The Psychology of Fairness and Boycotts: Loblaw's Brand Crisis in Grocery Retail(thecommongoodchronicles.substack.com)
thecommongoodchronicles.substack.com
The Psychology of Fairness and Boycotts: Loblaw's Brand Crisis in Grocery Retail
https://thecommongoodchronicles.substack.com/p/the-psychology-of-fairness-and-boycotts
2 コメント
> Loblaws is being boycott by a minor dwindling political party, with no impact. Six months ago, Loblaws' stock was trading at $126 per share, and today it's at $164 per share, a 30% increase. Loblaw's market cap is now $50 billion.
My primary interest is in the psychology of fairness and boycotts—I don't know how successful the boycott will ultimately be. Nevertheless, I also found the lack of impact on Loblaw's stock interesting. But does it meaningfully index the impact of the boycott? One could argue that the C-Suite's primary job has become financial engineering, and Loblaw did initiate a share buyback plan [1,2]. Stock buybacks have become the C-Suite's favorite financial engineering/stock market manipulation tool since they were legalized.
I think you're correct that there is plenty of blame to go around. But rather than increased taxation, I would argue that the government's allowance, or perhaps even facilitation, of the level of market consolidation we have today in the grocery retail industry is the bigger issue Canadians should be angry about.
In any case, I'm more interested in consumer perception, which doesn't perfectly reflect objective reality. Researchers have shown that consumers overestimate the impact of profit-seeking and underestimate the influence of inflation and increased costs on prices, making managing one's brand image more complex. However, as indicated in this quote from the article, the role of profit-seeking was clear in this particular case:
> The media reported that Loblaw’s intention behind the 50% discount discontinuation plan was to match higher competitor prices on near-expired foods.
1: https://www.loblaw.ca/en/loblaw-companies-limited-enters-int... 2: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/loblaw-initiates-share-buyba...
My primary interest is in the psychology of fairness and boycotts—I don't know how successful the boycott will ultimately be. Nevertheless, I also found the lack of impact on Loblaw's stock interesting. But does it meaningfully index the impact of the boycott? One could argue that the C-Suite's primary job has become financial engineering, and Loblaw did initiate a share buyback plan [1,2]. Stock buybacks have become the C-Suite's favorite financial engineering/stock market manipulation tool since they were legalized.
I think you're correct that there is plenty of blame to go around. But rather than increased taxation, I would argue that the government's allowance, or perhaps even facilitation, of the level of market consolidation we have today in the grocery retail industry is the bigger issue Canadians should be angry about.
In any case, I'm more interested in consumer perception, which doesn't perfectly reflect objective reality. Researchers have shown that consumers overestimate the impact of profit-seeking and underestimate the influence of inflation and increased costs on prices, making managing one's brand image more complex. However, as indicated in this quote from the article, the role of profit-seeking was clear in this particular case:
> The media reported that Loblaw’s intention behind the 50% discount discontinuation plan was to match higher competitor prices on near-expired foods.
1: https://www.loblaw.ca/en/loblaw-companies-limited-enters-int... 2: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/loblaw-initiates-share-buyba...
Loblaws is being boycott by a minor dwindling political party, with no impact. Six months ago, Loblaws' stock was trading at $126 per share, and today it's at $164 per share, a 30% increase. Loblaw's market cap is now $50 billion.
The real issue is the government's significant increase in taxation on farmers and truck drivers. This tax affects every stage of farming, from combine harvesters that get 2 mpg to semi trucks that get 6 miles per gallon. Food inflation was above 10%.
>In an era marked by unprecedented inflation spikes
Caused by bad government policy from an extremely unpopular government. Instead of the politicians admitting it was entirely their fault, they are attempting to cast the blame onto others.
Fail boycott.