ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH

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"Let's Go Online": a Contextual Review of the Consumption of Internet in Mainland China Eric Li, University of Utah, U.S.A.

The Internet has accelerated China’s transformation into a modern society by helping its people become more enlightened and empowered. Online games, chatrooms, instant message communications, online stores and auctions, forums, blogs, and bulletin boards, are creating a new culture and a new horizon for communication and consumption. This study reviews the consumption of the Internet in mainland China from a socio-cultural perspective. It explores how Chinese “netizens” construct their new individual and collective identities in the cyberspace. The study also discusses the issues related to the re-negotiation of traditional Chinese culture, and the freedom and equality in the Internet in China. Impacts of the Internet are discussed in the last part of the paper.

[to cite]: Eric Li (2006) ,""Let's Go Online": a Contextual Review of the Consumption of Internet in Mainland China", in AP - Asia- Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 7, eds. Margaret Craig Lees, Teresa Davis, and Gary Gregory, Sydney, Australia : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 317-324.

[url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/13053/volumes/ap07/AP-07

[copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/.

‘LET’S GO ONLINE’: A CONTEXTUAL REVIEW OF THE CONSUMPTION OF INTERNET IN MAINLAND CHINA Eric P.H. Li University of Utah

ABSTRACT no longer a monolithic or placeless “cyberspace”; rather, it The Internet has accelerated China’s transformation is numerous new technologies, used by diverse people, in into a modern society by helping its people become more diverse real-world locations. Internet consumption in China enlightened and empowered. Online games, chatrooms, may be seen as a kind of socio-cultural reformation process. instant message communications, online stores and The adoption of Internet and the construction of cyber auctions, forums, blogs, and bulletin boards, are creating a culture are critical events in this rapid growing information new culture and a new horizon for communication and society. The aim of this paper is to study the changing consumption. This study reviews the consumption of the behavioral patterns involving consumption of the Internet in Internet in mainland China from a socio-cultural mainland China, with particular reference to socio- perspective. It explores how Chinese “netisens” construct economic change. The construction of new “net” identities, their new individual and collective identities in the places for “freedom” and “equality”, and the re-negotiation cyberspace. The study also discusses issues related to the of traditional Chinese beliefs and values on the Internet will negotiation of traditional Chinese culture, and the freedom be discussed. Three research propositions will be proposed and equality in the Internet. Impacts raised by the Internet as future research opportunities. The impacts of the Internet are discussed in the last part of the paper. will be discussed in the last part of this article.

INTRODUCTION SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGE IN CHINA “I was excited about the prospect of introducing the The economic reforms initiated by the Chinese Internet to China because it would create an open platform government some 25 years ago created rapid economic, where six billion people on earth could suddenly share the social, and culture changes. The growing integration of the same central nervous system, allowing them to world market, and the influences of globalisation and communicate with each other” technological innovations all have had a great impact on – Dr. Charles Chao Yang Zhang, founder of changing Chinese life spheres – most visible among today’s SOHU.com Inc. (2004, 145) younger generation in the modern urban conglomerations (Giese 2004, 20). The launch of the “Open-door Policy” in The rapid socioeconomic changes of the 1977 increased the interaction and communication between previous two decades have created a new phenomenon in mainland China and the rest of the world. The introduction mainland China: a huge active community of Internet users. of the “One-child Policy” created a “4-2-1 syndrome”, During this process, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meaning four grandparents and two parents pampering one had to give way to new social and political actors, even if it child, (Su 1994; Jing 2000). The rapid growth of the still claims absolute political power. The rise of the market economy led to current conditions in which an urban economy, increasing exposure to the “Western” world, middle class Chinese family can afford more luxury goods advances in technology, and the rising influence of China in like fashions, high-end home furniture, cars, home the global market, have constructed a dual society in electronics, and various kinds of entertainments. With the contemporary China, simultaneously dominated by both the growth in use of information technologies in the world state and the market. market, increasing demands on computer and The Internet, which was introduced to mainland telecommunication products have been noticed in China. China during the early 1980s, has become a “necessity” for Most Chinese seem to want to take their places in the most urban Chinese in the past decade. One of the main “information society” in order to obtain more information, reasons that the Internet was not popular in China until knowledge and freedom in cyberspace. recently was the scarcity of Chinese language content on the Internet (Kennedy 2000; Rayburn and Conrad 2004). INTERNET USAGE IN CHINA The situation is changing now, it was projected that the The Chinese government has paid much attention to Chinese language would become the second most popular developing new consumer technology along with the language, after English, on the Internet by the year 2005 economy. During the last decade, information and (Rayburn and Conrad 2004, 471). According to a survey communication technology in China has been developing conducted by the China Internet Network Information enormously fast. The magazine Computer World states that Center (2005), there were 103 million13 Internet users in China will be the biggest information technology market in mainland China. Further, China is expected to have 57 the world by 2010 as it continues to grow in various sectors million broadband subscribers by the end of 2007 (Li, Kirkup, and Hodgson 2001, 417). The increasing (Electronic News 2005). The rapid emergence of the number of Internet and telecommunication users in Internet in China is an unexpected and unaccountable Mainland China has created a new “information” era. Paper process because the Internet presents a whole range of magazines and newspaper are being replaced by online challenges, ambiguities, and contradictions, not only to the versions, consumer photographs are more commonly existing political, technological, and economic presented in the digital format than hardcopies, email and infrastructure of the society, but also to our understanding instant messages have replaced handwritten letters and of the adoption and use of the media, old and new, in all documents. As in the West, new communication and societies (Zhu and He 2002, 489). information sharing methods have been introduced to the According to Miller and Slater (2000), the Internet, is Internet, like blogs, online dairies, bit-torrent downloads, online forums, e-tailing, and so on. As telecommunication has contributed to the creation 13 The 95% confidence intervals for the estimate were of peer-to-peer private spaces for communication, the 96.78 million to 109.22 million (CNNIC 2005).

