소비자불매운동의 의의 및 법적 허용 한계 검토

Consumer boycotts are successfully initiated due to the Internet, as shown in the internet campaign last summer to boycott companies running advertisement in three conservative newspapers. They are critical of the candlelit vigils against American beef imports. The impact was so massive that the number of large companies' printed in those three papers dropped from 12-15 per issue to 2-4. Public prosecutors indicted campaign leaders for hampering business activities and this case is pending in court. Despite the importance and impact of the consumer boycott, relatively few legal studies have been devoted to the issue of consumer boycotts. This article is intended to provide legal criteria of consumer boycotts. First, it attempts to explore the legal status of consumer protection movement in the context of constitutional guarantee of the consumer protection movement in korea(Article 124). Second, it suggests individual consumer, consumer interest, Boycott action, as three elements to be evaluated as a consumer boycott, a key consumer protection movement. Finally it provides a few standards for the judgment of legality of a consumer boycott, with an example of a boycott against Michael Jackson’s concert in 1996.