Branded by consumers

THE GUARDIAN

Apart from being among the world’s most well-known brands, they happen to be the most boycotted brands on the planet. That finding came from the global GMIPoll, an online opinion poll that surveyed 15,500 consumers in 17 countries.

Nestlé emerges as the most boycotted brand in the UK because of what respondents consider Its “unethical use and promotion of formula feed for babies in third world countries.” On its website, Nestlé said it managed to put an end to the controversy over its marketing of infant formula in the developing world in the 1980s.

GMIPoll found that Nestlé was boycotted by almost twice as many UK consumers than McDonalds, the second most boycotted brand in the UK.

According to the poll, 36 per cent of UK consumers say they boycott one or more brands.

However, the keenest boycotters are the Chinese, with more than half of the respondents saying they refused to buy products from certain manufacturers. Denmark (49 per cent) and France (46 per cent) came a close second and third.

Mexican and Japanese consumers seemed to be most tolerant with only 15 per cent of Mexican respondents and one-fifth of Japanese respondents avoiding particular brands. The Chinese cite bad publicity (negative media coverage of brands) as their reason for boycotting brands.

Chinese consumers said they avoided mainly Sony and local brands.

The dislike for Sony is under-standable given the feeling of antagonism the Chinese harbour

towards Japan, related to the history of conflict between the two countries. The dislike of local brands is more intriguing and more ironic, given the way Chinese goods are snapped up in the West.

In other findings, more than a third of consumers worldwide boycott at least one brand, while a fourth of all consumers worldwide also claimed they were “environmentally responsible” or “socially responsible” when they shop.

But let us not overestimate the power of consumer boycotts. Nestle, in the first six months of this year, made a profit of 3.7 billion Swiss francs, up 32 per cent from a year ago. Nike, Coke and McDonald’s are also highly profitable companies, despite their less than stellar public image.