Abstract/Description
Following the escalation of the Gaza genocide in October 2023, consumers took a stand on the crisis by boycotting and buycotting brands. This research aims to understand people's engagement in political consumerism (Stolle et al. 2005) through participatory actions such as boycott and buycott (Deth 2014) of Israeli-made goods and goods made by countries supporting Israel. The purpose of such actions is to showcase consumer power by voting for (against) the appropriate (inappropriate) practices of parties (Cıftcı, 2020).
Facebook is an important platform that helps political consumers connect, communicate, understand, belong, and propagate their concepts and identities. This paper presents a netnographic study analyzing narratives that shape political consumerist identities in the Global South. This research explores posts from the public Facebook group Pakistan Goes Local from its inception in November 2023 till November 2024. This group promotes “buy local” and “buy Pakistani” themes in the wake of the Gaza conflict. This Facebook group has 51,000 members who share posts about their opinions about local brands to support the local economy through a buycott and engage in the boycott movement. This research highlights the role of digital community in enabling participatory consumer actions. From the point of view of theoretical and practical implications, this exploratory work in progress adds to the political consumerism and consumer behavior literature.
Keywords
Political consumerism, boycott, buycott, netnography
Track
Marketing
Session Number/Theme
Marketing - Session II
Session Chair
Dr. Mahar Ali
Start Date/Time
14-6-2025 10:55 AM
End Date/Time
14-6-2025 12:35 PM
Location
MCC -15 2nd Floor, AMAN CED Building
Recommended Citation
Baig, F. N. (2025). Buycott and Boycott: Digital Activism Through Facebook Community. IBA SBS 4th International Conference 2025. Retrieved from https://ir.iba.edu.pk/sbsic/2025/program/77
Buycott and Boycott: Digital Activism Through Facebook Community
MCC -15 2nd Floor, AMAN CED Building
Following the escalation of the Gaza genocide in October 2023, consumers took a stand on the crisis by boycotting and buycotting brands. This research aims to understand people's engagement in political consumerism (Stolle et al. 2005) through participatory actions such as boycott and buycott (Deth 2014) of Israeli-made goods and goods made by countries supporting Israel. The purpose of such actions is to showcase consumer power by voting for (against) the appropriate (inappropriate) practices of parties (Cıftcı, 2020).
Facebook is an important platform that helps political consumers connect, communicate, understand, belong, and propagate their concepts and identities. This paper presents a netnographic study analyzing narratives that shape political consumerist identities in the Global South. This research explores posts from the public Facebook group Pakistan Goes Local from its inception in November 2023 till November 2024. This group promotes “buy local” and “buy Pakistani” themes in the wake of the Gaza conflict. This Facebook group has 51,000 members who share posts about their opinions about local brands to support the local economy through a buycott and engage in the boycott movement. This research highlights the role of digital community in enabling participatory consumer actions. From the point of view of theoretical and practical implications, this exploratory work in progress adds to the political consumerism and consumer behavior literature.
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