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Politicizing Consumer Culture: Advertising's Appropriation of Political Ideology in China's Social Transition

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  • Xin Zhao
  • Russell W. Belk

Abstract

China's ideological transition from a communist country toward a consumer society provides an unprecedented context in which to explore the rise of consumerism in a contemporary society. We examine how advertising appropriates a dominant anticonsumerist political ideology to promote consumption within China's social and political transition. We show how advertising reconfigures both key political symbolism and communist propaganda strategies through a semiotic analysis of advertisements in the People's Daily. Our structural framework of ideological transition extends Barthes's myth model and examines ideological transition in advertising from the macroperspective of political ideology. This framework goes beyond the transfer of cultural meanings and can help to explain ideological shifts in other societies. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

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  • Xin Zhao & Russell W. Belk, 2008. "Politicizing Consumer Culture: Advertising's Appropriation of Political Ideology in China's Social Transition," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 231-244, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2008:i:2:p:231-244
    DOI: 10.1086/588747
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    Cited by:

    1. Meng, Bingchun & Huang, Yanning, 2017. "Patriarchal capitalism with Chinese characteristics: gendered discourse of ‘Double Eleven’ shopping festival," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 75196, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A. & Price, Linda L., 2012. "The young adult cohort in emerging markets: Assessing their glocal cultural identity in a global marketplace," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 43-54.
    3. Michal Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis & Helen Goworek & Deirdre Shaw, 2021. "Consumption Ethics: A Review and Analysis of Future Directions for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 215-238, January.
    4. Timothy Steven Rich & Vasabjit Banerjee, 2015. "Running Out of Time? The Evolution of Taiwan’s Relations in Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 141-161.
    5. Yu Hu & Yonggui Wang, 2020. "Marketing research in China during the 40-year reform and opening," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-29, December.
    6. Yang, Song & Ding, Shiqing & D’Alessandro, Steven, 2018. "Are all Chinese shoppers the same? Evidence of differences in values, decision making and shopping motivations between the Han majority and other minorities in China," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 24-34.
    7. Song Yang & Bruce W. Stening, 2013. "Mao Meets the Market," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 419-448, June.
    8. Aubrey Fowler & Jie Gao Fowler, 2017. "Façade, Fashion and Fornication: Exploring the Embodiment of Self in Chinese Consumer Culture," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(3_suppl), pages 145-156, June.
    9. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A., 2013. "The “green” side of materialism in emerging BRIC and developed markets: The moderating role of global cultural identity," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 69-82.
    10. Sonia Lam-Knott, 2020. "Contesting brandscapes in Hong Kong: Exploring youth activist experiences of the contemporary consumerist landscape," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(5), pages 1087-1104, April.
    11. Apata Temidayo Gabriel, 2019. "Public spending mechanisms and gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the agricultural sector (1970–2016): Lessons for Nigeria from agricultural policy progressions in China," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 44(44), pages 57-72, June.
    12. Elizabeth S. Gunawan & Paul van den Hoven, 2017. "Global Brand Identity as a Network of Localized Meanings," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(2), pages 56-67, April.
    13. Wang, Jeff Jianfeng & Zhao, Xin & Li, Julie Juan, 2013. "Group Buying: A Strategic Form of Consumer Collective," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 338-351.

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