Activism is the new black, and it’s currently calling for a touch of green. Protests, rallies and marches seem to be a daily occurrence in this age of great ideological division in the United States. And activists are often asking supporters to put their money where their beliefs are.
For example, in October 2016, Shannon Coulter co-founded the Grab Your Wallet movement, along with Sue Atencio, to invite people like her who were outraged by then-presidential-candidate Donald Trump’s behavior to boycott companies that support him, his businesses and his family. Currently on its list of offenders are Macy’s, L.L. Bean and Bloomingdale’s.
Why fight back with your wallet?
“I know that boycotts are a really effective way of applying pressure and that the brands involved pay very close attention to it,” says Coulter, whose day job is in marketing. “And I know that Trump’s brand and his family’s brand matter to him a great deal.”
[See: 7 Companies That People Are Boycotting Because of the Trump Family.]
Of course, boycotting isn’t unique to folks on the left. On the other side of the political spectrum, people risked under-caffeination and protested against Starbucks when the company vowed to employ 10,000 refugees. It works outside of politics, too: When United Airlines passenger David Dao was dragged from his seat aboard flight 3411 on April 9, videos of the bloody incident went viral, and the outrage machine turned against the airline.
“We have a genuinely angry and upset population, and it’s not just politics,” says Kit Yarrow, consumer psychologist and author of “Decoding the New Consumer Mind.” “Recent barometers are showing abysmal levels of trust in not just government, but also businesses, the media, even nonprofits. Consumers have a sense that they’ve been misled, taken for granted, taken advantage of or are just not being treated honestly or fairly.”
And she notes that with the rise of social media, those frustrated consumers can put out a rallying cry and mobilize droves of support with a few swift keystrokes.
“Consumerism, how we spend our dollars, is an amazing platform for change, and it’s just been so hard to coordinate that in the past,” Yarrow says . “I think we’re seeing an increase in that activity today because it takes a little less time and energy than it used to in order to make a difference. Frankly, it’s so easy now. It takes minutes to join a so-called protest.”
Indeed, consumer activism can be an easy way to express your beliefs, even beyond hashtags and the withholding of potential sales. Obviously, you can support the causes you value by making charitable contributions to related organizations. You can also shop in accordance with your conscience.
For example, if you’re concerned about climate change, you can simply tweak your diet and adjust your weekly grocery list to help the cause. According to a study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, eating locally sourced foods can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting back on shipping needs. But an even more effective strategy would be to trim down your red meat and dairy consumption in favor of more chicken, fish, eggs and veggies because production of the latter diet emits lower levels of greenhouse gases.
And you can support businesses that offer solutions to whatever problems plague your mind most. Again, if you’re environmentally inclined, you might consider trading your gas guzzler for a Tesla, Prius or other eco-friendly car.
[See: 9 Scary Things Consumers Do With Their Money.]
You might even consider backing such problem-solving companies as an investor, too. If buying shares of individual stocks doesn’t suit your investing style, you can find hundreds of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that apply some form of socially responsible investing strategy.
And looking for investments that align with your values doesn’t mean you have to lose out on returns. At impact investing firm Arjuna Capital, for example, investment managers are “looking for companies where the financial piece and sustainability piece are mutually reinforcing,” says managing partner Natasha Lamb. “Often, you find that the companies that are in highest demand and have the best growth prospects are those that are creating the solutions that we need. There is a long tail in demand for those products and services.”
The question is this: Does adjusting your personal financial habits to align with your values really make a difference?
In a word: yes. In fact, it might really be the only way to affect change on the corporate level. After all, businesses are all about the bottom line. So if enough people take their dollars away, you can be sure it won’t go unnoticed.
“At the end of the day, consumers of these companies, products and services are the ones driving demand,” Lamb says. “If that demand shifts, companies can go the way of the dodo.”
Evidence for the effectiveness of consumer activism: One former #GrabYourWallet offender, Nordstrom, has been dropped from the campaign’s boycott list as it has dropped Ivanka Trump’s shoe line from its inventory due to poor sales.
“People were desperate for a way to say how they felt. They wanted to make a statement, and they did,” Yarrow says. “Obviously, Trump heard it because he tweeted about it. The message got all the way there, so it was pretty effective.”
[See: How to Talk to Millennials About Money.]
Also remember that your words can matter as much as your money. If you don’t somehow explain why you’re diverting your dollars away from a business, they might not get the message. Coulter recommends sending companies your reasons for supporting or protesting their operations via emails, which can easily be forwarded up the ladder to the big dogs.
However you decide to direct your dollars, recognize the power you have in moving that money. Coulter notes that women in particular can affect great change via consumer activism as they statistically tend to control the majority of household purchases.
“Even in households where women aren’t making the household income, they typically will control most of it,” she says. “So that’s a huge amount of hard power. That’s a big lever for pushing back.”
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