IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i4p949-d205393.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Individual- and Contextual-Level Social Capital in Product Boycotting: A Multilevel Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Grzegorz Zasuwa

    (Department of Economics and Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland)

Abstract

Product boycotts represent an important form of sustainable consumption, as withholding purchasing can restrain firms from damaging the natural environment or breaking social rules. However, our understanding of consumer participation in these protests is limited. Most previous studies have focused on the psychological and economic determinants of product boycotting. Drawing on social capital literature, this study builds a framework that explains how individual- and contextual-level social capital affects consumer participation in boycotts of products. A multilevel logistic regression analysis of 29 country representative samples derived from the European Social Survey (N = 54221) shows that at the individual level product boycotting is associated with a person’s social ties, whereas at the country level, generalized trust and social networks positively affect consumer decisions to take part in these protests. These results suggest that to better understand differences among countries in consumer activism, it is necessary to consider the role of social capital as an important predictor of product boycotting.

Suggested Citation

  • Grzegorz Zasuwa, 2019. "The Role of Individual- and Contextual-Level Social Capital in Product Boycotting: A Multilevel Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:949-:d:205393
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/949/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/949/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2014. "Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-386, April.
    2. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    3. Braunsberger, Karin & Buckler, Brian, 2011. "What motivates consumers to participate in boycotts: Lessons from the ongoing Canadian seafood boycott," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 96-102, January.
    4. 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.
    5. Mohammed Ziaul Hoque & Md. Nurul Alam, 2018. "What Determines the Purchase Intention of Liquid Milk during a Food Security Crisis? The Role of Perceived Trust, Knowledge, and Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Tobias Hahn & Noël Albert, 2017. "Strong Reciprocity in Consumer Boycotts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 509-524, October.
    7. Georgy Egorov & Bård Harstad, 2017. "Private Politics and Public Regulation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(4), pages 1652-1682.
    8. Eun Ea Lee & Hyunjeong Kang & Hyung Jun Ahn, 2017. "Word-of-Mouth of Cultural Products through Institutional Social Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, May.
    9. Andrew John & Jill Klein, 2003. "The Boycott Puzzle: Consumer Motivations for Purchase Sacrifice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1196-1209, September.
    10. Hoffmann, Stefan & Müller, Stefan, 2009. "Consumer boycotts due to factory relocation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 239-247, February.
    11. Lauren Copeland, 2014. "Conceptualizing Political Consumerism: How Citizenship Norms Differentiate Boycotting from Buycotting," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 62, pages 172-186, April.
    12. D. Harrison McKnight & Vivek Choudhury & Charles Kacmar, 2002. "Developing and Validating Trust Measures for e-Commerce: An Integrative Typology," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 334-359, September.
    13. Teodora Roman & Ionel Bostan & Adriana Manolică & Iustin Mitrica, 2015. "Profile of Green Consumers in Romania in Light of Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-18, May.
    14. Hoffmann, Stefan & Balderjahn, Ingo & Seegebarth, Barbara & Mai, Robert & Peyer, Mathias, 2018. "Under Which Conditions Are Consumers Ready to Boycott or Buycott? The Roles of Hedonism and Simplicity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 167-178.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chuanhui Liao & Huang Yu & Weiwei Zhu, 2020. "Perceived Knowledge, Coping Efficacy and Consumer Consumption Changes in Response to Food Recall," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Abbasi, Kaleemullah & Alam, Ashraful & Du, Min (Anna) & Huynh, Toan Luu Duc, 2021. "FinTech, SME efficiency and national culture: Evidence from OECD countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Grzegorz Zasuwa & Agnieszka Marek & Grzegorz Wesolowski & Joanna Niewiadoma, 2020. "Consumer Activism in Times of Economic Crisis and Recovery: A Cross-Country aAnalysis of the Role of Social Capital in Boycotting Products," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 928-938.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wassili Lasarov & Stefan Hoffmann & Ulrich Orth, 2023. "Vanishing Boycott Impetus: Why and How Consumer Participation in a Boycott Decreases Over Time," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 1129-1154, February.
