Conspicuous Consumption of the Elite: Social and Self-Congruity in Tourism Choices

This paper relies on social and economic psychology to explore how the travel choices of Portuguese citizens, with different status levels in their daily lives, perceive and adopt different conspicuous travel patterns because of public exposure.

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Conspicuous Consumption of the Elite: Social and Self-Congruity in Tourism
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Empirical Research Articles
Introduction
Human behavior is driven within social patterns. Although
tourism drives human beings to quite different standards of
behavior and social experiences, it remains a form of socially
driven behavior (Crouch 2013). Tourism motivations that
may lead to different patterns of choices are mostly catego-
rized in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations.
McIntosh, Goeldner, and Ritchie (1995) distinguish four cat-
egories of motivation: physical, cultural, interpersonal, and
status and prestige. In Veblen (1899), status and prestige
refers to the status levels that tourists wish to display in order
to enhance their social image. This is mostly achieved by
choosing conspicuous tourist destinations or experiences
(Crouch 2013). The connection between conspicuous con-
sumption and status has been clear since the work of
Leibenstein (1950), who found that social status can be
enhanced by consuming as others do (bandwagon) or con-
suming differently (snob). This presupposition has been
demonstrated by various authors in different fields. In tour-
ism, these effects have been studied by Correia and Kozak
(2012), among others. Conversely, it may be assumed that
status plays a critical role in the context of human lives,
where individuals of a higher status tend to display their
superiority or their conformity with others.
Existing research shows that travel choices are influenced
by the desire of tourists to enhance their self-identities and
social identities, although in some circumstances tourism
choices are driven more by status superiority than the desire
of self-enhancement (Sirgy and Su 2000). This raises a ques-
tion concerning the level of conspicuousness and luxury of
destinations. This does not only include the question of cost,
for the search for status is transversal to all human beings,
regardless of income levels. So far, research focusing on how
people construct destination meanings that enact their self or
social representations has been limited (Wang and Morais
2014), although some research highlights the fact that tour-
ism choices, mostly with respect to tourism activities, play a
critical role in constructing and reproducing identities
(Pudliner 2007; Echtner and Prasad 2003; Urry 2002;
Hibbert, Dickinson, and Curtin 2013, among others).
The conspicuousness or inconspicuousness of destina-
tions derives from the destination’s image. The image com-
prises a number of cues that relate to the destination’s
clientele or to the destination’s symbolic value (Sirgy and Su
2000). Social and self-identities relate to the match (or
563337 JTRXXX10.1177/0047287514563337Journal of Travel Research Correia et al.
research-article 2014
1CEFAGE, Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
2School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Dokuz Eylul University,
Izmir, Turkey
3School of Management, Hospitality and Tourism, University of Algarve,
Faro, Portugal
Corresponding Author:
Metin Kozak, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Dokuz
Eylul University, Foca, Izmir, 35680, Turkey.
Email: [e-mail]
Conspicuous Consumption of the Elite:
Social and Self-Congruity in Tourism
Choices
Antónia Correia1, Metin Kozak2, and Helena Reis3
Abstract
This paper relies on social and economic psychology to explore how the travel choices of Portuguese citizens,
status levels in their daily lives, perceive and adopt different conspicuous travel patterns because of public ex
account for the moderated role of public exposure on conspicuous travel patterns, 36 Portuguese citizens wer
Q-methods were applied to explore the varying senses of conspicuous travel choices among citizens with diffe
of public exposure, both individually and relative to each other. Complementary qualitative methods were app
to explore how the interviewees construct tourism conspicuous meanings that match their social or self-repre
The results suggest that social contexts moderate the ways in which individuals perceive and experience cons
Further, the results show that public groups with higher exposure tend to prefer subtle signals of conspicuous
to differentiate themselves from the mainstream.
Keywords
conspicuous travel, social status, conformity, hedonic value, social contexts, public exposure, Q-methods
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2 Journal of Travel Research
mismatch) between the destination itself and tourists’ beliefs
regarding whether traveling to that destination will enhance
their social status (Sirgy and Su 2000). As such, it may be
assumed that travel choices are moderated by the level of
status or pleasure that tourists are seeking to achieve. It is on
the basis of this stated knowledge that the central question
addressed in the present research arises: “Under what condi-
tions do private/public self and social identity construct and
moderate travel choices?” This research uses an exploratory
qualitative analysis to reach an understanding of what desti-
nation/experience cues (visibility or conspicuousness) are
likely to activate tourists’ social status or self-identity (per-
sonal pleasure).
The present study explores how and to what extent the
innate need for status influences travel behavior, both in
those who deal with their public status every day and in those
with similar purchasing power but who are less exposed.
Status and conspicuous consumption are related, so this
research also explores how the public status that people con-
front in their daily lives moderates their need to travel. This
research uses a snowball convenience sample of 36
Portuguese citizens, 27 of whom can be classed as members
of a “public exposed group” (of famous and public persons).
The remaining group, composed of ordinary individuals of
similar economic levels, is introduced to control for the het-
erogeneity of perceptions and meanings that each group
tends to express. The study tests how these different groups
perceive conspicuous destinations and experiences, both
internally and outwardly. Content analysis was used to
understand how the participants perceive conspicuous tour-
ism and how they engage in it.
Status and Conspicuous Travel Choices
Veblen (1899) was one of the first researchers to state that
consumer behavior is mostly driven by the wish to commu-
nicate possessions and identities (Belk 1988). This display of
status is commonly referred to as conspicuous consumption
(Woodside 2012), and is assumed to be a privilege exclusive
to the upper social classes. The term “conspicuous consump-
tion” refers to socially signaled consumption that sustains or
enhances an individual’s social position. After Veblen, other
authors have developed research in this area that explores the
forms of social behavior that are motivated by people’s
desire to imitate or to distinguish themselves from others
(Leibenstein 1950). This is the so-called snob or bandwagon
effect. Vigneron and Johnson (1999) advanced the view that
aside from the bandwagon or snob effect, individuals may
opt for conspicuous consumption to enhance their self-
esteem. These authors also advanced the view that persons
with a high public consciousness are more likely to adopt
conspicuous signaling consumption than others, whereas
persons with high levels of private consciousness may adopt
conspicuous consumptions patterns with subtle signals, as
these are driven by their own pleasure (Berger and Ward
2010). Conversely, Rucker and Galinsky (2008) show that
low social level can increase the willingness of consumers to
pay for status-related products.
Furthermore, economic psychology establishes that con-
spicuous consumption is inherent to the human condition, as
high levels of status desires will lead individuals to be more
prone to making conspicuous choices, whatever the price of
the product (Woodside 2012). These social desires may lead
persons to sacrifice the necessities of life in order to be able
to afford a certain amount of what is considered a suitable
amount of “wasteful consumption.” This is a very common
form of behavior (Woodside 2012). Schor (1999) suggests
that consumer spending is mostly driven by a comparative
process, whereby individuals try to stay within the norms of
their reference group. Following Duesenberry’s (1949) snob
and bandwagon effects, Schor (1999) shows that Americans
tried to “keep up with the Joneses” during the 1950s and
1960s, and are nowadays more likely to establish compari-
sons with the upper middle class and the rich, thereby
enhancing their social status through the snob effect.
Similarly, Frank and Levine (2006) argue that expendi-
ture spillover effects start from the bottom: that is, when the
richest engage in certain forms of behavior, the class imme-
diately below will follow. This chain effect persists, giving
rise to what Sirgy and Su (2000) describe as the ideal social
self-image (where people sacrifice necessities to obtain what
they think may give them the status needed to be recognized
as members of the class in which they wish to belong). In
fact, possessions and behaviors act as signals of identity
(Berger and Heath 2007; among others), and function as a
fence or a bridge in interpersonal interaction. People con-
sume in order to classify themselves as well as to communi-
cate with others (Douglas and Isherwood 1978; Holt 1995),
and they use consumption to form inferences about the social
identities, preferences, and social class of others (Belk, Bahn,
and Mayer 1982; Burroughs, Drews, and Hallman 1991;
Holt 1995).
The definition of conspicuous consumption is closely
related to status-driven behaviors. According to Bourne
(1957), this is a multidimensional construct that comprises
two values—exclusiveness and visibility—which moderates
reference-group influence on consumer decisions.
Subsequently, Bearden and Etzel (1982) operationalized
exclusiveness as the distinction between luxury and neces-
sity, and visibility as the distinction between public and pri-
vate consumption. Richins (1994) categorized visibility as
the differentiation between the public and private meanings
of possessions and consumptions. As such, only visible con-
sumption may ensure the desired level of recognition, where
products are recognized as status-signaling or conspicuous
(McCracken 1988; Muñiz and O’Guinn 2001). Escalas and
Bettman (2005) show that persons tend to flag their social
identity on different levels and in different ways. As income
and wealth are not sufficient to define social class, education
and culture also moderate status-driven behaviors. Brooks
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Correia et al. 3
(2001) suggests that educated elites tend to reject traditional
status symbols, preferring subtle signals that are visible only
within their own social groups (Berger and Ward 2010).
