Brand boycotting worldwide – statistics & facts
If advertising exists not to make people want to shop, but rather to remind them of it, boycotting consists of an active effort to avoid certain products, services, or brands in the name of a consumer's principles. The reasons for that decision may vary vastly across time and place, but, for now, global figures indicate that objecting to a brand on moral grounds can be more damaging than a bad customer experience. A 2024 survey asked adults worldwide whether they would boycott a company doing business with countries whose actions they disapproved of. In economies as distinct from each other as Indonesia and Denmark, the share surpassed 50 percent. Meanwhile, a study conducted later that year checked whether global consumers would reduce or cut their spending after very poor experiences with a brand. In Hong Kong, Spain, and Brazil, more than 45 percent would decrease the expense. Over one-fifth of respondents in France, Germany, and Italy would stop spending on such brands entirely.
