Professor Bruce Bimber - Political Consumerism

Professor Bruce Bimber and graduate student Lauren Copeland are collaborating in the study of political consumerism – boycotting and buycotting products or services for political reasons. In recent years, political consumerism has become a common practice, and there have been a number of high-profile national events, such as the competing boycott and buycott of fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A over gay rights. In a forthcoming study in New Media & Society, Copeland, Bimber, and a collaborator report on a national survey of 1,200 people, where they find that social media use is associated with boycotting and buycotting. The more people use social media, the more likely they are to boycott or buycott products. The analysis controls for people’s income, education, age, and a variety of orientations towards politics.

In another study, Copeland and Bimber examine why this relationship exists. Using Copeland’s dissertation survey, a nationally representative survey of 2,200 U.S. adults, which includes a more fine-grained measure of social media use, they compare use of social media for staying in touch with friends, for obtaining news, and for discussing politics to see how each of these behaviors is associated with boycotting and buycotting.  Copeland’s doctoral research examines what motivates people to engage in political consumerism and how political consumerism relates to other forms of political behavior. The first of several articles from her dissertation is forthcoming in Political Studies.

In addition to collaborating on the relationship between social media and political consumerism, Bimber and Copeland have worked together to examine how the relationship between Internet use and a variety of traditional political behaviors varies over time. One of their papers on this topic is forthcoming in Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 

Bimber is also collaborating with colleagues at other universities on a study of selective exposure to news.  They are examining how people make the decision to pay attention to news as opposed to entertainment, and when selecting news how they chose between partisan and neutral sources.  The group will also be investigating how watching partisan or neutral news sources affects political opinions, political tolerance, and likelihood of participation in politics.   

Bruce Bimber has been a Professor in the Department of Political Science at UCSB since 1993..  In 1999, he founded the Center for Information and Technology and Society, which he directed until 2006.  To learn more about Professor Bimber, please visit his personal website.  

Lauren Copeland completed her Ph.D. in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in September 2013.  Her primary research interests straddle political behavior and political communication. She is interested in how changing values, social structures, and media systems affect political participation and public opinion.  To learn more about Dr. Copeland, please visit her personal website.