Boycotts and Consumer Activism in Ireland: Consumer Responses to the Israel-Palestine and Russia-Ukraine Conflicts
Authors
Kanci, Durmus
Issue Date
2025.17.12
Degree
Master of Business Administration
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Open Access
Abstract
The research investigates how international conflicts affect consumer activism in Ireland by examining how people from Ireland react to both the Israel-Palestine and Russia-Ukraine conflicts. The research explores the factors behind Irish consumer boycott participation to analyse their assessment of its political effects and corporate influence. This research project conducted by distributing 88 structured questionnaires to Irish residents through quantitative methods evaluated the extent of boycott engagement and moral along with ethical and social influences and public perception of boycott effectiveness for achieving change. The results showed that survey participants between 18 to 24 years of age formed the largest respondent group at 38 respondents. The cohort after them consisted of those from 25–34 (25 respondents) followed by individuals from 35–44 (14 respondents) and a minority group of 5 respondents from 45–54. Respondents' educational background was clearly really high; a good fraction had a Master's degree. This degree of knowledge may have affected their understanding of and interaction with political concerns including world conflicts. In conclusion, statistical data from the survey showed that consumers take part actively in boycotting activities. Question 6 revealed that most participants had experience engaging in consumer boycotts since 83.5% of them took part in these actions but 16.5% did not participate. The study adds value to academic research by showing how consumer activism works in Ireland.