Consumer boycotts are back in the news again with the backlash throughout the muslim world over the Danish cartoons lampooning the prophet Mohammed. Danish company Arla Foods has been hit with a severe consumer boycott and Swiss multinational Nestle has been forced to take defensive action.

Generally, consumer boycotts are not that easy to stage and experts say it's easier to make headlines than hurt the business. Truth is, consumers are not that easy to mobilise, according to an Australian Graduate School of Management Study.

Still, with the world now so polarised and the national debate in Denmark, as in the Netherlands, occurring in a climate of increasing xenophobia and islamophobia, it's inevitable this particular boycott would have succeeded.