While politicians around the world are jostling themselves to meet the prices of the “Liberation Day”, consumers have also started to bend their muscles. “Boycott USA” messages and searches have been trendy on social networks and search engines, users sharing advice on brands and products to avoid.
Even before Donald Trump announced prices across the edge, there had been demonstrations and attacks on the president’s golf courses in Doonbeg in Ireland and Turnberry in Scotland in response to other policies. And in Canada, buyers avoided American products after Trump announced that he could resume his northern neighbor.
His close ally Elon Musk saw demonstrations in Tesla exhibition halls in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. New cars have been set on fire as part of the “Tesla Take-Down”, while Tesla Sales was on a deep decline. This has been particularly visible in European countries where sales of electric vehicles have been raised and in Australia.
This targeting of Trump and Musk’s brands is part of wider boycotts of American products while consumers are looking for ways to express their anger against the American administration.
The largest retailer in Denmark, Salling Group, has given the price label of all European products a black star, which allows customers to easily avoid American products.
EPA-EFE / BO AMSTRUP
Canadian buyers overthrow American products upside down in retail points, so it is easier for other buyers to spot them and avoid them. Canadian consumers can also download the Maple Scan application that checks bar codes to see if their grocery shopping is in fact Canadian or have Mother’s Companies in the United States.
Who does it belong to?
The question of ostensibly Canadian brands belonging to US Capital illustrates the complexity of consumer boycotts – it can be difficult to identify which brands are American and are not.
In the United Kingdom, for example, many consumers would be surprised to learn how many famous British brands are really belonging to the United States-for example, Cadbury, Waterstones and Boots. Global savings that try consumers to boycott American brands can also affect their local savings.
This complexity is also present in Danish and Canadian Facebook groups which are devoted to boycotting American products. Consumers exchange advice on how to exchange alternatives for American products.
The fact that Facebook is a company based in the United States only shows the depth of integrated consumption culture is in American technologies. European companies often depend on American operating systems and cloud storage while consumers rely on social media platforms belonging to the United States for communication.
Even when consumers manage to eliminate American products, if they pay with Visa, Mastercard or Apple Pay, a percentage of the price will nevertheless be released in the United States. If a touch payment is made with Worldpay, the percentage could be even higher.
These American financial services show how integrated American companies are in the retail trade in a way that consumers may not appreciate. In practice, an absolute boycott of American affairs is almost unimaginable.
All-American brands
But the American brand is not always subtle. In addition to the brands directly linked to the American administration – such as Trump and Tesla golf courses – many other companies have always been flamboyant American. Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Budweiser are only a few examples where their American and proudly exposed identities.
As such, consumers may avoid more and more clearly American brands. They can be less concerned with the complexities and contradictions of a more complete boycott.
The actions of consumers where the objective is political change is known as “proxy boycotts” because no particular company is the ultimate objective. On the contrary, brands and businesses are targeted by consumers as a means of reaching an end.
Do boycotts work?
A classic example of Boycott Proxy targeted French products, in particular wine, in the mid -1990s. It was in response to President Jacques Chirac’s decision to carry out nuclear tests in the Pacific. Large -scale consumer boycotts contributed to France’s decision to abandon its nuclear tests in 1996.
In Great Britain, for example, French wines in all categories have lost market share, because demand has dropped during boycott. At the time, it cost 23 million pounds sterling in the French wine sector (around 46 million pounds sterling today).
These boycotts recall that the interaction between businesses, brands and consumption culture is inevitably anchored in politics. The current political impasse shows that consumers can participate in politics, not only with their votes, but also with their purchasing power.
Trump clearly wants to demonstrate American force. The prices of the “Liberation Day”, which were higher than most of the expected observers, confirm it. But many American companies will now be concerned about how consumers in the United States and worldwide could react. Trump could see a mass mobilization of the power of consumers in a way that will give the president something to think.