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Rabat – A new book released by the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences (FLSH) in Ben M’sik, Casablanca highlights the role of social media and public relations in boycott campaigns, focusing on the case of a 2018 campaign in Morocco.
The book, entitled “The Economic Boycotting in Time of Social Networks,” comprises eight studies that examine different aspects of boycott campaigns and the targeted companies’ responses to them.
The publication was supervised by professors Jaouad Bennis and Abdelhadi Samadi, with further contribution from a group of other academics and researchers.
Focusing mainly on the 2018 boycott campaign in Morocco that targeted dairy manufacturer Centrale, mineral water company Sidi Ali, and energy company Afriquia, the book examines the role that social media had in spreading the boycott campaigns and how organizations can use the medium to their advantage.
The campaign’s aim was to fight price increases and saw large participation by Moroccan citizens, who extended the campaign by several months and incessantly talked about the boycotts on social media.
“The present book seeks to understand the economic boycotting campaigns and their relationship to social networks which imposed a new method in dealing with individuals and institutions,” the book’s preface introduced.
The preface continued: “It [the book] focuses on the crises’ continuity and its role in the difficult moments that organizations undergo.”
The research discussed also deals with the extent to which boycotts are a response to economic and social crises, a relevant examination at a time when Moroccans have been protesting the continuing rise in food and energy prices.
The book also deals with the companies targeted by boycotting campaigns, examining how they use public relations and social media, and the effect that can have on the boycott campaigns.
It examines a few other related issues, such as the history of the campaigns in question and how they spread, whether such campaigns are unique to the Arab region, and a campaign in Algeria that sought to boycott cars assembled in the country.
The book comes during a time when Moroccans are protesting the rising price of living, as energy and food prices have been rising consistently over the past few years.
A protest march was organized on December 4, 2022 in Rabat under the slogan: “All together against the high cost of living, oppression, and repression.”
The ongoing protests came to a head in 2022 when a campaign demanded the resignation of Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch went viral online.
Read also: Damning Report Blames Morocco’s Price Crisis on Government’s ‘Lack of Will, Vision’
