The Competitive Effects of Consumer Boycotts

I introduce the possibility of consumer boycotts in a Hotelling model. The more a firm complies with consumers' wishes, the higher its marginal cost, but the lower the probability of facing a consumer boycott. I show that the threat of a consumer boycott can increase the expected profits of firms. Firms lose out when they do face a boycott, but gain even more when their competitor does, giving them more market power. The stronger a boycott will be, the more a firm will cater to consumers' wishes. Yet, the effect of more competition is ambiguous.