BUYCOTTS AS A DRIVER FOR CSR: A CASE STUDY OF THE CARROTMOB

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the implications of consumers making use of their power to influence business strategies and buycotts as a driver for CSR. For the purpose of highlighting the influence of buycotts on CSR, a case study of the Carrotmob was conducted. The Carrotmob is a social activism movement that performs buycotts at businesses that in return use additional earnings to make their businesses more sustainable. Thus, buycotts are a stakeholder influence strategy that rewards those businesses that are in tune with stakeholder demands. What makes buycotts noteworthy is that they represent a form of activism in which public as well as private actors aim at solving environmental and societal problems collaborating with each other. To carry out the research, data was collected through archival analysis and was processed, first by a literature review, and then, by content analysis of the Carrotmob website and websites of businesses that participated in a Carrotmob. The analysis of the collected data demonstrates that consumers executing their power represents a form of voting and a method to influence businesses’ behaviour. Businesses have an interest to participate in buycotts due to possible financial and reputational gains. Moreover, increased legitimacy might be another possible outcome from buycotts. Therefore, businesses are willing to engage in CSR as a counter draught for buycotts ad consequently possible additional financial and reputational gains. However, the analysis shows that businesses do not exhaust possible reputational gains by mentioning their collaboration with the Carrotmob on their websites. Generally, the analysis of websites demonstrates a lack of CSR and environmental considerations. In conclusion, the dissertation suggests that buycotts represents a successful method to provide businesses with an incentive to engage in CSR. However, businesses have to further exhaust possible reputational gains through CSR to secure long-term investments in CSR. Keywords: Organised Consumerism, boycotts, buycotts, political consumerism, Carrotmob, social activism