Emotional Duplex in the National (De-)Branding of China

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Popular Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

How does national branding work? The intricate connections among national brands, the emotions they evoke and the various branded nations themselves seem to be taken for granted or overlooked in existing literatures. I propose a heuristic account that theorizes their interrelationships. By tracing the branding efforts made by China and, what I call, the de-branding efforts made by Falun Gong, I argue that these “authentically” Chinese cultural presentations elicits certain emotions. The emotional works are different for Chinese audiences and for international audiences. Thus, I propose a duplex model to account for the emotional processes in these two groups of audiences. I argue that four operating emotions—pride, shame, liking and contempt—solidify into various political attitudes toward China. In the conclusion, I discuss the contributions of the affective logic in branding and the limitations of this paper.

Author

• Lik Sam Chan, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication