“Environment First” or ‘Development First’? Emotional Social Values in Chinese and Overseas Brand Communication

In recent years, the branding of overseas activism has been characterized by the “environment first” trend, which mainly includes branding for DEI, ESG and SDG, etc. These values have dominated the global media discourse, spreading to the Chinese market and Chinese enterprises from the international community level, but their influence on the end-users of the Chinese market has begun to diminish. However, their influence on the end-users in the Chinese market has begun to diminish, catering to the political, economic, and cultural trend of anti-globalization and territorialization.

The rapid development of Internet technology in China is driving changes in the platform-based society and consumers, increasing the trend of emotional marketing pursued by online consumers. This paper uncovers the intensifying differences between Chinese and Western branding values, which reflect the ideals of a nation and society behind them, and can be used to explain the emotional social thinking that distinguishes Chinese contemporary market consumerism from Western environmentalism. That is, Western globalized brands envision a set of “perfectionist” ideal values, intending to perpetuate the moralistic high ground of developed societies, and attempting to cut through historical stereotypes of unbridled capital expansion and overseas resource plunder by establishing SDGs, ESGs, and DEIs, among others.

This study establishes a new concept of “Pragmanisive Brand Values (PBVs)” for Chinese brand market practices, which explains the socio-cultural dimension of Chinese consumers’ “reluctance” to get close to overseas brand values. It explains the deep-rooted reasons why Chinese consumers have become “reluctant to get close” to overseas brand values at the socio-cultural level, which provides a practical guide to local social brand ethics and communication for consumers to embark on a new brand emotional path after the reform and opening up of Chinese society.