Hongmei Li

Miami University, Media and Journalism, Faculty Member

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I am associate professor of strategic communication at Miami University. I obtained my Ph.D in communication from the University of Southern California, and B.A in English at Peking University in China. I was a George Gerbner Postdoc fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in 2008-2010. I My research interests include advertising and consumer culture, nationalism, cultural studies, Chinese media, public diplomacy, and studies of new technologies. I have published widely in top academic journals including Communication Theory, International Journal of Communication, Public Relations Review, Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. I am the author of Advertising and Consumer Culture in China (2016) and the editor of the Middle Class in Emerging Societies(2015). Please visit my other site:
www.researchgate.net/profile/Hongmei_Li21
Supervisors: Marita Sturken, Larry Gross, and Stanley Rosen and Richard Baum
Address: Oxford, OH

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Papers by Hongmei Li

Trust in COVID-19 Information from Different Media Types and Its Association with Preventive Measures Adoption in the U.S.

Journal of Health Communication, 2023

This study compares and contrasts how key factors influence Americans’ trust in different types o... more This study compares and contrasts how key factors influence Americans’ trust in different types of media (broadcast, print, and social) as COVID-19 information sources and how people’s media trust is associated with their adoption of preventive measures. Our results from a national survey (sample = 2571) showed that age, political party affiliation, and race and ethnicity and income level were significantly associated with people’s trust in different media types as COVID information sources. Elder adults trusted print and broadcast media more, while younger adults trusted social media more. Democrats and Lean Democrats had more trust in all three forms of media than Republicans and Lean Republicans. Asians had the highest levels of trust in all three media types, while Whites had the lowest level of trust in broadcast and social media. Trust in broadcast media was found to be associated with facial mask wearing, but trust in social media, however, did not contribute to the adoption of any COVID-19 preventive measures. This study contributes to a general understanding of media trust and mediated health communication and provides nuanced understanding of how demographic factors shape media trust and the consequence of media trust during a historical pandemic.

Can Sustainability Information on Corporate Websites Reflect CSR Strategies?: A Semantic Network Analysis of Top Companies in South Korea and China

The Korean Data Analysis Society, 2017

This study investigates how leading South Korean and Chinese firms communicate their corporate su... more This study investigates how leading South Korean and Chinese firms communicate their corporate sustainability principles and practices through their websites. A semantic network analysis, convergence of iterated correlations (CONCOR), and quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) correlation analysis were conducted to examine the major agendas, communication approaches, and framing patterns of sustainability information by firms in the two countries. Our findings suggest that although South Korean and Chinese firms had overlapping agendas for sustainability development such as sustainable growth and collectivistic culture, they differed in the amount of sustainability information, network structure, and the framing of sustainability. Our research offers practical insights into the development of strategic communication and management of digital contents as they are helpful to identify not only a range of agendas they covered, but also areas of deficient knowledge or sources in the information.

How gay men’s wives in China practice co-cultural communication: Culture, identity, and sensemaking

Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2019

Around 13.6 million heterosexual women in China are married to gay or bisexual men, and they call... more Around 13.6 million heterosexual women in China are married to gay or bisexual men, and they call themselves tongqi. Tongqi belong to both co-cultural groups (as women and wives) and a dominant group (as heterosexuals). Through a narrative analysis of 51 stories told by tongqi, this study examines the co-cultural strategies tongqi use, and identifies two novel co-cultural strategies: self-blaming and enduring. It also examines how tongqi narratively construct their husbands' co-cultural strategies and finds that tongqi often internalize the ideologies (of gender, sexual orientation, marriage, and family) in their sensemaking process and in their communicative responses to their husbands.

