A powerful tool in persuading companies to act more responsibly, boycotts have a proven track record
Boycott List of current UK boycott campaigns
Consumer Boycotts
According to the Co-operative Bank's own research, 28% of UK consumers boycotted at least one product in
2004 for ethical reasons.
Companies are sensitive to boycotts because they can have serious financial implications.
Supermarkets are especially sensitive about this.
At Ethical Consumer, we report on all the boycotts we receive which have a registered headquarters and
let our readers know. We don't necessarily endorse all of the boycotts which we report.
Boycott Targets
Sometimes a company can become a boycott target simply because it's big (and there is a questionable
industry-wide practice) or just because it is vulnerable to consumer pressure.
French wine producers were targeted in this way by groups opposing the French government's nuclear tests
in the Pacific.
However, companies can usually avoid becoming a formal boycott target by anticipating social trends and/or
by not being left behind by competitors. A responsible company should be able to achieve this by being
aware of the consequences of its decisions, not just financially, but for people, the environment and animals.
Problems with Boycotts
Some types of campaign group have problems with boycotts. For example, development charities, such as
CAFOD and Oxfam, have contended that boycotts of companies involved in workers' rights abuses could put
workers' livelihoods at risk.
Some organisations also stress that a boycott over such issues must be supported by the workers themselves
in order to be genuinely democratic.
Our Position
For ECRA, boycotts offer campaign groups and/or individuals
the chance to exert economic pressure for change and can be particularly appropriate when governments are
unwilling or unable to introduce reforms.
They are therefore a vitally important extension of our formal 'democracy'. They can also be especially
empowering for consumers through the process of actively rejecting something produced or sold in an
unethical way.
We see them as one of the four types of ethical buying.
