boycott had almost no effects, especially among the core Goya consumer group: democratic-leaning Latinos. Second, the authors document an unintended consequence: Goya’s supporters reacted by initiating a call for a “buycott.” The boycott and buycott combination ultimately increased Goya sales, especially among nontraditional Republican-leaning buyers, albeit only for a few weeks. We hope this paper will stimulate more work to determine which aspects of these findings generalizes to other instances of political consumerism. In our discussion, we offer thoughts on some of the potentially exceptional circumstances of the Goya case study and some directions for deeper testing of the underlying mechanisms driving the consumer responses.

Suggested Citation

  • Bart J. Bronnenberg & Jean-Pierre Dubé, 2023. "Comment on “Frontiers: Spilling the Beans on Political Consumerism: Do Social Media Boycotts and Buycotts Translate to Real Sales Impact?”," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 28-31, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:42:y:2023:i:1:p:28-31
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.2022.1426
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Neureiter, Michael & Bhattacharya, C.B., 2021. "Why do boycotts sometimes increase sales? Consumer activism in the age of political polarization," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 611-620.
    2. Sen, Sankar & Gurhan-Canli, Zeynep & Morwitz, Vicki, 2001. "Withholding Consumption: A Social Dilemma Perspective on Consumer Boycotts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 399-417, December.
    3. Andrew John & Jill Klein, 2003. "The Boycott Puzzle: Consumer Motivations for Purchase Sacrifice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1196-1209, September.
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