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From Iron Girls to Oriental Beauties

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Communication studies of corporate social responsibility

Trends in public diplomacy research

Human Rights and China’s Public Diplomacy

While the Tournament of Roses is busy preparing for the Pasadena Rose Parade on Jan. 1, 2009, it ... more While the Tournament of Roses is busy preparing for the Pasadena Rose Parade on Jan. 1, 2009, it is interesting to revisit a controversy over a Beijing Olympic float for the 2008 parade for at least three reasons: (1) the controversy, largely provoked by FLG practitioners and other human rights groups, attracted huge media attention and the Pasadena city government and its human relations commission held several meetings to consider its position; (2) some analogies can be drawn between the controversy and the protests against the overseas leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay; (3) the controversy also indicates the challenges that Beijing faces in general when it attempts to engage the American public in specific and the Western publics in general.

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Chinese Corporate Diplomacy: Huawei’s CSR Discourse in Africa

Soft Power in China, 2011

Africa is now dubbed as “China’ s new frontier.”1 In 2007, China’s investment in Africa reached U... more Africa is now dubbed as “China’ s new frontier.”1 In 2007, China’s investment in Africa reached US$1.57 billion, a whopping 202 percent increase from 2006, and an estimated 900 Chinese companies were operating in 49 African countries.2 In the same year, the trade between China and Africa reached $73 billion.3 The presence of China and Chinese companies in Africa has been the target of intense international curiosity and scrutiny. Although enthusiasts marvel at Chinese companies’ success in Africa, more critics have emerged. Human rights groups and activists condemn China for providing arms to the Sudanese government in exchange for access to Sudan’s oil and criticize Chinese companies for their continuing operation there despite the dismal human rights condition in the country. They also accuse Chinese companies of dangling on the skirts of unpopular dictators in Africa such as Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Environmentalists criticize Chinese construction companies for starting large-scale infrastructure projects in Africa, such as building dams and railways, without thoroughly evaluating the environmental and ecological impacts of these projects. African consumers and local business owners accuse Chinese companies of flooding the African market with low-quality, cheap Chinese imports.4

Envisioning a credit society: social credit systems and the institutionalization of moral standards in China

by Hongmei Li and Kevin Tsui

Media, Culture and Society, 2022

China’s Social Credit System (SCS) has been widely considered a centralized surveillance project,... more China’s Social Credit System (SCS) has been widely considered a centralized surveillance project, whereas recent research found multiple scoring systems co-existing in various fields at multiple administrative levels and in diverse forms. Despite the broadened view toward the complexity of SCS, these research projects continue to focus on SCS mainly as political and digital control mechanisms. Instead, this paper is interested in the social and cultural meanings of SCS constructed in the media, both at the national and local levels. Based on the analyses of news reports since the year 2003, when the term SCS was officially coined, this paper examines the historical narratives about SCS, including its rationales, stakeholders, and intended goals/tasks. It argues that the SCS construction has been a societal project anchored in a distinct moral orientation of financial credit. While credit systems are often used to classify consumers and financial subjects in Western contexts, the case of Chinese SCS shows that the moral dimension of financial credit scoring has enabled its spread into other non-financial domains. Also, the institutionalization of such moral standards is considered an effective approach to addressing various socio-economic and ethical issues that have long baffled economic development and social justice in China’s reform era.

The representation of the Chinese product crisis in national and local newspapers in the United States

Public Relations Review, 2009

This paper examines how national and local newspapers in the United States frame Chinese product ... more This paper examines how national and local newspapers in the United States frame Chinese product recalls in 2007. First, it reviews literature on international communication and framing. Second, it content analyzes the presentations of the Chinese product recalls in two leading national newspapers, including the New York Times and the USA today, and six major newspapers from five Southern states, including Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Third, it compares media representations of Chinese products in the two national newspapers with those in Southern newspapers. We argue that American media are still dominated by stories from the U.S. perspectives and Chinese sources are less likely to be cited. Even though Southern newspapers play an important role in constructing local knowledge, their limited scope of coverage and perspectives constrain their role in reporting international news.

