Political consumerism and consumption modes: The case of Hong Kong youths watching Chinese Mainland television dramas

Political consumerism is the expression of political demands through economic activities. Existing research identifies locationally ambiguous product origination as a major barrier to political consumption. This paper presents a case study based on in-depth interviews with 27 young Hong Kong viewers of Chinese Mainland television dramas. Rather than distinguishing products by origin, they differentiate consumption modes to more effectively express dissatisfaction with Chinese government policies toward Hong Kong. This represents a new form of political consumerism rarely identified in prior studies. As globalization blurs product origins, this finding may inform other cases of political consumerism.