Israel is too expensive for us? Political consumerism, public policy and entrepreneurship: the case of the cottage cheese boycott

Abstract

All over the world, political consumerism is on the rise and so is the number of studies. Until the summer of 2011, the use of consumer power in Israel was very limited and political scientists did not focus on it enough. But the social protest and the cottage cheese boycott during that summer were a different experience. Analysing this boycott as a case study, the paper examines the question “Why do political entrepreneurs, the boycott organizers, choose to adopt political consumerism as their main political strategy in order to create a social and political change?” Based on the neo-institutional theory and on the principles of the rational choice theory, the study offers the “triangle of political consumerism’s model” which explains the interaction between the entrepreneur, the “Israel is too expensive for us” (Israel Yekara Lanu) consumer movement, the food corporations, citizens as consumers and the state.