Knowledge Constraint on Consumer Boycott Against Global Businesses' Social Sustainability Violations

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1, 25 - 52, 30.05.2024

Ayşegül Karataş , Ali Erkan Abdullah

https://doi.org/10.30561/sinopusd.1353944

Öz

Sustainability concerns of both businesses and consumers are increasing. For a more sustainable world, businesses should prioritize sustainability in their operations, and consumers should support these practises by their purchasing power. However, it is still seen that even global businesses commit sustainability violations, and some consumers fail to boycott them even though they have motivation and intent. There are many constraints that limit the intent to turn into action. Knowledge about the violation stands out as a prerequisite among these constraints.
In this quantitative research, consumers' boycott motivation and intent are examined in the context of social sustainability violations of Apple and Amazon, without giving the names of the companies. Then, the knowledge of the sample is questioned related to the commiters of the violations. Results show that more than two third of the sample has high motivation to boycott these companies and the relationship between boycott motivation and intention is statiscally significant. However, nearly half of the motivated consumers do not know the committer of the violation in each case. Consumers who are motivated and identify the committer in the cases are about one-third of the sample. The most remarkable result of this research is that consumers have severe knowledge limitations on the enforcement power of businesses in penalizing their violations.
This exploratory study gives insights into the knowledge constraints on consumer boycotts against social sustainability violations of global businesses. However, the results can not be generalizable. More similar research focused on different cases is required. For practitioners, the foundation of an organization that can handle communication regarding sustainability violations is recommended to increase consumers' knowledge.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sustainability violations, Social sustainability, Sustainable consumption, Boycott motivation

Küresel Şirketlerin Sosyal Sürdürülebilirlik İhlallerine Yönelik Boykot Davranışında Farkındalık Engeli

Öz

Hem işletmelerin hem de tüketicilerin sürdürülebilirlik kaygıları günden güne artmaktadır. Daha sürdürülebilir bir dünya için işletmelerin sürdürülebilir uygulamalara öncelik vermesi ve tüketicilerin de bu eylemleri satın alma gücüyle desteklemesi beklenmektedir. Ancak hâlâ küresel işletmelerin bile sürdürülebilirlik ihlalleri yaptığı ve bazı tüketicilerin motivasyon ve niyetleri olmasına rağmen bu işletmeleri boykot etmedikleri görülmektedir. Çünkü, motivasyon ve niyetlerin eyleme dönüşmesini sınırlandıran pek çok kısıt bulunmaktadır. Bu kısıtlar arasında tüketicinin ihlale ilişkin bilgisinin olup olmaması bir önkoşul olarak öne çıkmaktadır.
Bu nicel araştırmada, şirketlerin isimleri verilmeden, Apple ve Amazon'un sosyal sürdürülebilirlik ihlalleri konusunda tüketicilerin boykot motivasyonu ve niyeti incelenmektedir. Daha sonra örneklemin ihlalleri gerçekleştirenlerle ilgili bilgisi sorgulanmaktadır. Sonuçlar, araştırma örnekleminin yaklaşık olarak üçte ikisinin yüksek boykot motivasyonu taşıdığını göstermektedir. Boykot motivasyonu ile boykot niyeti arasındaki ilişki de istatistikî açıdan anlamlıdır. Ancak motivasyonu yüksek tüketicilerin neredeyse yarısı ihlali gerçekleştiren şirketi bilmemektedir. Yüksek motivasyonu olan ve şirketleri bilen tüketiciler ise örneklemin yaklaşık üçte birini oluşturmaktadır. Bu araştırmanın en dikkat çekici sonucu, tüketicilerin, işletmelerin sosyal sürdürülebilirlik ihlallerine yönelik boykot motivasyonlarına sahip olmalarına rağmen bilgi eksiklikleri nedeniyle bu motivasyonların davranışa dönüşmesi ihtimalinin düştüğüdür. Tüketicilerin bilgi düzeyinin artırılması için sürdürülebilirlik ihlallerine ilişkin iletişimi yönetebilecek bir organizasyonun kurulması önerilmektedir. Araştırmanın en büyük kısıtı sonuçlarının genelleştirilmesinin mümkün olmamasıdır. Genelleme yapabilmek için farklı ihlallere odaklanan benzer araştırmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sürdürülebilirlik İhlalleri, Sosyal Sürdürülebilirlik, Sürdürülebilir Tüketim, Boykot Motivasyonu

Kaynakça

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