The erosion of community, work and everyday life: private housing advertisements in global Hong Kong (1961–2011)

Kimburley Wing Yee Choi, Anita Kit Wa Chan and Annie Hau Nung Chan

Chapter 21 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of Consumption, 2026, pp 250-262 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Hong Kong has one of the least affordable housing markets globally, yet little is known about its housing advertisements, which shape the cultural ideal of homeownership. This chapter examines newspaper advertisements for private housing from 1961 to 2011, employing content and textual analyses informed by Baudrillard's political economy of the sign and Lipovetsky's hypermodernity. By integrating temporality with the three modalities of housing consumption – that is, as living space, investment and financial speculation – the findings reveal a transformation in representations of the ideal home as advertisements evolved to become increasingly abstract over time, from emphasizing functionality to promoting hyperindividualism, investment and financial speculation, reflecting the excesses of the hypermodern condition. This study highlights how these marketing strategies contribute to the commercialization of housing, and underscores the impact of hyperindividualism on societal values and living conditions in a global city in neoliberal, late capitalism.

Keywords: Housing advertisements; Content analysis; Textual analysis; Hong Kong housing; Housing inequality; Late capitalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035310500
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