Pressure groups, government and business responses

A pressure group is an organisation that campaigns to change the behaviour of businesses or governments. When it targets a business, it wants that business to change its decisions; when it targets government, it wants the rules themselves to change. A new law affects every competitor and can force expensive changes.

Campaigning for new laws

Groups lobby politicians, publish research and use publicity to persuade government to act. If they succeed, regulation can follow, covering advertising claims, ingredients, emissions or product safety. For example, a group publicises how much sugar is in breakfast cereals aimed at children, and the government restricts their television advertising. Every cereal maker must then reformulate or change its promotion, so its marketing mix changes.

When pressure group action is seen as unethical

Action can be unethical when it involves civil disobedience (deliberately breaking the law), disruption such as members chaining themselves to a company's gates so staff cannot get in, or damage that leaves someone else with a large repair bill, like smashed equipment at a warehouse. Supporters may feel the cause is just, but the public often turns against a group that causes disruption: shoppers side with the business that lost a day's trading, donations fall and media attention moves on. A group with public sympathy has far more influence than one that looks like a bully, so bad behaviour can weaken the campaign itself.

How businesses respond

Which response a business picks depends on whether the group's claims are fair, how much public sympathy the group has, and what the change would cost.