The ‘Yellow Effect’ - how successful has the ‘yellow economic circle’ been in achieving its aims?
The article is part of the 'Hong Kong Anti-extradition Demonstrations: One Year Ago Today' initiative which aims to raise awareness for the movement and also to debunk some myths regarding the movement’s origins and core elements.
This article forms part of the five-part investigation conducted around the ‘yellow economic circle’. For more information regarding the movement’s origins, impacts, sustainability and debates over its economic versus political classification, please refer to the links below.
NEWS articles:
INSIGHT articles:
OPINION articles
The ‘Yellow Effect’: the Observables
In a public opinion poll conducted by Hong Kong local newspaper Ming Pao (明報) during the New Year’s Day march, a total of 93.6% of voters expressed their support and participation in the ‘yellow economic circle.’ Its growth in strength as a social movement was evident by its publicity during the first week of May; alternatively termed as ‘Golden Week’ (五一黃金週) by the citizens of Hong Kong to encourage public patronisation of the ‘yellow economy’.
Coincidentally also the Chinese Labour holidays, the first week of May in Hong Kong was symbolic of the launch of a new initiative, ‘Golden Week’. The initiative encouraged the public to undertake forms of shopping and retail to help promote ‘yellow shops’ and inadvertently rekindle the spirit of the anti-extradition demonstrations through mutual support.
Many food and drinks stores were seen implementing promotions and discounts that matched the rhetorics of the anti-extradition demonstrations. Some gave out discounted drinks at 51% off when you gestured ‘5’ and ‘I’ with your hands, to represent the movement’s slogan of ‘5 Demands, Not One Less’, when ordering at the counter. Other stores were seen to have adapted their edible products to reflect particular features of the demonstrations.
Image Source: AP Photos
When asked about their motivations, owners expressed their gratitude for the initiative as it helped to promote local businesses and encouraged people to spend more during a time of low morale. Businesses have had massive declines in sales, and incentives to spend money have significantly decreased as a result of the pandemic. For them, it's about supporting Hong Kong as a whole: supporting the people of Hong Kong and also the businesses of Hong Kong. Drawing on the global ‘Buy Local, Eat Local’ model, the ‘yellow economic circle’ essentially calls for people to ‘Buy Hong Kong, Eat Hong Kong’. A common sentiment shared by both businesses and citizens of Hong Kong is that the ‘yellow economic circle’ is much more than its economic benefits; it’s about the mutual benefits in both personal satisfaction and encouraging greater ordinary participation in the community. For supporters of the movement, it is about building a ‘society of conscience’ (良心), where people trade in varying degrees of mutual support and create this trusted, self-sufficient community within the ‘yellow economy.’
Further evidence of the ‘yellow effect’ has witnessed a pattern of shop closures across Hong Kong, many of which are Chinese-businesses. One which received noticeable publicity during its launch in Hong Kong back in 2018 and is widely favoured by Hong Kong citizens is that of ‘HeyTea’ (喜茶), a popular Chinese tea drink headquartered in Mainland China.
However, since the anti-extradition demonstrations gathered in momentum, supporters of the demonstrations have taken to boycotting Chinese-businesses in Hong Kong. At its peak, ‘HeyTea’ had a total of 8 branches in Hong Kong, but only two remain open. The other 6 branches have suspended business operations due to a decline in sales and customers. Whilst arguably caused by disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, ‘HeyTea’ is simply one of the many Chinese-businesses that has witnessed reduced sales and face similar closures. As more and more people call for support of local shops and businesses, the ‘yellow economic circle’ has become the haven for the ‘Buy Hong Kong, Eat Hong Kong’ narrative.
The ‘Yellow Economic Circle’: ‘a current phenomenon lacking in singular purpose and consciousness’ - what were its primary aims and how have they been perceived?
Two Themes and A Strategy
Often critiqued for its lack of ‘singular purpose and consciousness’, challenges to its long-term sustainability are essentially testimonials to its leaderless status and provide credibility for its somewhat organic proliferation. With no formal collective monopolising, the ‘yellow economic circle’ has defined itself as a bottom-up- ‘for the people, by the people’ - movement, generated and sustained by supporters of the anti-extradition demonstrations in 2019.
Due to its leaderless status, its identity is essentially curated by the public and is externalised through its observable impacts. Whilst there are no real determinants of its ‘aims’, the ‘yellow economic circle’ movement has often been regarded as ‘one of the most radical, progressive, and innovative forms of long-term struggle against Hong Kong’s stilted political and economic power structure.’ Evaluation of its success becomes difficult as the movement cannot be identified by clear aims and its subsequent impacts and effects remain inconclusive as the movement is still in continuation. Its paradoxical political and apolitical status has resulted in various speculations over the movement’s aims which could largely be categorised under two themes and a strategy.
