Factors Affecting the Egyptian Public’s Decision to Boycott Foreign Products According to Companies’ Positions During the War in Gaza
, Vol.12
, Forty-Ninth Issue
PP:32-33
Authors:
Associate Prof. Dr. Nermeen Aly Agwa *-Associate Professor of Public Relations & Advertising,Public Relations & Advertising Department,Faculty of Mass Communication,Cairo University
Abstract:
The study aims to monitor most important factors influencing Egyptian public decision to boycott foreign products during the war in Gaza. It seeks to identify the relationship between companies’ positions towards the war and political consumerism of the Egyptian Public. A field study was conducted on a sample of 355 individuals from the Egyptian Public. The study concluded that there is a state of extreme anger among the Egyptian public towards foreign companies that directly supported the Israeli army, and these feelings extended to companies located in countries that supported the occupation. This means that the country of origin has a significant impact on the Public’s opinions of its companies. The intensity of the boycott behavior revealed that the vast majority of the sample (96%) boycotted foreign products, and most of them, more than two-thirds (70%) boycotted all foreign products and will not use them again, while nearly a quarter of the sample (26%) boycotted some foreign products.
The study revealed that the most boycotted foreign products were food and drinks, followed by clothes, bags and shoes. It turned out that there is a statistically significant correlation between the desire to enhance oneself and the behavior of boycotting. It also became clear that there is a statistically significant correlation between respondents’ perception of the ability of the boycott to make a change and the behavior of boycotting. Unexpectedly, it turned out that there was no relationship between the perception of the cost of boycotting and boycotting behavior. Besides, it is assumed that the higher the cost, the less the boycott behavior. This can be explained considering the severity of the boycott behavior and the awareness of the severity of the actions of companies and states, despite the presence of costs they bear from the lack of alternatives, their lack of quality, or loyalty to the product that is being boycotted. As for the relationship between the position of companies towards the Gaza war and the political consumerism of the respondents, it became clear that there is a strong correlation between the awareness of the enormity of the organization’s action and the boycott behavior, while, unexpectedly, it became clear that there is no correlation between the position of companies supporting Gaza and boycott behavior, as the respondents who strongly respect the position of companies supporting Gaza did not prefer to buy their products in the first place. The researcher attributes this to their interest primarily in supporting the Egyptian product considering the severe economic crisis in Egypt, regardless of supporting the Egyptian or international product for the Palestinian cause.
Key Words:
Boycott, Consumerism, Corporate Positions, Boycott Campaigns, War in Gaza.
Research Language:
Arabic
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