Is boycotting a company pointless?

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Boycotting corporations only works when there is organization and planning involved to relay the message. Simply refusing to buy a product tells them absolutely nothing (except that their profits were down for the month/quarter if a big quantity of people boycott).

 

They aren't worried about money, however, every company is worried about PR...always!

Companies are always worried about money... They care about PR because PR has a strong affect on their ability to make more money...

 

Boycotting doesn't require you to turn into some full on grass roots activist dedicating your life to fighting against a company... You have control over your money and you can choose to not spend it. As such, you can boycott a company on your own without ever telling them you're doing so and why. To inform them is a courtesy, but in no means is it a requirement. The job of the company is to entice you enough to convince you to give up your hard earned money, not the other way around. So many people seem to forget this.

 

The problem with a Boycott has several points.

 

If you do not get enough people to Boycott, they will notice. Whereas if you have plenty, the Business will notice and the media will give you attention that might help your cause.

However at the same time your Boycotting might cause an issue in the business that they just pass on to the existing customers causing problems for them (such as higher rates due to membership number drops)

 

I know how you feel Locally there is only 1 internet service provider. Time Warner Cable. We cannot even get DSL from anyone so the only options are Time Warner, Dialup or if you don't really need the internet and you have a lot of disposable income you can get Satellite internet. They recently changed everyones rates that was not on a promotional contract from $46 a month for 15Mb internet to $91 for the same service. and that is for Internet only. No television service.

I assume you meant to say that without enough people the company won't notice? I would say that isn't your concern... It also isn't your concern to care about any negative impact other customers will face because you'll stop patronizing the company. Business isn't a place for some misguided sense of charity...

 

Obviously, a larger immediate drop in customers who are loudly yelling about X would send a solidified message to a company. It would likely bring about swift change in some area as well... But it usually won't fix the underlying issue that lead to the problem (the business failing to deliver real value to its customers). Individuals deciding to stop patronizing a company (or even a sole product from a larger company) will take longer to deliver the message (as there is no organized effort behind this), but it will have the greatest impact for customers. It will have this outsized impact because the business will be forced to re-evaluate its offerings and listen to a diverse set of customers to slowly start winning those people back.

 

Your money is the most powerful voice you have in commerce. Use it often.

[MidnightDevil]

Most has been said already so here is my little contribution.

 

Spread the word, but don't use doubtful sentences like you are doing now. Boycotting works if enough people go for it, if you harm them some way (either financially or through marketing). Go for twitter, forums, social networks, get your word out and people to listen and share your opinion. This will "awake" the people. Second step is try to get some other service into the area (either using emails or alike), eventually some other service will jump in if they notice there are enough customers there to be worth the investment. This doesn't need to be a big number at first, eventually people will jump in. This last step is what will harm them the most, competition. 

 

Go for it, don't be afraid, you got nothing to lose, only to win.

[cooky560 Veteran]

Its not pointless unless you cannot run your life without the services they provide, look around for smaller outfits covering your area, here there aren't really big monopoly areas so it's less of an issue but as others have posted if enough people follow your lead you can really get change from companies.

 

The worst thing that will happen is nothing apart from wasted time, the best is you win and you get unmetered data again. My ISP introduced traffic shaping and it sucks, they got a TON of complaints (including some 6000 threads on their support forum) about how their quoted speeds almost never happen due to the traffic shaping policy and as such they removed it from the 100 and 120mbs connections, not fantastic but a result.

[Torolol]

the power of boycott are in numbers & loudness, the more join your cause its the better.

So is the 'loudness', be vocal trumpeting yours in every manner possible with clear messages and great reasoning,
and make sure the messages are only directed to what you're boycotting,

end when engage in discussion/debate on what you're boycotting take measure that it wont be diverted to other causes.

[123456789A]

I boycott boycotts.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Not pointless in the least - at a personal level.  If you have reason to feel aggrieved by a company then you have reason to not give them any of your hard-earned cash.  You have reason to relay you treatment.

 

I personally will NEVER eat at a Chiquito's restaurant, ever.

[compl3x]

I boycott boycotts.

 

I'm boycotting this.

 

 

I personally will NEVER eat at a Chiquito's restaurant, ever.

 

Because? Honestly curious.