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Internet in China has created multiple symbolic spaces for acting as a process for building a collective identity public communication and discourse, thus bridging (Calhoun 1991; Melucci 1995; Nip 2004). Online games individuals and groups independent of space and time are one of the most popular Internet activities in China, (Giese 2004, 22). With the introduction of inexpensive particularly for the teenagers and young adults. These hardware, most Chinese people, and especially those living online games create a new “third place” (Oldenburg 2001) in the urban districts, can afford the limited cost of for the “netisens”, where they are able to step through the accessing to Internet, and becoming new members of the looking glass and live in the virtual world (Turkle 1995, 1). “information society”. Among users in major cities (such as Online games like SimLife, SimCity, and SimAnt provide a Beijing in the north and Guangzhou in the south), going platform for the “netisens” to build up their virtual online has become the second most popular leisure activity communities in the hyperreal world. A high degree of after watching television (Zhu and He 2002; Zhu and Wang specialization can be seen as the “netisens” are able to 2005, 50). The Internet is used primarily as an interpersonal construct their individual identities in the games. At the communication medium (email and peer-to-peer and group same time, a high degree of collectivism can also be interaction) and secondly as an information medium observed. The players, like the people in the real world, (search, news, browsing). Further, online entertainment, have to build up their own community and networks in the like games, music, and movies, has become increasingly virtual world. They build up a collective identity in order to popular (Zhu and Wang 2005). Despite the relatively short achieve the acceptance by “others” in the virtual world. For history of the Internet in mainland China, usage of this example, one of the popular chatrooms in China, QQ.com, medium already represents an integrated leisure activity for has a function that allows the members to buy clothes, the urban middle classes, and particularly the younger jewelry, and accessories to decorate their virtual images in generation (Giese 2004, 22-23). the chatroom and instant message systems. The users use “Q-money” to purchase these fashionable products to dress DISCUSSION up their virtual selves. At the same time, they can purchase A Reconstruction of “individual and collective identities these goods and give them to their net friends as virtual in virtual space gifts in the chatroom. Fashion trends and social behavioral As a medium used by nearly 100 million people, the activities like gift-giving all exist in the virtual space. Users Internet has doubtless brought fundamental changes to also build up social hierarchies and class distinction in Chinese society (Zhu and Wang 2005, 52). Social change, cyberspace; in Bourdieu’s term (1984), fashion capital, globalisation and the general uncertainty about possible social capital and cultural capital all exist in the virtual outcomes of the processes all have created a strong desire world. Users try to distinguish themselves from others for commonality and the emotional security of shared through acquiring fashionable and “virtually expensive” identity. The resulting widespread search for individual and fashion items. As a result, a new community and new social collective “self” – almost unnecessary to say – seldom discipline, based on the cultural practice and behaviors in follow the Chinese Communist lines (Giese 2004, 20). The the real world, are developed in the cyberspace. Internet offers consumers both new models of the mind and In addition, the construction of collective identities a new medium on which to project their ideas and fantasies also appears in the online games arena. The top games in (Turkle 1995). Therefore, new typologies of “self” have China differ fundamentally from their counterparts in the been created in virtual space as well. These new identities U.S. (Entertainment Software Association 2005) and Japan were not restricted by age, race, gender, religious (Tsang 2004), where video and online games emphasise background, education, career, cultural background, or individual competition and achievement, as well as personal language. At the same time, a strong desire for “collective” development. In contrast, the Chinese “netisens” are most self has been observed in China. Common virtual spaces attracted to massively multi-player online role-playing like forums, blogs, bulletin boards (BBSs), and so on attract games (Figure 1) where players take on roles within a social over a million Chinese “netisens” to share their information hierarchy and engage in coordinated strategies or other and feelings, often with extreme passion. Thousands of collective activity (Martinsons 2005b, 51). In comparison, BBSs, what can be called “virtual Good Places” or “Third Americans and Japanese have a strong desire to succeed on Places” (Oldenburg 2001) on the Internet, provide users their own, while Chinese game players tend to seek to be spaces that facilitate the discursive construction of part of a successful group or team. For examples, the most identities. Furthermore, in contrast to past decades in China, frequently played game genre in America was puzzle, board this process now is self-organised and takes place in public games, game show, trivia and card games (Entertainment (Giese 2004, 23). Software Association 2005) (Figure 2) and the most Collective action in itself is an indication that the frequently played game genre in Japan were action games actors involved have achieved a certain extent of collective (e.g. Mario Brothers) and role-playing games (e.g. Final identity (Melucci 1995; Nip 2004), while at the same time Fantasy Series) (Tsang 2004).

