Chinese Managers' Attitudes Towards Advertising: Before and After the Tiananmen Square Incident

The civil revolt that took place in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 marked an end to the Chinese government's philosophical support of economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979. The ‘market socialism’ that characterized open-door policies of Deng's programme emphasized capitalistic practices including advertising and broader marketing processes. The current political leadership of Premier Li Peng emphasizes communist ideals politically and economically. Recently, Li Peng declared that China will move towards a market economy under the guidance of the Communist party. Given this odd mix of communist rule and market mechanism, it is worth investigating the beliefs that business managers have regarding market mechanisms such as advertising. This article presents data on attitudes towards advertising among Chinese business managers both before and after the Tiananmen Square event and the changes in the political philosophy that the event symbolized.