Identity-based Boycotts in Politically Sensitive Markets: A Comparative Case Study of McDonald’s and Zara

Nermain Al-Issa

FIIB Business Review, 2026, vol. 15, issue 4, 478-490

Abstract: Brand boycotts in politically sensitive markets increasingly arise from symbolic and geopolitical interpretations rather than operational failures, challenging dominant explanations of brand rejection. While the self-congruity theory (SCT) explains how consumers withdraw from brands perceived as identity-incongruent, it offers limited insight into how such incongruence becomes moralized, publicly contested and collectively mobilized under conditions of political salience. This study examines how identity-based boycotts are constructed and mobilized in politically sensitive contexts and how brands attempt to realign value congruence in response. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive and comparative case study design, the research analyses two high-profile boycotts of McDonald’s and Zara during the Gaza conflict. Drawing on triangulated secondary data, including news coverage, corporate communications, news-reported social media content and market reporting, the analysis traces how controversies unfolded, escalated and stabilized over time. SCT serves as the primary interpretive lens for understanding identity-based meaning-making, while the Brand Controversy Response Framework is used as an organizing scaffold for cross-case comparison. The findings show that identity-based boycotts evolve through a patterned interpretive sequence involving perceived identity violation, moral outrage, symbolic amplification, collective mobilization and partial value realignment. Recovery efforts centred on procedural clarification proved insufficient; symbolic and value-oriented responses were central to restoring legitimacy. The study offers contextual insights into how political identity and mediated meaning-making shape brand crises in conflict-affected markets.

Keywords: Consumer boycotts; political consumerism; advertising controversies; social media outrage; brand crisis; Middle East; international branding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:fbbsrw:v:15:y:2026:i:4:p:478-490

DOI: 10.1177/23197145261462389

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