Escaping the Interpersonal Power Game: Online Shopping in China

Abstract

The increasing popularity of online shopping is now a global phenomenon, and China has become the largest internet market in the world. The reasons behind this preference for online shopping are examined in this study through 63 in-depth interviews and 5 years of virtual ethnography of a major online shopping website in China called Taobao.com. Chinese customers prefer Taobao not only because of price and convenience, but also because they enjoy the interactional process, during which they obtain more information, feel less pressured to put on a status performance in comparison to physical stores, and pay less affective labor. Chinese customers tend to believe that interaction with sales clerks in physical shops is a burden, and try to avoid this form of contact. This is related to the fact that consensus on status hierarchy is still yet to be established in a society that is undergoing rapid transition. Consequently, online shopping entails social interaction that attributes more power, autonomy and freedom to customers than otherwise possible in brick-and-mortar shopping. This study shows how both the online interactional environments afforded by technology and the broader social contexts (the service quality and related aspects of status competition among different social groups in contemporary China) affect interpersonal interaction. 2

An Interactional Space of Permanent Observability: WeChat and Reinforcing the Power Hierarchy in Chinese Workplaces

“…These distinctive features of online interaction influence both online and offline interactions (Menchik and Tian 2008;Tian and Menchik 2016;Tian 2018). Because of the lack of visual cues in many forms of online interaction, the easy accessibility and recordability of past interactions, and the ambiguity of audience design, interactions between users, such as writers and readers, customers and sales persons, have changed.…”

“…Because of the lack of visual cues in many forms of online interaction, the easy accessibility and recordability of past interactions, and the ambiguity of audience design, interactions between users, such as writers and readers, customers and sales persons, have changed. Consequently, the internet has reshaped the power dynamics of social groups instead of eliminating status barriers (Tian and Adorjan 2016;Tian 2018). Then the question is, how has the use of digital media like WeChat influenced day-to-day interaction at workplaces?…”

An Interactional Space of Permanent Observability: WeChat and Reinforcing the Power Hierarchy in Chinese Workplaces

“…These distinctive features of online interaction influence both online and offline interactions (Menchik and Tian 2008; Tian and Menchik 2016; Tian 2018). Because of the lack of visual cues in many forms of online interaction, the easy accessibility and recordability of past interactions, and the ambiguity of audience design, interactions between users, such as writers and readers, customers and sales persons, have changed.…”

“…Because of the lack of visual cues in many forms of online interaction, the easy accessibility and recordability of past interactions, and the ambiguity of audience design, interactions between users, such as writers and readers, customers and sales persons, have changed. Consequently, the internet has reshaped the power dynamics of social groups instead of eliminating status barriers (Tian and Adorjan 2016; Tian 2018). Then the question is, how has the use of digital media like WeChat influenced day‐to‐day interaction at workplaces?…”

The impact of mobile Internet use on mental distress among Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…As the Chinese digital economy develops, mobile phone penetration and Internet penetration are increasing ( 2 , 3 ). Online chatting, shopping, learning, and playing games are becoming integral parts of people's daily lives ( 4 , 5 ).…”