Boycotts are more likely to be effective in industries which are highly competitive

One of the most fundamental aspects of our market society is that consumers should have the ability to vote with their feet and to not buy certain products if they do not wish to. But when are these boycotts effective in causing corporations to change their ways? In new research, Georgy Egorov and Bard Harstad find that boycotts should be more common and effective in competitive industries which have similar products, such as the oil industry, while in less competitive industries, government regulators may have to step in to settle issues and disputes.