Consumer Boycotts: critically discuss the impact of boycotting campaigns on your chosen international company.
Essay Question
Although boycotting as a voluntary, anti-consumption behaviour has occurred for decades, consumer groups are increasingly adopting boycotts as their favoured coercive means of expressing their dissatisfaction against firms in the marketplace (Sen, Gurhan-Canli and Morwitz, 2001). Boycotting campaigns against international companies are on the increase constituting a real threat to companies’ internationalisation, and competitiveness marketing activities. Using an example of your choosing, critically discuss the impact of boycotting campaigns on your chosen international company.
This might include:
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Your chosen company’s internationalisation.
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Your chosen company’s competitiveness.
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Your chosen company’s market entry strategy.
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Your chosen company’s reaction to the boycotting as an environmental factor that typically surprise international firms.
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Other?
It is suggested that research for the essay starts with the book chapters and articles on the reading list, followed by search for and review of some of the journal articles cited, and wider search of academic and practitioner sources to include those on the Internet.
The essay should be up to 3000 words long. Assessment will be based on:
. search and review of academic and practitioner reference sources
. structure and presentation to include English grammar and spelling
. analysis and discussion of sources accessed
. ability to integrate theory and practice
. use and citation of reference sources
Choice of international company
You should choose a specific, named international company, in any industry that have been boycotted in the past by any consumer group in any country in the world. It is probably advisable to select an international company with good international presence: this should facilitate gaining access to the type of information you will require.
Research
The starting point for your research of academic sources will be the book chapters on the course reading list. From these chapters, you should search for, review and discuss some of the journal articles which are cited. Wider search may lead to additional academic (book and journal articles) sources which are relevant for your essay.
You will also need to search for and review practitioner sources relating to the company you have chosen to focus on. These sources might include company reports and websites, company communications, practitioner journals, government/ industry/trade association reports, reports from research agencies, specialised press and so on.
Content
Introduction
Start your essay with an Introduction in which you introduce the topic to be researched and discussed, indicate the scope of your essay, and provide an outline of the structure of your essay – i.e. what you are going to include.
Headings
Use some Headings so that your main sections are clearly identifiable. Numbering systems are not necessary for essays.
Content
You will develop your own structure for the essay and use the reference sources within that structure to discuss particular issues, present research findings and other evidence.