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FIGURE 1 Genres of Online Games that China Online Gamers have played and the most frequently played (Shanghai iResearch Co., Ltd. 2005,18)

FIGURE 2 What Kind of Games Are Played Online Most Often

Figure 2. Most Frequently Played Games Genre in America (Entertainment Software Association, http://www.theesa.com/facts/sales_genre_data.php)

In sum, the individual and collective identities of the Internet users bridge the “private” self to the “public” Chinese Internet consumers are a form of the “presentation community. The virtual space of the Internet provide room of self” (Goffman 1967). The Internet is not only a for Chinese Internet users to construct their individual and “private” place for the Internet consumers, but also a collective identities regardless of physical boundaries like “public” place for gathering by Internet consumers (e.g. in age, gender, ethnicity, family background, and education. chatrooms, forum, online games, etc.). The social hierarchy and order are the same as the real world in the Internet; the THE RE-NEGOTIATION OF TRADITIONAL only different is that the “identities” (either individual or CHINESE VALUES AND BELIEFS IN THE ONLINE collective) are more malleable and are varied from time to GAMES time. Internet consumers are no longer limited by their The imaginary world of cyberspace is extensively cultural, social, and demographic background in the influenced by culture. In our imaginary social relationships, cyberspace. The first research proposition regarding the as in our actual social behavior, our lives are dominated by construction of identities is proposed as follows: cultural forces (Caughey 1984). The increasing popularity of massive multi-player online role-playing games Proposition 1: The Internet is a place for creating (MMORPG) can be seen in Figure 1. fantasy and virtual community. Interactions between the

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FIGURE 3 Popular Online Games in mainland China with the theme of Chinese legends of knights (Trade Development Council, http://www.tdctrade.com/imn/02032804/ecomm09.htm)

Also, Chinese game players tend to seek to be part of a successful group or team. The social interaction in online fantasy games also appeals to the youth who often lack siblings due to China’s One-Child Policy (officially adopted in 1979). Further Chinese legends of knights (Figure 3) and other Chinese myths are the favorite game themes in mainland China14 (Figure 4). As a result, interactive games not only transform leisure time in China, they also expose young people to traditional Chinese cultural artifacts and values while giving them opportunities to develop their social skills (Martinsons 2005b, 51).

FIGURE 4 The most favorite Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) theme in Mainland China (Shanghai iResearch Co., Ltd. 2005, 24).

Through playing online games, Chinese “netisens” are transported outside of the reality of their everyday lives into

14 According to the China Online Game Research Report 2004, the top three MMORPG Gamers’ Favorite Game Theme were (1) Chinese style knight legend (30.6%), (2) Western style fantasy (24.9%), and (3) Chinese style myth (20.8%) (Shanghai iResearch Co., Ltd. 2005, 24).