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Corporate social responsibility communication of Chinese and global corporations in China

2009

This paper explored how leading Chinese and global companies operating in China communicate their... more This paper explored how leading Chinese and global companies operating in China communicate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles and practices to the Chinese stakeholders through a content analysis of these companies’ corporate websites. It was found that companies usually take one of the following three major approaches in their CSR communication: CSR as ad hoc public philanthropy, CSR as strategic philanthropy, and CSR as ethical business practices. Furthermore, this paper examined the effects of country of origin and industry on companies’ CSR communication and found that whether companies are targeting at businesses or consumers has a bigger impact on their CSR communication than whether they are Chinese or global. Finally, despite a tendency towards convergence, Chinese and global companies still present their CSR principles and practices differently because of their different relations with major Chinese and global stakeholders.

Understanding Chinese nationalism: A historical perspective

From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism, 2019

Advertising and Consumer Culture in China

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2017

In her Advertising and Consumer Culture in China, Hongmei Li analyzes advertising as an industry,... more

Public Opinion in the Future of China.” Public Opinion and Polling around the World

To Inform and Influence Public Debate: An Interview with Professor Larry Gross

Chinese Media and Culture: Dancing with Chains

The Middle Class in Emerging Societies: Consumers, Lifestyles and Markets

This volume examines the discursive construction of the meanings and lifestyle practices of the m... more This volume examines the discursive construction of the meanings and lifestyle practices of the middle class in the rapidly transforming economies of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, focusing on the social, political and cultural implications at local and global levels. The book addresses three key dimensions: the discursive creation of the middle class, the construction of the cultural identity through consumption practices and lifestyle choices, and the social, political and cultural consequences related to globalization and neoliberalism.

Networked audiences and cultural globalization

Sociology Compass, 2018

Most research approaches globalization from a top-down perspective that looks at how past economi... more Most research approaches globalization from a top-down perspective that looks at how past economic, political, and cultural arrangements influence non-Western cultures. This essay instead uses the concept of the networked audience as an entry point to understand the dynamics of cultural globalization. We first discuss the mass audience in relation to cultural imperialism/homogenization. We then examine the recent shift to the networked audience in the context of digital globalization, computer networking, and social media. Afterwards, we investigate how the conceptualization of global networked audiences contributes to new understandings of global cultures and exchanges. The network perspective suggests that the traditional conceptualization of globalization via the centerperiphery model no longer works, but rather that cultural flows through networks enable individuals to have some, but limited, agency and power to resist corporate and elite controls. 1 | INTRODUCTION Past research on globalization largely focuses on how Western political, economic, and cultural forces shape non-Western societies. These structural forces from above are often criticized as producing cultural homogenization and reproducing Western imperialism through standardized global advertising and imported Western-especially American-media and cultural products that may wipe out local culture and diversity (e.g., Conversi, 2010; Dorfman & Mattelart, 1984; Schiller, 1996). Despite its powerful critique, "cultural imperialism" has been widely discredited as being too simplistic for understanding the complex global flows across different borders (national, geopolitical, linguistic, and technical). In particular, cultural studies scholars (e.g.

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Marketing Japanese Products in the Context of Chinese Nationalism

Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2009

This paper examines the rise of consumer nationalism in China through an in-depth analysis of two... more This paper examines the rise of consumer nationalism in China through an in-depth analysis of two recent controversial Japanese ad campaigns. I situate the analysis in the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of contemporary China. I argue that Japanese producers shoulder a particular burden of history as expressed in consumer nationalism, which is a combination of the production and reproduction of Japanese imperial history, the construction of Chinese identity, the expression of dissatisfaction toward the Chinese government and consumerist ethos in the context of globalization. The Internet has become a crucial space that organizes Chinese consumer nationalism and enables consumers to feel a sense of empowerment when they express complaints with the controversial ads. Consumer nationalism in China can also be understood as what Benedict Anderson (1991) calls an ''imagined community'' that attempts to unite the Chinese in a problematic way.

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The Gendered Performance at the Beijing Olympics: The Construction of the Olympic Misses and Cheerleaders1

Communication Theory, 2011

This article analyzes the gendered performance at the Beijing Olympics by looking at the elite ch... more This article analyzes the gendered performance at the Beijing Olympics by looking at the elite cheerleaders and Olympic misses, including medal and country presenters at the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies. Drawing upon participant observation, unstructured interviews, media reports, and blogs, this article argues that the paradoxical construction of Chinese women stands for the broader context of Chinese modernity. The seeming paradoxes of tradition and modernity, and Oriental femininity and Occidental sexuality perpetuate old and produce new gender politics in China. The internally contradictory hybrid representation of gender in contemporary China contributes to feminist communication theory by illustrating not only uneven processes of modernity but also the continuing importance of gender in nationalist politics.

