Conceptualizing and Measuring “Glocality”: A Comparison of China and Hong Kong

Dr. Zhou He The concept of “glocalization” means “the creation of products or services intended for the global market, but customized to suit the local cultures” (Roberson, 1995). It refers to both the status and consequence of the glocalization movement. It blends both the “global” and “local” and evolves along with the two-way glocalization process, and it exists at all levels, from the national level down to the individual level. This study attempts to examine “glocality,” defined as the degree of glocalization at the individual level, in China and Hong. It aims to test a comprehensive index that captures not only physical and social dimensions of glocalization (e.g., SES and contact with the outside world), but also the psychological dimension, such as individuals' attitudes, values, “glocal consciousness” and “imagined elsewhere” and compare the levels of glocality in two regions that share some cultural traditions but differ significantly in their current status of cultural, economic and political development in the recent globalization movement. The study is meaningful and important in that that it is a pioneering effort to measure empirically what globality and locality manifest themselves at the individual level, to construct a scale of “glocality,” to treat media use/exposure as part of the group of dependant variables of “glocality” so as to shed new light on the role of the media in the construction of social reality, social knowledge and self identification, and to compare different societies using the same index.