Support for the Anti-Extradition Demonstrations
The ‘yellow economic circle’ is often considered as a system created for support of the anti-extradition demonstrations. It not only aims to promote the movement and its causes but also functions to provide financial support for the demonstrators themselves. Whilst it long-term aims are to achieve self-sufficiency and establish its own independent economy, the ‘yellow economic’ circle currently provides financial support through raising funds to cover expenses in litigation, providing professional training and career matching programmes and offering employment to demonstrators that have been arrested and bailed out.
Break the monopoly of the ‘red capital’, a blockchain of large Chinese consortiums
As part of the economic activities conducted in the ‘yellow economic circle’, citizens are encouraged to support ‘yellow shops’ and boycott Chinese businesses and Made In China goods. If the patronisation of pro-demonstration businesses is a pledge to democracy, the avoidance of ‘blue’ and ‘red’ shops are equally considered as opposition towards entities that support China and the Hong Kong Police Force. It is further believed that by breaking the monopoly of the pro-China consortium it liberates industries from Chinese-stronghold and allows for fairer competition and healthier versions of capitalism between local businesses and enterprises.
However, the equation of boycotting Chinese businesses as opposition to the Chinese Communist Party echoes similar sentiments as the discursive construction of the ‘China Threat.’ Due to CCP’s authoritarian regime, China is often perceived as a ‘threat’ to the Western Liberal Order. Differing in the extent of the observable features of a market economy, transparency and separation of state and business, China’s authoritarian regime and its system of centralisation contributes to its perception as a ‘threat’ to Hong Kong’s socio-political order. Attitudes towards Chinese businesses (and sometimes also citizens themselves) are often grounded in suspicion and there exists a disposition to question whether its entities are ‘subsuming their economic rationality to the state’s political concerns.’ Whilst contention remains over the validity of a “‘one-size-fits’ all contextualisation of Chinese investment”, the apparent motivations driving the ‘yellow economic circle’ are impartially premised on the architrave created by the ‘China Threat’.
Strategic Marketing and Economic Tactics
From a more theoretical perspective, various skeptics, as well as economic theorists, have denounced the movement as simply a demonstration of Marketing 3.0 - a marketing technique theorised and argued by the ‘father of marketing’, Philip Kotler. As explained in the Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly, Kotler’s theory argues against the ‘yellow economic circle’ as a social movement and approaches the entity as the employment of ‘value-oriented’ marketing.
Image Source: AP Photos
In Marketing 3.0, Philip Kotler depicts the transformations of marketing in the last century and stresses that in the world of ‘new marketing’, the focus is shifted from the products to the consumers and priority is given to engaging with the customer’s mind, soul, emotions and body. ‘Value-oriented’ marketing is demonstrated by invisible labels given to brands to attract ‘common people’; consumers who share the same ideals and values as the brand or product itself. According to Kotler, Marketing 3.0 is driven by consumer relationships to the brand and the mechanism behind the ‘yellow economic circle’ necessarily fulfils this diagnosis.
Adapted for climates of extreme competition, businesses can only fare well in Marketing 3.0 if they are willing to adopt extreme measures and adapt to potential externalities; Hong Kong’s socio-political climate being a qualifiable externality in itself. A distinctive feature of the ‘yellow economic circle’ is in its involvement of small, local businesses and enterprises, most of which belong to ‘low-risk’ market segments such as catering and retail. However, due to the high levels of substitution prevalent within these industries, owners are pressured to reconsider its strategies to achieve ‘coexistence in this “stratosphere” to survive this socio-political storm.’
In light of the focus on ‘value’, businesses are ‘forced’ to show their position/stance on some controversial issues, sometimes even having to change their stance in order to truly ‘connect’ with its customers. The implications of a ‘yellow’ identity further incentivise businesses to ‘fake’ its support for the demonstrations and adopt a pro-democracy stance in order to reap economic benefits from the ‘yellow economy.’ In addition to this, during the movement’s proliferation, a concern was raised over the accountability of publicly-certified ‘yellow shops’ and whether a method could be devised to distinguish between those which are ‘fake-yellow’ and those genuine to the cause.
Ultimately, whilst it's arguably ‘impossible to identify the ‘yellow economic circle’ as merely a Marketing 3.0 strategy’ it remains a conceivable sentiment that the ‘yellow economy’ is perhaps merely a ‘survival strategy.’
Editors' Note: As a blanket disclaimer for the entire ‘Hong Kong: Anti-extradition Demonstrations: One Year Ago Today’ initiative, we will not be disclosing the identities of any of the contributors to the initiative. We thank everyone who has submitted a piece of their own work and we apologise for not being able to openly accredit you for your contributions.