Zizheng Yu

Research interests

My research interests mainly focus on short-video-based (SVB) social media, consumer activism/political consumerism, media practices, video activism, social movements, digital activism and cultural semiotics studies. 

Conference Presentations：

2019

• Yu, Z. 2019. An Empirical Research On Consumer Video Activism and the Emergence of the "Consumer Sphere" in China. Presented at: In­fra­struc­tures and In­equal­it­ies: Me­dia In­dus­tries, Digital Cul­tures and Polit­ics, University of Helsinki (Finland), 21th-22th Oct 2019.
• Yu, Z. 2019. Consumer Video Activism in China. Presented at: ASIA.LIVE Virtual Workshop: Locating Livestreaming in Asia, Leiden University (Netherlands/Online), 17th Sep 2019.
• Yu, Z. 2019. Examine the Consumer Video Activism and Consumer Sphere in China. Presented at: UK-China Media and Cultural Studies Association 3rd Biennial Conference, University of Leicester (UK), 16th Jan 2019. 

Publications:

2019

• Ma, X., Wu, M., Yu, Z., & Jiang, C. 2019. An Empirical Study of the Understandings of Chinese Martial Arts Symbols among German University Students. Journal of Martial Arts Research, 2(1), 19. 
• Ma, X. and Yu, Z. 2019. Conference Report: Bruce Lee's Cultural Legacies. Martial Arts Studies, (8), pp.84–87. 

Professional Memberships: 

• Member of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) through the institutional membership of Cardiff University for the year 2020.
• Member of UK-China Media and Cultural Studies Association (UCMeCSA), 2018-2019.
• Executive Committee Member of UK-China Media and Cultural Studies Association (UCMeCSA), 2019-2020.
• Convenor of UCMeCSA Members Research Forum (London), 7th Dec 2019 and incoming 2020 UCMeCSA Annual Conference.

Thesis

An Empirical Research on Consumer Video Activism and the Emergence of the Consumer Sphere in China

Short-video-based social media platforms are becoming a common tool for an increasing number of consumers to safeguard their legitimate interests in China. In July 2018, an increasing number of homebuyers in Chengdu, China uploaded short videos of their offline protests against various housing quality problems of their new-buying houses onto the short video platforms. The clips spread out instantly and attracted massive attention of the public and the media. They successfully urged the Chengdu housing administration to establish a mutual communication platform to solve the problems between homebuyers and real estate companies. Similarly, In April 2019, a Female consumer sat on the hood of a Mercedes car in a dealership in Xi’an and protested against the engine oil leakage problem of her Mercedes car. The video of her tearful protest went viral on multiple short video platforms, received much attention from different parties, and finally got fair reimbursement.

However, there is scant research dealing with the interrelationship between these short video platforms and consumer activism in China. This research asks: Based on the perceptions of four groups of interviewees—Chinese consumers, media journalists, public relation officials and relevant government officials, what happens to the activism practices of Chinese consumers and its corresponding results when they intertwine with short videos and SVB platforms? How does this strategy work? What happens to the media journalists, PR officials and relevant governmental officials respectively when they intertwine with the activism practices of Chinese consumers? The conceptual framework of this article is as follows: Firstly, drawing on the concept of video activism and its historical contexts in China, I argue that the consumer video activism practice as the latest manifestation of video activism in China. Secondly, under the social movement definitions and grievance generation theories, I define the concept of Chinese consumer activism, and answer the questions of how we can understand the root cause of the latest Chinese consumer video activism practices in the Chinese context. Thirdly, based on the paradigm of “theorizing media as practice” and the concept of “activist media practices”, I theorize the Chinese consumer video activism as a kind of creative media practice, and define that the mutual interaction processes among consumer activists, media objects and subjects are the emphasis of this research. Finally, based on the core controversial public sphere researches in China and abroad, I conclude with a discussion of the conception of “consumer sphere”.

By interviewing 62 interviewees in four groups, and analysing four latest “short video activism” cases that represent how short video platforms are deployed by consumers to make appeals, I argue that the “consumer video activism” practices of consumers work in China, Chinese consumers can effectively use short videos to share injustices they encountered with the general public and the mass media, then urge the government to amend their regulations on a specific area, and demand the company to correct their faults. Moreover, the short video platforms and Chinese consumers are co-constructing a “consumer sphere” model within the “cross-platform short video circle” in today’s Chinese society.