Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
While small-scale sustainable tourist products have developed successfully, most major actors
now have some ecological/social orientations in their corporate policy even if those actions
are relatively greenwashing. Recently, new forms of mass-scale tourism products have been
developed or re-developed to include a stronger ecological and/or social welfare content
(such as the nature village that is currently being built by Disney in Marne la Vallée:
tourist accommodation in the form of a sustainable resort with a sustainable (geothermique)
water park (
DLRP Times
2011)). This evolution shows that there is now a real and signifi cant
consumer demand for sustainable products that can be compatible with commercialized,
large-scale tourism products.
A
new tourist
who displays paradoxical behaviour
Some consumer researchers have been infl uenced by postmodern sociological analyses, which offer
a different perspective on the rather paradoxical behaviour of
the
new consumer
. Based on the works
of the French sociologist Lyotard on the postmodern society and its paradoxes, Decrop (2008)
identifi es some postmodern paradoxes of consumer behaviour according to six characteristics:
1
the desire to be alone and together;
2
masculine and feminine;
3
nomadic and sedentary;
4
Kairos and Kronos;
5
real and virtual; and
6
the quest for old and new.
The fi rst characteristic is closely related to the information and communication era where
Internet, social media and mobile phones are an integral part of the consumer daily lives. These
tools enable the consumer to stay permanently connected with friends and colleagues, and at the
same time increase his isolation and the dehumanization of human relations. The second
characteristic shows that the erosion of boundaries between masculine values (bravery, power,
etc.) and feminine values (peace, kindness, etc.) enhances the paradoxical behaviour of the
postmodern individual. Therefore, more and more women become independent and adopt
masculine behaviours; men in turn are feminized.
The third characteristic refl ects the need to be nomadic and sedentary at the same time.
Indeed, the postmodern consumer is behaving in a non-rational way such as seeking for
somewhere else but like at home. The fourth paradox is related to our relationship to time where
kairos means the real time and the instant transformed into action while kronos refers to the
measurable time fl owing linearly. The fi fth paradox 'real and virtual' is based on the idea of
'hyperreality' defi ned by the erosion of boundaries between real and virtual worlds thanks to
online dating websites and realistic video games. Finally, the last paradox shows that the new
consumer requires 'old' and nostalgic consumption items and experiences, but should be updated
and improved by including technologies and modern comfort.
Therefore, the postmodern consumer/tourist is non-rational and may behave in very
paradoxical ways (as previously discussed). It is then diffi cult to apply rational models of decision
making because of the multiple identities of tourists as well as their paradoxical behaviours. In
this sense, tourism is not only used as a form of conspicuous consumption but also as a way to
perform different identities through different experiences: to be a good parent, to excel at sport,
to portray oneself as a playful and fun person, to maintain or develop kinship and friendship
relations, etc.
