JEDDAH — As the campaign against the rising costs of consumer products is escalating on social media, a recent poll conducted by Okaz showed that 63.8 percent of participants are for boycotting products that increased their prices. While 27.8 percent voted against boycotting these products saying it is useless, 8.3 percent said that they are not sure or don't know. Calls to boycott certain products became a popular trend recently on social media through hashtags on Twitter and Facebook. These hashtags are popular among people giving them a chance to express their opinion towards a certain matter. Previously, there was a campaign called, “let it rot” against the rising price of tomatoes and another one against the rising cost of eggs titled, “let it hatch”. These campaigns are also spreading throughout other social media platforms, like YouTube and KeeK and through applications like BlackBerry Messenger and Whatsapp. This phenomenon raised many questions on the importance of these campaigns and whether it will force businessmen to reduce their prices and listen to consumers. Another question comes to mind, what will the effect of such campaigns have on the economy? Saudi journalist and writer Abdullah Al-Mulhem tweeted sarcastically saying, “Because of the rising prices of tomatoes, the tomatoes should be kept in a safe box next to jewelry, and not inside the refrigerator.” Abdullah bin Nughaimesh tweeted “Yesterday it was chicken, then milk and now tomatoes until when are we going to become victims of businessmen's increasing prices?” Nashwa Taher, Saudi businesswoman, did not object to the campaign and said she was sorry the situation is like this, where people have to use social media to fight price increase of consumer products. Taher said the price increase is attributed to the absence of coordination between officials and related departments and the lack of initiatives taken to combat price increase. Despite the initiatives taken by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to analyze the reasons behind price increase, whether internal or external reasons, dialogue between the businessman and consumer is needed. Increase awareness Wael Abu Taleb, former JCCI official, said the boycotting initiatives through social media is a civilized way to protest against price increase. He said there is generally good awareness on how to use social media positively. Those who are trying to spread rumors without evidence will soon be exposed. He also said that there are laws against Internet crimes that punish those who defame others. Dr. Wasef Kably, member of the Council of Saudi Chamber, said, “I am a consumer before I am a businessman. Therefore, I have to protect consumers before protecting the businessman. We have to take a stand, through social media against any businessman who raises prices without any logical reason. We have to force him to bring the price down.” He said officials' doors are open to receive any complaints and to take the necessary procedures against businessmen, if it was proven they played with prices or practiced commercial fraud. Ibrahim Battarji, deputy president of the industrial committee at JCCI, said the campaigns against businessmen who raise prices without any reason are usually successful. Adding that businessmen tend to increase their prices before the start of a certain season, like Ramadan or summer. “We have to put in mind that sometimes price increase is attributed to the scarcity of the product in the market. There are other factors beyond the control of the businessmen. In this case, the campaign against the businessmen is doing more harm to the businessmen.” Battarji suggested that in this case, for the businessman to undo the damage done by the campaign, he should make advertisements justifying price increase.
