IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v191y2024i1d10.1007_s10551-023-05415-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

#StopHateForProfit and the Ethics of Boycotting by Corporations

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore M. Lechterman

    (IE University)

  • Ryan Jenkins

    (California Polytechnic State University)

  • Bradley J. Strawser

    (Naval Postgraduate School)

Abstract

In July 2020, more than 1000 companies that advertise on social media platforms withdrew their business, citing failures of the platforms (especially Facebook) to address the proliferation of harmful content. The #StopHateForProfit movement invites reflection on an understudied topic: the ethics of boycotting by corporations. Under what conditions is corporate boycotting permissible, required, supererogatory, or forbidden? Although value-driven consumerism has generated significant recent discussion in applied ethics, that discussion has focused almost exclusively on the consumption choices of individuals. As this article underscores, value-driven consumerism by business corporations complicates these issues and invites further examination. We propose principles for the ethics of boycotting by corporations, indicate how these principles relate to different CSR paradigms, and show how these insights can help assess recent instances of corporate boycotting.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore M. Lechterman & Ryan Jenkins & Bradley J. Strawser, 2024. "#StopHateForProfit and the Ethics of Boycotting by Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 77-91, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:191:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-023-05415-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05415-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-023-05415-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-023-05415-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mejia, Santiago, 2021. "Which Duties of Beneficence Should Agents Discharge on Behalf of Principals? A Reflection through Shareholder Primacy," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 421-449, July.
    2. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wazzan, C Paul, 1999. "The Effect of Socially Activist Investment Policies on the Financial Markets: Evidence from the South African Boycott," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(1), pages 35-89, January.
    3. Hassoun, Nicole, 2019. "Consumption And Social Change," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 29-47, March.
    4. Mary Stoll, 2009. "Boycott Basics: Moral Guidelines for Corporate Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 3-10, January.
    5. Mary Stoll, 2015. "Corporate Political Speech and Moral Obligation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 553-563, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baron, David P., 2002. "Private Politics and Private Policy: A Theory of Boycotts," Research Papers 1766, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    2. Juwon Jang & Eunju Lee, 2024. "CEO confidence matters: the real effects of short sale constraints revisited," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 603-636, February.
    3. Auger, Pat & Devinney, Timothy M. & Louviere, Jordan J. & Burke, Paul F., 2008. "Do social product features have value to consumers?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 183-191.
    4. Eleonora Broccardo & Oliver D. Hart & Luigi Zingales, 2020. "Exit vs. Voice," Working Papers 2020-114, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    5. Ovidiu-Ioan Moisescu, 2015. "Adopting and Implementing CSR Policies in Travel Agency Business: The Case of Romania," Tržište/Market, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 27(2), pages 203-220.
    6. Wenbin Sun & Shanji Yao & Rahul Govind, 2019. "Reexamining Corporate Social Responsibility and Shareholder Value: The Inverted-U-Shaped Relationship and the Moderation of Marketing Capability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 1001-1017, December.
    7. Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo & Sofian, Saudah & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa & Saaeidi, Seyyed Alireza, 2015. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 341-350.
    8. Yimin Cheng & Xiaoyu Zhou & Kai Yao, 2023. "LGBT-Inclusive Representation in Entertainment Products and Its Market Response: Evidence from Field and Lab," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(4), pages 1189-1209, April.
    9. Jong-Seo Choi & Young-Min Kwak & Chongwoo Choe, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance: Evidence from Korea," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 35(3), pages 291-311, December.
    10. Arouri, Mohamed & Gomes, Mathieu & Pukthuanthong, Kuntara, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and M&A uncertainty," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 176-198.
    11. Gastón Reyes, 2023. "The All-Stakeholders-Considered Case for Corporate Beneficence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 37-55, November.
    12. Liwei Shan & Shihe Fu & Lu Zheng, 2017. "Corporate sexual equality and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1812-1826, September.
    13. Oberndorfer, Ulrich & Schmidt, Peter & Wagner, Marcus & Ziegler, Andreas, 2013. "Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 497-509.
    14. Janick Christian Mollet & Andreas Ziegler, 2012. "Is Socially Responsible Investing Really Beneficial? New Empirical Evidence for the US and European Stock Markets," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201228, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    15. Sandra Escamilla-Solano & Antonio Fernández-Portillo & Jessica Paule-Vianez & Paola Plaza-Casado, 2019. "Effect of the Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility on Business Profitability. A Dimensional Analysis in the Spanish Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    16. Abraham Singer, 2018. "Justice Failure: Efficiency and Equality in Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 97-115, April.
    17. Kim, Sooin & Yoo, Jungmin, 2022. "Corporate Opacity, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Financial Performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    18. Selena Aureli & Sabrina Gigli & Renato Medei & Enrico Supino, 2020. "The value relevance of environmental, social, and governance disclosure: Evidence from Dow Jones Sustainability World Index listed companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 43-52, January.
    19. Falck, Oliver & Heblich, Stephan, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Einbettung des Unternehmens in das Wirtschaftssystem," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-45-06, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    20. Benlemlih, Mohammed & El Ouadghiri, Imane & Peillex, Jonathan & Platania, Federico & Toscano Hernandez, Celina, 2024. "Low-carbon movement and stock market uncertainty: Insights from international comparisons between fossil fuel companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:191:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-023-05415-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.