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Trust in COVID-19 Information from Different Media Types and Its Association with Preventive Measures Adoption in the U.S.

Journal of Health Communication, 2023

Can Sustainability Information on Corporate Websites Reflect CSR Strategies?: A Semantic Network Analysis of Top Companies in South Korea and China

The Korean Data Analysis Society, 2017

How gay men’s wives in China practice co-cultural communication: Culture, identity, and sensemaking

Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2019

Download

From Iron Girls to Oriental Beauties

Download

Communication studies of corporate social responsibility

Trends in public diplomacy research

Human Rights and China’s Public Diplomacy

Download

Chinese Corporate Diplomacy: Huawei’s CSR Discourse in Africa

Soft Power in China, 2011

Envisioning a credit society: social credit systems and the institutionalization of moral standards in China

by Hongmei Li and Kevin Tsui

Media, Culture and Society, 2022

The representation of the Chinese product crisis in national and local newspapers in the United States

Public Relations Review, 2009

Download

Corporate social responsibility communication of Chinese and global corporations in China

2009

Understanding Chinese nationalism: A historical perspective

From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism, 2019

Advertising and Consumer Culture in China

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2017

In her Advertising and Consumer Culture in China, Hongmei Li analyzes advertising as an industry,... more

Public Opinion in the Future of China.” Public Opinion and Polling around the World

To Inform and Influence Public Debate: An Interview with Professor Larry Gross

Chinese Media and Culture: Dancing with Chains

The Middle Class in Emerging Societies: Consumers, Lifestyles and Markets

Networked audiences and cultural globalization

Sociology Compass, 2018

Download

Marketing Japanese Products in the Context of Chinese Nationalism

Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2009

Download

The Gendered Performance at the Beijing Olympics: The Construction of the Olympic Misses and Cheerleaders1

Communication Theory, 2011

Download

Building the BRICS: Media, Nation Branding and Global Citizenship (Co-edited with Leslie Marsh. Contracted with International Journal of Communication. Expected to be published in 2016).

Advertising and Consumer Culture in China

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Chinese advertising as an industry, a discourse, a... more This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Chinese advertising as an industry, a discourse, and a profession in China’s search for modernity and cultural globalization. It traces the political and cultural history of Chinese advertising since 1978 and compares and contrasts the advertising practices of Chinese advertising agencies and foreign advertising agencies, and Chinese and brands and foreign brands, with a particular focus
on the newest digital advertising practices in the post-WTO era. Based on extensive interviews, participant observation, and a critical analysis of secondary data, Li offers an engaging analysis of the transformation of Chinese advertising in post-Mao China. Drawing upon theories of political economy, media, and cultural studies, her analysis offers significant insights on advertising and consumer culture as well as the economic, social, political, and cultural transformations in China. The book is essential for students and scholars of communication, media, cultural studies, and international business, and all those interested in cultural globalization and China.

The Middle Class in Emerging Societies: Consumers, Lifestyles and Markets

The Middle Class Phenomenon in Emerging Societies: Consumers, Lifestyles and Markets (co-edited with Leslie Marsh)

by Hongmei Li and Leslie L Marsh

Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-138-85882-4 This volume examines the discursive construction of the... more Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-138-85882-4
This volume examines the discursive construction of the meanings and lifestyle practices of the middle class in the rapidly transforming economies of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, focusing on the social, political and cultural implications at local and global levels. The book addresses three key dimensions: the discursive creation of the middle class, the construction of the cultural identity through consumption practices and lifestyle choices, and the social, political and cultural consequences related to globalization and neoliberalism.

Advertising and Consumer Culture in China (The UK version was published in May 2016 and the US version was published in July 2016)

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