    2. Scheidler, Sabrina & Edinger-Schons, Laura Marie, 2020. "Partners in crime? The impact of consumers' culpability for corporate social irresponsibility on their boycott attitude," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 607-620.
    3. Francisco-José Cossío-Silva & María-Ángeles Revilla-Camacho & Beatriz Palacios-Florencio & Dolores Garzón Benítez, 2019. "How to face a political boycott: the relevance of entrepreneurs’ awareness," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 321-339, June.
    4. Zhongmin Wang & Alvin Lee & Michael Polonsky, 2018. "Egregiousness and Boycott Intensity: Evidence from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 149-163, January.
    5. Alyahya, Mansour & Agag, Gomaa & Aliedan, Meqbel & Abdelmoety, Ziad H., 2023. "A cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between eco-innovation and customers boycott behaviour," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Tobias Hahn & Noël Albert, 2017. "Strong Reciprocity in Consumer Boycotts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 509-524, October.
    7. Grzegorz Zasuwa & Agnieszka Marek & Grzegorz Wesolowski & Joanna Niewiadoma, 2020. "Consumer Activism in Times of Economic Crisis and Recovery: A Cross-Country aAnalysis of the Role of Social Capital in Boycotting Products," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 928-938.
    8. Thanh Hoai Nguyen & Hai Quynh Ngo & Pham Ngoc Nha Ngo & Gi-Du Kang, 2018. "Understanding the Motivations Influencing Ecological Boycott Participation: An Exploratory Study in Viet Nam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Wang, Zhongmin & Lee, Alvin & Polonsky, Michael, 2015. "Egregiousness and Boycott Intensity: Evidence from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-06, Resources for the Future.
    10. Eugene Song, 2020. "South Korean Consumers’ Attitudes toward Small Business Owners Participating in the 2019 Anti-Japan Boycott," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    11. Kristina Haberstroh & Ulrich R. Orth & Stefan Hoffmann & Berit Brunk, 2017. "Consumer Response to Unethical Corporate Behavior: A Re-Examination and Extension of the Moral Decoupling Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 161-173, January.
    12. Stefan Hoffmann & Katharina Hutter, 2012. "Carrotmob as a New Form of Ethical Consumption. The Nature of the Concept and Avenues for Future Research," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 215-236, June.
    13. Lavorata, Laure, 2014. "Influence of retailers’ commitment to sustainable development on store image, consumer loyalty and consumer boycotts: Proposal for a model using the theory of planned behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1021-1027.
    14. Murat Hakan Altintas & Bahar F. Kurtulmusoglu & Hans Ruediger Kaufmann & Serkan Kilic, 2013. "Consumer boycotts of foreign products: a metric model," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(34), pages 485-504, June.
    15. Shi, Wei & Wei, Jingran, 2023. "In the crossfire: Multinational companies and consumer boycotts," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    16. Omar Al Serhan & Elias Boukrami, 2015. "Mapping studies on consumer boycotting in international marketing," Transnational Marketing Journal, Oxbridge Publishing House, UK, vol. 3(2), pages 130-151, October.
    17. Henrike Andersch & Jörg Lindenmeier & Florian Liberatore & Dieter K. Tscheulin, 2018. "Resistance against corporate misconduct: an analysis of ethical ideologies’ direct and moderating effects on different forms of active rebellion," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 695-730, August.
    18. Braunsberger, Karin & Buckler, Brian, 2011. "What motivates consumers to participate in boycotts: Lessons from the ongoing Canadian seafood boycott," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 96-102, January.
    19. Stefan Hoffmann & Michael S. W. Lee, 2016. "Consume Less and Be Happy? Consume Less to Be Happy! An Introduction to the Special Issue on Anti-Consumption and Consumer Well-Being," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 3-17, March.
    20. Suzanne C. Makarem & Haeran Jae, 2016. "Consumer Boycott Behavior: An Exploratory Analysis of Twitter Feeds," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 193-223, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:949-:d:205393. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.