In recent months, reports that companies like Amazon and Target have been either funding or providing information to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This begs the question, if your favorite company funds something you disagree with, will you stop buying it? Or does it not have a strong enough impact?

A person’s moral values are what influences the decision they make. Your moral values differentiate right and wrong, but what do you do when you believe something is wrong yet you still like the company’s product? 

For issues like animal cruelty it’s easier for students to draw the line between what they believe they can versus can’t support.

Some students noted that other factors impacted their purchasing decisions more such as animal cruelty.

“I used to get the Benefit brow gel, but Benefits is notorious for animal cruelty, so even though I really like it, I’ve stopped buying it,” Mackenzee Stanley-Eldred ‘27 said.

However the large difference between buying from a brand like Benefit compared to a multi-billion dollar corporation like Target, is that a boycott would affect Benefit more. It’s hard to see the impact of not going to companies like Target or Amazon when they’re going to continue making money regardless of if you spend your money there. 

While price, trendiness, and quality are important factors that students take into consideration before purchasing a product, students’ personal values also play a large role in their purchasing decisions, as well as the influence of those around them. 

“If I don’t like something and it doesn’t align with my personal values, I’m not going to spend my money on it,” Lillian Siebers ‘27 said.

During the pandemic, similar issues arose, and small businesses were struggling to compete with larger corporations for consumer attention, so buyers had to be thoughtful when deciding where to buy from.

“My mom made me stop buying stuff from Amazon during covid to support small businesses,” Ava Chapman ‘27 said.

However when consumers are unaware of a company’s motives and how their money and information about buyers is being used, it’s impossible to know that they should stop buying from said company.

Some students said they were uncomfortable about boycotting companies when it was difficult to get accurate information on their political or social policies.

Others said they just didn’t care enough about some of the company policies to adjust their spending.

“I just don’t care that much,” Chapman said. 

Still, when made aware of some of the policies, Siebers said her incentive to buy from those companies might decrease.

In the future, companies might have to consider whether or not to adjust their policies if they receive backlash.