Consumption, Soft Power and Material Culture

the case of BYD in Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e36890

Keywords:

soft power, material culture, consumption, BYD, branding

Abstract

This article analyzes the "BYD is from Brazil" advertising campaign, broadcast in the first half of 2025, as an expression of Chinese soft power strategies in Brazil. The objective was to understand how the brand's communication and products can be interpreted as instruments of symbolic power, articulating consumption, material culture, and territoriality in the proposed case study. Based on the observations, it was possible to perceive how communication practices, associated with materialities and consumer messages, become agents of diverse meanings, capable of conveying values and constructing perceptions both in market approaches and in the field of geopolitics itself.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Manuela do Corral Vieira, Universidade Federal do Pará

Doutora em Antropologia pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia da Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), professora na Faculdade de Comunicação (FACOM) e no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação, Cultura e Amazônia (PPGCom) da Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA).

Izabelly Cruz Diniz Martins, Universidade Federal do Pará

Graduanda em Comunicação Social - Publicidade e Propaganda, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA).

References

AAKER, David. Building strong brands. New York: Free Press, 1996.

AZEVEDO JÚNIOR, Alfredo. Soft power e mídia: estratégias de influência cultural na contemporaneidade. Revista Signos do Consumo, São Paulo, v. 11, n. 1, p. 45-61, 2022.

BYD AUTO BRASIL. BYD é do Brasil. YouTube, 2025a. Vídeo (1min). Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tve-wpLv6N4. Acesso em: 20 jul. 2025.

BYD AUTO BRASIL. BYD é do Brasil (Institucional – Fábrica e colaboradores). YouTube, 2025b. Vídeo (1min). Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMhUw7bQnQk. Acesso em: 20 jul. 2025.

CANCLINI, Néstor García. Consumidores e cidadãos: conflitos multiculturais da globalização. Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ, 1997.

DELEUZE, Gilles; GUATTARI, Félix. Mil platôs: capitalismo e esquizofrenia. Rio de Janeiro: Editora 34, 1995.

DENARDI, Larissa; SCHULZ, Letícia. China’s influence on the BRICS: cultural and people-to-people cooperation. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Brasília, v. 67, 2024.

GRANDES NOMES DA PROPAGANDA. Agência WE conquista a conta da BYD. Disponível em: https://grandesnomesdapropaganda.com.br/agencias/agencia-we-conquista-a-conta-da-byd/. Acesso em: 20 jul. 2025.

KURLANTZICK, Joshua. Charm offensive: how China's soft power is transforming the world. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

LI, Mingjiang. Soft power in Chinese discourse: popularity and prospect. ResearchGate, 2008. Disponível em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30066572_Soft_Power_in_Chinese_Discourse_Popularity_and_Prospect. Acesso em: 09 jul. 2025.

MCCRACKEN, Grant. Culture and consumption: a theoretical account of the structure and movement of the cultural meaning of consumer goods. Journal of Consumer Research, Chicago, v. 13, n. 1, p. 71–84, 1986.

MILLER, Daniel. Stuff. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

NYE, Joseph. Soft power: the means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs, 2004.

SHAMBAUGH, David. China’s soft power push: the search for respect. Foreign Affairs, v. 94, n. 4, p. 99-107, 2015.

OURIVES, Maíra. Cultura material e consumo: objetos como mediadores de identidades. Revista RARI, Porto Alegre, v. 4, n. 2, p. 112-128, 2018.

STUENKEL, Oliver. The BRICS and the future of global order. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2015.

YIN, Robert K. Estudo de caso: planejamento e métodos. 5. ed. Porto Alegre: Bookman, 2015.

ZHAO, Suisheng. The China Dream: great power thinking and strategic posture in the post-American world. Journal of Contemporary China, v. 24, n. 92, p. 833–853, 2015.

Downloads

Published

2026-01-20

How to Cite

VIEIRA, Manuela do Corral; MARTINS, Izabelly Cruz Diniz. Consumption, Soft Power and Material Culture: the case of BYD in Brazil. Dispositiva, Belo Horizonte, v. 15, p. e36890, 2026. DOI: 10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e36890. Disponível em: https://periodicos.pucminas.br/dispositiva/article/view/36890. Acesso em: 30 jan. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 15 (2026): Tema Livre e Dossiê temático: Nostalgia(s) nas mídias

Section

FREE THEME ARTICLES

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Manuela do Corral Vieira, Izabelly Cruz Diniz Martins

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The copyright of articles published in Dispositiva belongs to the author(s) of the text, based on the rules of Editora PUC Minas. The journal has the right to first publication of the article, registered under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 sharing license. The license allows the text to be shared and adapted, always with attribution, without additional restrictions. Authors are requested to sign a declaration stating the authorship, originality, and novelty of the text during submission, according to the terms below:

  1. By submitting to Dispositiva, authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work being published under a Creative Commons license in the form of attribution, non-commercial use, and sharing under the same license (CC BY 4.0).
  2. When submitting to Dispositiva, authors are authorized to enter into additional contracts separately for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., publishing in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and mention of the initial publication in this journal.