Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
perspective, allows researchers to rethink the act of consumption as a consumer or a group
participation in the identity construction process.
Therefore, aspects such as: ideology, culture, symbolism and experience are all an integral part
of the individual behaviour and can't be isolated when studying consumption activities in
different contexts. Since the consolidation of the multidisciplinary current of CCT, the research
in the consumer fi eld has taken a major socio-cultural and experiential turn, which requires a
new analytical approach. In contrast to tourism studies, CCT has contributed to the enrichment
of research methodologies in the consumption fi eld and led researchers to overcome the
cognitive and rational approaches so far applied in consumer and tourism studies by focusing on
the interpretative approaches that give a central place to the individual's experience and his
feelings. The following section will highlight the use of CCT as a conceptual framework to
explain the main characteristics of tourist behaviours by taking into account cultural, symbolic,
experiential and ideological aspects related to his tourism and consumption experiences.
The starting point of the fi rst refl ections is none other than
the tourist
who has changed status
and even multiplied his functions and roles in relation to the meanings he assigns to his con-
sumption. The underlying idea is that the Western consumer society has changed over the past
decades. This has contributed to the emergence of a tourist/consumer who has new expecta-
tions and may be qualifi ed as emotional, active, digital, experiential, etc. Thus, new consumption
paradoxes and trends related to the hyperconsumption society and the omnipresence of social
media have infl uenced the shift in market segmentation from market/product logic to a more
consumer/tourist centric approach.
Following the CCT paradigm, the main characteristics of the 'new tourist' may refl ect
different behaviours:
1 responsible and ethical;
2 paradoxical;
3 experiential and hedonistic;
4 empowered and competent;
5 co-producing; and
6 seeking intermediation.
These characteristics have been inspired by the works of Batat (2011) who identifi ed the main
consumption patterns of the new consumer.
A
new tourist
who is responsible and ethical
The
new tourist
is very critical towards marketing discourses and particularly advertising. He
expresses a responsible behaviour and engages himself within his consumption practices since
he is aware of the impact of his consumption acts. This kind of responsible behaviours refl ects
the fact that the
new tourist
who becomes aware of his economic power, decides to consume
and act with respect to his values. His main ideology is to consume and purchase consumption
items only if it fi ts his ethical value system. The reasons that justify tourist motivations
to be responsible might be: product safety, environmental impact or employees' welfare
(Crane 2001). These reasons are all conscious or unconscious ways to reveal the ideological
dimension of goods (Chessel and Cochoy 2004) and build a set of ethical proposi-
tions around consumption (Smith 1990). The responsible consumer acts then as a citizen who
wants to learn more about the company political engagement and the fairness of its brand and/
or product.
