Product Placement and Digital Piracy: How Young Chinese Viewers React to the Unconventional Method of Corporate Cultural Globalization

摘要

This study examines young Chinese viewers' interpretations of the consumption stimuli encoded in U.S. TV programs. I argue that the young viewers' use of pirated U.S. TV artifacts reflects their active viewership and social agency, defying both the official broadcasting policy in China and the dictates of global copyright industries. Meanwhile, through in-depth interviews with the viewers and a microanalysis of the actual product placement/integration that they encounter, I found that product placement/integration increases the viewers' awareness of and/or desire for the promoted products/brands. This study bridges the cultural imperialism and active audience theses. Young Chinese viewers are active, yet the extent and the consequences of their activity confirm the critiques that constitute the essence of the cultural imperialism thesis.