The Consumption of Tourism - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 373

At the same time, however, a variety of other topics, such as consump-
tion festivals and rituals, the significance of possession, and gift-giving and
exchange are all considered ways in which cultural meaning is transferred
from goods/services to the individual. These all provide a valid theoretical
framework for the analysis of the consumption of tourism in particular. For
example, tourism has long been utilised as a status symbol, whilst the ritu-
alistic elements of tourism consumption represent 'a kind of social action
devoted to the manipulation of cultural meaning for purposes of collective
and individual communication' (McCracken, 1986: 78). Such actions include
the purchase of souvenirs (possession ritual), sending postcards, the taking
and showing of holiday photographs or keeping a blog on social media on
the internet.
Importantly, this multitude of ways in which cultural meaning is trans-
ferred through consumption suggests that, generally, 'the act of consuming
is a varied and effortful accomplishment underdetermined by the character-
istics of the object. A given consumption object. . .is typically consumed in a
variety of ways by different groups of consumers' (Holt, 1995: 1). Thus,
although some individual's consumption practices may be identity or status
driven - in the case of tourism, a flight in first class or, perhaps, a holiday at
an exclusive resort - the same consumption objects may be consumed by
others in different ways. Holt suggests four different categories of consump-
tion which, as we now consider, may be effectively applied to the specific
context of tourist-consumer behaviour.
Categories of (Tourist) Consumer Behavior
According to Holt (1995), consumer research has traditionally conceptu-
alised consumption practices under two broad headings - the purpose of
consumption and the structure of consumption. In terms of purpose, con-
sumers' actions may be ends in themselves (autotelic) or means to an end
(instrumental). Structurally, consumption may be focused directly upon the
object of consumption (object actions) or, conversely, the objects of consump-
tion may serve as a focal point for interpersonal actions. Thus, within
a combination of these two dimensions of consumption practices lie four
possible 'metaphors' of consumption:
(1) Autotelic/objectactions: consuming as experience.
(2) Autotelic/interpersonalactions: consuming as play.
(3) Instrumental/objectactions: consuming as integration.
(4) Instrumental/interpersonalactions: consuming as classification .
Each of these represent different ways in which an object of consumption
(including tourism) may be consumed.