PRESSURE GROUPS

A pressure group is an organisation formed by people with a shared goal who put pressure on the
public, governments and businesses with a view to achieving that goal.
The definition above encompasses a wide range of different organisations. Not only
traditional pressure groups such as Greenpeace, but also trade associations such as
the National Farmers Union. The bulk of this article deals with groups which try to change
the actions of businesses. By contrast, trade associations work to promote the interests of their
business members.
Examples of pressure groups and their main areas of activity
NAME AREA OF ACTIVITY
Greenpeace Environment
Friends of the Earth Environment
Surfers Against Sewage Beach pollution
Trade unions Employee rights
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Employers interests Consumers Association
Consumer protection Worldwide Fund for Nature Animal protection
Jubilee 2000 Debt forgiveness in less developed countries Chambers of Commerce Local business
interests Amnesty International Human rights
Pressure group activity is an important issue in Business Studies because of the effect it can have on
a companys strategy or image. For example, Nestle was pushing hard to develop sales of
baby milk powder in less developed countries. Many pressure groups criticised Nestle for marketing
a product that can become a dangerous chemical cocktail if mixed in unhygienic conditions.
Pressure groups organised a worldwide consumer boycott against Nestle products. Similar
consumer action has hit Shell and Barclays Bank at other times.
In order to achieve their aims, pressure groups have three main targets:
Pressuring a company to change its policies.
Imposing change by encouraging new laws to be passed by parliament.
Encouraging the public to change its approach to consumption or disposal/pollution.
Pressure group activity aimed at achieving changes in the law has two general areas of focus. First,
the pressure group will attempt to persuade the government ministers who make the laws and the
Members of Parliament who vote them in. This process, of trying to influence those in power, is
known as lobbying.

There is a second important way pressure groups attempt to achieve changes in the law. If a
pressure group can successfully sway public opinion to its side, the pressure from the public and the
media may be enough to convince the government of the need for change. The process of convincing
the public to believe in the pressure groups cause is likely to follow two paths: 1 Pressure
groups attempt to use the news media to report their story in a favourable light. This use of public
relations (PR) as a form of marketing is common. The backbone of any PR strategy is a stream of
press releases. Pressure group press releases may take the form of a warning that some form of
demonstration or direct action is going to take place. This is how the evening news is able, for
example, to feature a group of Greenpeace protestors delivering mock containers of nuclear waste to
the gates of Downing Street. Reporters and TV cameras will have been forewarned by a press
release to turn up at a particular time. Some people feel this kind of manipulation of the media is not
right. However, it does allow even relatively small pressure groups significant amounts of media
exposure.
2 Pressure groups also provide statistics to back up the cause for which they are campaigning.
Sympathetic journalists then write about this data as if they had found it out for themselves.
Pressure Groups as Stakeholders
The job of a business pressure group is to become accepted as a stakeholder. Where a pressure
group is seeking changes in the objectives or strategy of a business, it must convince the firm of its
claim to be a valid stakeholder. In order for this to happen, the pressure group must persuade the
business that it represents the views of people affected by the actions of the business. For example,
a trade union may represent the interests of workers and the Consumers Association may be
accepted as the representative of customers. Businesses are unlikely to accept a new stakeholder
easily. Instead they will use a range of tactics to disprove the notion that the pressure group is a
valid stakeholder. The winner of this battle is likely to win the underlying argument.
A business may be able to convince its other stakeholders that the pressure group has no right to be
considered when making corporate decisions. Then it will be able to operate without undue concern
about the pressure groups activities. However, where a pressure group has succeeded in
gaining acceptance as a stakeholder, it is in the firms self-interest to listen to its views. This
is because a disgruntled stakeholder could damage a firms image sufficiently to cause
significant harm to its trading results. On the other hand, where the pressure group is not perceived
to be a stakeholder, the firms image is unlikely to be directly affected by the actions of the
pressure group. Secure in this knowledge, the firm is therefore safe to pursue its strategy.
CHANGING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Some pressure groups campaign for consumers to change their behaviour. For example,
environmental groups are keen to promote the sale of reusable products. The implications of this
fact for a manufacturer of disposable nappies will be different from those for a manufacturer of
cotton ones! It goes without saying that it is vital that firms keep a close watch on behavioural
trends within their market. This is even more important when a pressure group is actively
campaigning for change within a certain market. The change need not be viewed as a threat; some
firms may see it as an opportunity.
CHANGES IN THE LAW
Where a pressure group succeeds in its campaign for a change in the law, firms may find that they
are required by law to alter their operations in some way. This may mean, in the case of a chemical

firm for example, the need to fit pollution filters to its factory in order to reduce emissions which are
harmful to the environment.
RISING COSTS
The example of the pollution filters given above illustrates one way in which the activities of a
pressure group may force a firms costs to increase. Other cost increases may result from
battling against pressure groups, perhaps by running advertisements that dispute claims made by
pressure groups about the firms activities.
REPUTATION AND IMAGE
The image which a firm seeks to convey to its customers may be harmed as a result of pressure
group actions. This is especially so in cases where a pressure group is campaigning directly against
one particular firm. The result may well be a decline in sales.
POSITIVE RESPONSE
In certain circumstances companies may agree with pressure groups and actually institute the
changes which pressure groups are demanding. This decision could be motivated by genuine ethical
beliefs, by a desire to protect the image of the company, or simply as a result of the desire to avoid
the costs which may be incurred in doing battle with a pressure group. Often, a compromise will be
reached, following negotiations between the company in question and representatives of the
pressure group.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
A common way in which firms deal with the actions of pressure groups is to launch their own PR
campaign, aimed at discrediting or countering the claims of the pressure group. Although this
course of action costs money and probably takes some time, it means that a firm is able to use its
financial and marketing muscle in order to compete with the pressure group.
SAS BATTLES RESULT IN A STRING OF SUCCESSES Surfers Against Sewage was set up in May
1990 to campaign for clean beaches around the UK. Since its formation, through PR events and
lobbying, SAS has made its voice heard in a number of important places.
It has been invited to give evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on bathing water, the
European Parliament and Commission, the chartered Institute of Water and Environmental
Management and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. It has also supported a number of legal
cases, brought against water companies charged with polluting beaches.
SAS has campaigned for water companies to fully treat all marine sewage discharges. This policy
has been adopted by Welsh Water, with another water company expected to follow soon.
Through a range of different activities, Surfers Against Sewage has significantly affected the
operations of many of the UKs water companies. This has been achieved in a remarkably
short space of time.
Source: Adapted from SAS website
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

A trade association is an organisation set up to represent the interests of all firms within an industry.
Trade associations often lobby parliament on behalf of their industry and usually have significant
access to the ears of politicians. Although this action tends to happen behind the scenes, away from
the glare of media attention, it is often the most effective way to ensure that a pressure group,
campaigning for changes in the law, is defeated.
FINANCE
A well-financed pressure group is more likely to be able to achieve success than one with few funds.
Finance helps with both marketing and organisational issues. Well-funded pressure groups will be
able to stage publicity-grabbing events more regularly and on a larger scale. This helps the public
relations activities of the group.
The bigger pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth run marketing campaigns in just the same
way as any large business. They commission market research companies to help them identify the
right target audience for their particular cause. They may then run expensive advertising, such as
Friends of the Earths poster campaign on acid rain. Another form of marketing made
available by increased finance is the use of direct mail shots to raise awareness and attract new
members.
GLOBAL CLIMATE COALITION
The Global Climate Coalition is a pressure group based in Washington DC. It has a staff of just four
people but it represents the interests of thousands of small to medium-sized American firms along
with giant American oil and power companies. As a result, the coalition is immensely powerful,
having access to millions of dollars of funding, along with extensive connections within the US
government. At present, the coalition is lobbying against the terms of the agreement reached at the
UN Convention on Climate Control. The convention agreed on targets for emissions which countries
that sign the agreement must agree to meet within a certain number of years. These emissions are
those caused by the burning of oil for the generation of power the very business which the
coalition represents. As a result, the coalition is working hard behind the scenes in Washington to
prevent the US from signing up to the agreement. Signs from Washington at present indicate that
the coalition is achieving great success in building up support against the signature of the
agreement.
Source: Adapted from an article by Nicholas Schoon in The Independent, 7/6/97
PUBLIC SYMPATHY
The ideal position for a pressure group is to be campaigning for changes which the general public
support. If the pressure group has the backing of the public, the pressure it brings to bear on
politicians will be much more severe. The pressure group will tend to act as a focus for public
support, rather than battling to achieve it. Theoretically, politicians should respond to the wishes of
those who elected them and change should follow.
Pressure groups campaigning for causes which the public either disagree with or, more likely,
dont know or care about, face a much tougher task. They have to raise the publics
level of awareness before persuading them of their case. This is likely to take a long time and may
require high risk or gimmicks to achieve the high level of media coverage needed to
get the message through.

ACCESS TO POLITICIANS
Accepting the fact that the key objective of many pressure groups is to force changes in the law, it is
the law makers they must seek to influence. This means that access to politicians enhances the
chances of success for pressure groups. Concern has been expressed over the extent to which
certain pressure groups can influence politicians. Many trade associations have friends in
high places and various instances of unethical practice have come to light. Some of the most
notable have involved the tobacco industry and sales of arms and weapons to foreign countries,
sanctioned by the government.
ACCESS TO MEDIA
Since much pressure group activity involves using the media as a mouthpiece via public relations
exercises, good access to the media plays a crucial part in a pressure groups success. Some
pressure groups seem to have great success in attracting media attention, whether due to who they
know, what they do or what they say. However it is achieved, media coverage amounts to free
advertising for the pressure group concerned vital to its success, given limited marketing
budgets.
REPUTATION
The reputation of a pressure group is likely to determine how seriously the public, media or
politicians actually listen to its message. Credibility is vital to pressure groups. The scientific data
they provide to back up their arguments will only be accepted as reliable if their reputation is good.
More broadly, pressure groups with a reputation for caring passionately about their causes are more
likely to attract public support.
ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT
Some 20 years ago, a group campaigning for animal rights known as the Animal Liberation Front
began a violent campaign against medical research laboratories which were testing new drugs on
animals. Nocturnal raids usually involved significant damage to property and equipment in order to
set the animals free. The reputation of the Front became akin to that of a terrorist organisation and
public sympathy was arguably damaged by the reputation which the group created for itself. This
made it possible for politicians to virtually ignore the 60-day hunger strike by an imprisoned Animal
Liberation Front activist in December 1998. The Front had lost public sympathy.
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Should businesses agree to the demands of pressure groups? Each particular situation is different
and the decisions which businesses come to will depend on the particular scenario. The kinds of
issues which will need analysis are:
How powerful is the group? A small company is likely to be unwilling to go into battle with a large
pressure group. On the other hand, where the business being threatened is a huge multinational, it
is likely to have significantly more financial, marketing and human resources to deploy than a
pressure group, and is therefore less likely to concede.
How will the demands of the group affect the businesss activities? If only small, relatively
inexpensive changes are required to meet the demands of the pressure group, a business is more
likely to meet those demands. Indeed, if appropriately handled, it could turn the situation into a
positive public relations exercise with which to boost the firms image. However, some
pressure groups demand changes which could put the future of a whole industry in jeopardy. In
these cases, the firms involved will be expected to fight hard to protect their interests.
A further issue concerns the importance of public opinion. Firms which do not sell their goods or
services to the general public may feel they need not worry too much about damage to their
reputation caused by adverse publicity generated by pressure groups. Arms suppliers will not find
sales adversely affected by public outcry at home, unless that public outcry is strong enough to lead
to direct government intervention.
It is extremely important, when answering questions on pressure groups, to remember to keep the
focus on business. Your most important priority is to understand how businesses are affected by
pressure groups. All too often, Business Studies answers related to pressure groups fail to mention
business at all!
Having said this, pressure group activity is becoming very important. Increasingly, governments are

being bombarded with demands from single-issue groups who have the backing of public opinion. As
a result, pressure groups are becoming more powerful. However, to counter this, some people argue
that the power of governments to be able to bow to public opinion through the action of pressure
groups is diminishing as huge multinational corporations continue to grow. In global terms it is
possible that environmental groups should be more concerned with getting companies to agree to
targets for controlling pollution, rather than convincing individual governments.
LOBBYING putting your viewpoint across directly to a person in a position of power and
influence.
PRESS RELEASE a statement issued to the media in the hope of gaining favourable editorial
publicity.