Healing Content as Commercial Culture: A Business Anthropology Analysis of Female Identity Construction on Social Media

Healing-oriented content circulates very widely on Chinese social media; commercial interest, however, is fixed on conversion and profit, and the shaping of female identity by this content has received little discussion. Business anthropology is combined here with symbolic interaction theory for a conceptual analysis of the commercial healing content of yoga and healing bloggers; this content is a marketing strategy and a resource for female identity construction at the same time. The analysis shows that two connected symbolic systems underlie healing content: through narrative symbols, anxiety, emotional vulnerability and burnout appear as ordinary parts of women's lives; through visual aesthetic symbols, minimalist interiors, natural lighting and low-saturation palettes build a symbolic safe spiritual space. Two monetization strategies grow out of these systems. In the first, emotional resonance and community bonding, plants, yoga products, journals and candles and similar everyday objects become purchasable symbols of slow living and self-care. In the second, knowledge payment and tiered spiritual service monetization, emotional support itself is put up for sale as meditation audios, recorded courses, membership-based healing programs and emotional counseling. The bloggers hold two roles at once, commercial actor and cultural producer, and their self-branding goes on off camera in their daily routines. On the audience side, passive viewers turn into content makers; this shifts public understanding of female emotion, and commercial messages become easier to accept.