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another world with its own distinctive structure and “new” experiences, social relations, and social orders in the patterns. At the same time, traditional Chinese cultural hyperreal world might become one of the elements of the artifacts and values are “reconstructed” in cyberspace. For “new” Chinese culture. For example, in “Jin Yong the Story example, the online game players can construct their own Chivalrous” (Figure 5), which is the one of the most “Chinese history” in these games. The reconstructed frequently played online games in Mainland China (Hong Chinese culture and values created a new “net-culture” in Kong Trade Development Council 2002), the game players cyberspace. In summary, the “netisens” were “attached” to have to deal with the characters in the novels by Jin Yong. traditional Chinese culture and values, and at the same time, As Chinese nationalism is a strong theme in Jin Yong's were “detached” from these traditional values in the newly work. Jin Yong places great emphasis on Han Chinese self- constructed cyber-world. The fantasy world is not only a determination and identity, and many of his novels are set place for the Chinese consumers to create their own in time periods when China proper was occupied or under imaginaries, but also a place for them to create new the threat of occupation by northern peoples such as experiences and social relations (Caughey 1984). The Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols, or Manchus.

FIGURE 5

Part of the Scenery in “Jin Yong the Story Chivalrous” http://online-game.com.cn/jy/jy/xkd/xkd-1.html

In sum, game players will deal with issues of Chinese groups, class, and language backgrounds are non-existent in nationalism, cultural identities, ethnic majority and cyberspace. There is an equal chance for women, ethnic minorities, Chinese history in different periods of time, and minorities, the elderly, teenagers, and working class people the classic novels when playing the Chinese-oriented online to obtain information and engage in the electronic games. A re-negotiation of Chinese culture and values will communication, although literacy and Internet access are be the side-product of the online game in contemporary needed. The country’s opening to the outside world. The China. The second research proposition which involves the rapid expansion of access to the Internet and reforms in re-negotiation of traditional Chinese values and beliefs is state-owned media reveal a greater flow of information proposed as follows: within China and between China and the rest of the world. The rise of usage of the Internet has provided Chinese with Proposition 2: As traditional Chinese values and unprecedented opportunities to access a diverse range of beliefs become the “ingredients” for online games, game information and perspectives. Furthermore, citisens’ rising players can freely mix and match the historical events and demands for greater freedom of expression, combined with characters during the games. The social hierarchy is re- new technologies, are challenging government controls and constructed in the online games which allow the game facilitating conditions for the growth of civil society and the players to create the only disciplines and laws in the virtual emergence of free press (Qiang 2003, 70). society. The interactions between traditional Chinese The Internet is the first medium to realise the values and the power of creating the “fantasy” develop a principles of free speech and self-governance, effectively new preception of “Chineseness” among the “online breaking the Communist Party’s monopoly on public generation”. information (Martinsons, Ng, Wong, and Yuen 2005, 67). An increasing numbers of “self-media” (zi meiti) sites, THE CONTROLLED BODY IN THE PLACE OF which are run by individuals, gather, organise, and spread “EQUALITY” AND “FREEDOM” news and commentary, have created a new information era The Internet might be the place where people can gain in mainland China (Qiang 2003, 72). People not only can access to true “equality.” Differences between their genders read messages from these “self-media” sites, but also post (Li, Kirkup, and Hodgson 2001), races, cultures, age their messages and expressions on these sites. Interactive

