Headline Nov. 05/ ''' VOTE-ING WITH WALLETS '''

''' VOTE-ING WITH WALLETS '''

*SAID OR UN-SAID, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, at The World Students Society, we daily talk and debate and swear Global Elections. 

We take and talk against terrible injustice, we talk against lack of hope, we talk against and for Population growth, we talk lack of medical care, we talk about a horribly divided world-

And we talk *Education and Cost of Education*, all over, and over and over again. And we talk of building a great world. And we say:

''Great Things must be attempted. And Only Great Things must be done.''

And at first temporary fleeting host, Proud Pakistan the students are determined to change the  world's perception about Pakistan. And the students think and reason that Trade should be Pakistan's prime concern now.

And as we pull out our psychological welcome mats for the entire mankind, we do get to wonder  about :

Withholding our Cash from all Institutions and companies that cause harm or behave badly- as it is one of the few avenues of protest that we have as consumers.

SO WHY ARE WE SO BAD AT BOYCOTTING ?: And with that I turn to one master researcher and author Richard Conniff, for some great examples and insights. 

On the list of companies I dislike, Amazon ranks near the top, for putting bookstores out of business everywhere-

And destroying the ability of authors and publishers to earn a living.

Having fed to a monstrous size on such small potatoes, the company has now moved on to gut the rest of the Main Street retail and cut the heart out of communities everywhere.

And yet I shop at Amazon. My lame excuse is that it's now a 25-minute drive to the nearest independent bookstore, it's convenient to have a book turn up at my doorstep, and the price looks right.

This inconsistency isn't just an issue for left-leaners like me. Starbucks faced a right-wing boycott early this year when it responded to President Trump's immigration ban-

 With a pledge to hire 10,000 refugees.

But new research by Brayden King at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management shows ''zero correlation'' between public commitments to that boycott and subsequent purchasing behaviour by pro-Trump consumers.

That is, our failure to vote with our wallets crosses political lines.

Withholding our cash from companies that cause harm or behave badly is one of the few avenues of protest we have as consumers. So why are we so bad at boycotting?

There are hundreds of explanations for our inconsistency, according to Julie Irwin, a professor at the  McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin, who studies ethical consumerism.

''It's just really hard to think abut this stuff,'' she said. 

'' It's uncomfortable; people need to get on with their day. It's not that they don't care People who care more are often more inconsistent with their values. It just upsets them more.''

One problem with boycotts is that they generally start with a company employee blurting out some egregious offense to our sensibilities.

Usually its the dimwit chief executive opening his mouth to expose his reptilian brain. 

Think about Guido Barilla publicly scoffing in 2013 at the notion that his company, the world's largest pasta maker, would ever feature a same-sex family in its advertising.

Or recollect almost anything that the former Uber boss Travis Kalanick has ever said or done.

The resulting boycotts may seem effective. Mr. Kalanick was out of a job soon after the DeleteUber campaign early this year.

And the furore against Barilla didn't just elicit a mortified apology from Mr. Barilla. 

His company also undertook enough remedial action to earn a 100 rating just a year later in the  Human Rights Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index. [It's still at 100 today].

But these success stories typically have less to do with consumer purchasing power than with the sharp bite of bad publicity.

Outrageous remarks by executives tend, in any case, to be largely a distraction. They catch our attention and trigger our emotions.

Meanwhile, we get bored and look away from the dull crimes companies commit every day, like Wells Fargo foisting phony accounts and unwanted auto insurance on its customers.

Like Mylan gouging patients and government healthcare programs with a *500 percent* markup on the EpiPens.

Like Volkswagen selling ''clean diesel'' cars that ran clean only long enough to fool emissions testing equipment.

Like Exxon funding climate change disinformation. We are terrible, that is at boycotting business as usual. 

The Honor and Serving of the latest Operational Research on *Life and Living*, Democracy & Norms continues.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, the Corporate World, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society and Twitter- !E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Welcome Mats ''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless