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This study examines the comparative profitability of PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk before and during the boycott issue that emerged as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in 2023. Profitability was selected as the focus because it is a key financial performance indicator that reflects the company’s ability to generate returns under changing social and economic pressures. The research aims to evaluate differences in financial performance using three indicators: Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Net Profit Margin (NPM) across two periods, namely before the boycott (2021–2022) and during the boycott (2023–2024). Employing a quantitative descriptive-comparative approach, the study analyzed financial ratios and applied the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. The findings reveal a decline in ROA from 30.20% (2021) and 29.29% (2022) to 28.81% (2023) and 20.99% (2024), as well as a drop in NPM from 14.56% and 13.02% to 12.49% and 9.59% during the boycott period. Conversely, ROE increased to 156.74% in 2024, largely driven by a sharper decline in equity compared to net profit. Nevertheless, statistical testing indicates no significant difference in profitability between the two periods. These results suggest that while profitability trends weakened, the boycott had no statistically significant impact, implying that investor and consumer responses were not strong or sustained enough to materially affect financial performance.

This study aims to determine the effect of Intention to Boycott and Brand Exposure on Purchase Decision mediated by Brand Image on Scarlett Whitening products in Makassar City. This research uses a quantitative approach with a causal design. The population in this study is the community of Makassar City who have used or are familiar with Scarlett Whitening products. The sample was taken using a non-probability sampling method with a purposive sampling approach, and 105 respondents were obtained. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) version 4.0. The results of the study show that (1) Intention to Boycott has a direct negative and significant effect on Brand Image, (2) Brand Exposure has a direct positive and significant effect on Brand Image, (3) Intention to Boycott has a direct negative and significant effect on Purchase Decision, (4) Brand Exposure has a direct positive and significant effect on Purchase Decision, (5) Brand Image has a direct positive and significant effect on Purchase Decision, (6) Brand Image significantly mediates the relationship between Intention to Boycott and Purchase Decision, and (7) Brand Image significantly mediates the relationship between Brand Exposure and Purchase Decision.