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communications and a corresponding “freedom” are monitors the Internet closely and censors undesirable achieved in this way. Before the Internet emerged as a content and usage (such as criticism of the Communist source of information dissemination, the Chinese media Party and calls for political reform) (Martinsons et al. 2005, were not a forum for public discussion and debate. Now, 67). Due to lower education levels and language abilities the Internet facilitates discussion on public affairs, among rural users. The Internet, is not fully a place for especially through online bulletin boards. As authorities “equality”. The third research proposition regarding the stifle citisens’ newly emerging freedom to express “equality” and “freedom” in the Internet is proposed as themselves and access information, many people who were follows: indifferent to politics have been galvanised to defend their fundamental rights. And because their sense of identity has Proposition 3: The Internet is perceived as a place been fostered by the Internet’s culture of free expression of “freedom” and “equality” among the Chinese Internet and individuality, they are willing to express their users because of the abundance of information and the dissatisfaction publicly (Qiang 2003, 73-74). Internet user-centric platform. However, the censorship policy of consumers are concerned about the democratization of the Chinese government has limited the freedom and structures of everyday life and work for the creation of new equality of Chinese Internet users. In other words, Chinese life spaces (Cohen 1985; Offe 1985; Johnston, Laraña, and Internet users, compared to Internet users in the rest of the Gusfield 1994; Giddens 1999; Nip 2004). An increasing world, are enjoying the “fake” or partial freedom and number of new areas of “content” can be found on the equality in the virtual space. Furthermore, the censorship websites which link with sensitive issues, in other word – system inhibits freedom of speech in virtual space. A more taboos, in mainland China -- for example, religious beliefs, disciplined society with marginal freedom and equality was gay and lesbian issues (e.g. Chinese Gay and Lesbian created. Website, address: http://www.txl.com) , and political discussions. This reflects a variety of ideas being generated CONCLUSION in the netisens’ minds in contemporary China. However, the On August 21, 2000, President Jiang Zemin gave an Chinese government’s censorship system on the Internet important lecture to the World Computer Congress 2000 in has inhibited the “freedom” of Internet users. According to Beijing; he stressed the full use of the Internet in China research by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at (CNNIC 2003). From a global perspective, China has gone Harvard Law School (Einhorn 2002), up to 15% of foreign from near irrelevance during the 1960s to being seen by the websites have been rendered inaccessible to the Internet West as quaint, exotic, and inscrutable, before more user in China. The key foreign news sources, such as BBC recently emerging as a computer and economic News Online, are routinely blocked from Chinese Internet heavyweight. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 will users. Other major sites, such as CNN and TIME magazine, celebrate the country’s latest rise to prominence and they are generally available only on a content-filtered basis represent an important milestone in its transformation from (Burkholder 2005). “Sensitive” websites are closed by the an isolated Maoist state to a full-fledged member of the Internet police and the developer will be arrested in extreme international community (Martinsons 2005a, 46). The cases. Also, the state is also trying to consolidate and gain current Internet consumption patterns in China are closely control of Internet cafes while systematically deleting related to the construction of individual and collective discussion of Taiwan, Tibet, the Falun Gong spiritual identities. The “self” construction process also interacts movements, and democracy from online chatrooms with the traditional Chinese cultural value and beliefs. A re- (Martinsons, et al. 2005, 67). For example, after the mass negotiation of cultural identities and a re-construction of demonstration at Zhongnanhai by the Falun Gong social hierarchy and order are taking place in the practitioners and general public on August 24, 1999, the cyberspace. The censorship system in China limits the Chinese government blocked all Falun Gong websites in the accessibility of information and creates a “pseudo-free” and Internet. Further, a dozen of anti-Falun Gong websites have “pseudo-equal” arena for the Chinese Internet consumers. been created by various government agencies (Palmer In conclusion, with the dramatic growth of the 2004). In the new cybernetics (Wiener 1961; 1989) world Internet and online communications in mainland China, we of the Internet, netisens can control and communicate with should aware the drawbacks and the dark side of the others in cyberspace freely, which means that they are the “information society”, such as the addiction to the hyperreal real “governors” in the cyberspace (Roszak 1986). On the life in the young generation. This may create a “detached” surface, the Internet is a totally “free” platform for Internet generation in Chinese society which might affect the consumers to express their ideas and opinions; however, development of China in the coming decades The young such “total freedom” does not exist in China. generation in China spend most of its leisure time in online Bulletin Boards (BBSs) act as public spaces where games, chatrooms, and Internet surfing and often neglects experimenting with alternative identities can be they studies and social life. The social interactions are only negotiated without regard to ethnic, regional or local taking place in the virtual world rather than the real world. divisions, gender or sexual orientation, shared biographical The re-negotiation of Chinese culture and values creates a experiences, or political opinions (Giese 2004, 24). hybrid culture and affects the continuity of traditional However, Internet knowledge is restricted by the education Chinese culture and values in China. The future opportunity level and language ability of the users, and low iterate users for research in this area is to study how the individuals can only access to limited space on the Internet. Therefore, interact with “others” in the virtual community. How the the Internet is not fully a place for “equality.” Chinese Internet users present themselves in the worldwide In sum, the Internet is a “double-edged sword;” it web and how their build up their collective identities is one offers new venues for discussion; the technology also of the promising directions for future study. How the allows the government vastly greater ability to spy on its Chinese values and beliefs are re-negotiated and what is the citisens (Menon 2000, 82). On one hand, the Chinese form of such values and beliefs presented in the virtual and government provides an “open” platform for Internet fantasy world is another fruitful research direction. Also, consumers; on the other hand, the Chinese government still the conflict between the centralised control and the “power”

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