In the field of tourism research, research into status-driven
consumption is very scarce (Correia and Moital 2009),
despite the existence of evidence suggesting that travel
choices are mostly moderated by status (Todd 2001; Riley
1995; Correia and Kozak 2012). This suggests that while
tourists may not, in some cases, be comfortable with travel-
ing, they may still participate in tourist activities due to the
associated status of those activities. It is a matter of consen-
sus that luxury consumption is related to prestige brands or
destinations (Weber and Dubois 1995), where prestige is the
benchmark for measuring the level of status that luxury con-
sumption and tourism may bestow on consumers. On the
other hand, status is the consequence of prestige-worthy
behavior that could also be explained by the romantic ethic,
that is, the need to engage in ideal rather than utilitarian con-
sumptions (Campbell 2005). Further, possessions and behav-
iors play an important role in interpersonal interaction
(Berger and Ward 2010). Consumption is therefore the bridge
or the fence to approaching or distinguishing social groups
(Berger and Ward 2010). Tourism choices are not exceptions,
and tourists tend to choose in accordance with their self or
social identities (Crouch 2013).
Status also lies in tourists’ ability to travel and in the tour-
ism destinations themselves (Riley 1995). Destination attri-
butes are regarded as referents of status for particular
destinations: these include its distinctiveness, uniqueness,
and worldwide recognition (MacCannell 1976). Tourists’
attitudes, adventurism, and spontaneity in particular (as well
as windfall opportunities of time and money) are also status
conferents (Coleman 1983). The frequency and variety of
travel experiences are perceived as instances of status dif-
ferentiation (Crompton 1979). Crompton argues that con-
spicuous potential disappears with frequency of exposure. In
other words, when the number of people visiting a tourist
attraction increases, the status of the destination tends to
decrease, since rarity is lost with the increase in the number
of people undertaking the relevant behavior. Furthermore,
repeat visits to the same destination become commonplace,
and thus the destination becomes less worthy of status con-
sideration (Crompton 1979).
Correia and Kozak (2012) demonstrate that status-seek-
ing behavior may persist even in repeat visits, whether for
the purpose of conformity (to be in a place where most of the
people are—the bandwagon effect) or to differentiate (visit-
ing the same destination but in a different manner—the snob
effect). Tourism is also driven by interpersonal and intraper-
sonal axes. At least the following three values may be
invoked to explain conspicuous consumption in general and
conspicuous tourism in particular: conformity, snobbism,
and hedonic value (Correia and Kozak 2012; Correia and
Moital 2009; Kapferer 1998; Tsai 2005; Vigneron and
Johnson 1999; Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009; Zhou
and Wong 2008).
These values were previously referred to using different
terminology, but, even if some slight differences can be dis-
cerned, their essential meaning remains the same. Above all,
the main values describing conspicuous consumption
(whether relating to products or tourism) are conformity,
snobbism, and hedonism. Conformity and snobbism rely on
interpersonal influence being conferent of status by peer
group acceptance or emulation (Mason 1993). Conformity
refers to the behaviors or attitudes that conform to social
norms, in strict accordance with peer-group membership
(Kotler 1965). Thus, through destination choice, tourists
conform to the opinion of their peer groups. Social compli-
ance leads tourists to the same places that the majority goes
to or recommends. What Leibenstein (1950) calls the band-
wagon effect refers to the desire of people to purchase a com-
modity in order to conform to the behavior of those people
they wish to be associated with, in order to be fashionable or
stylish. Therefore, individual demand for a destination tends
to increase when many others also demand that destination.
In terms of tourism, holidays in popular destinations
where many others go are perceived as being able to confer
the level of compliance tourists seek within their peer groups,
and also relate to prestige-worthy behavior, which is able to
confer status. Snobbism refers to uniqueness and distinctive-
ness. Tourists who exhibit snobbish behavior wish to be dif-
ferent and exclusive; the desire to differentiate and distance
themselves from the “common herd” is a driver of this
behavior. Here, demand decreases if the tourist concerned
recognizes that others are consuming the same commodity or
increasing their consumption. In tourism, experiences that
are out of the ordinary (exclusivity) or unique travel experi-
ences (uniqueness) give tourists a sense of prestige, confer-
ring status through a perceived increase in their social
standing and the sense that others will be impressed. Both
these interpersonal values may be regarded as antecedents of
a behavior that is mostly driven by the desire for social status
(consequent). Social status refers to the social recognition /
uniqueness or the conformity of tourist behavior that others
may confer upon a certain tourist (Kapferer and Bastien
2009). Grubb and Grathwohl (1967) argue that every person
has a self-conception that they seek to enhance through the
consumption of goods as symbols. Mason (1981, 1984) pos-
its the view that the pursuit of status is the most important
motive in conspicuous consumption, and that this motive
exists across all social classes (Eastman, Goldsmith, and
Flynn 1999).
Consumers tend to purchase conspicuous products in
order to express personal distinction and establish social
identity (Batra et al. 2000). Hedonic value refers to an essen-
tial element that individuals perceive in forming their own
hedonic experience, which is self-determined (Snell, Gibbs,
and Varey 1995). Pleasure has been considered to be the pri-
mary motivator for people’s behavior (Dube and Le Bel
2001). Emotional and affective values, like aesthetic beauty
and excitement, are essential characteristics of conspicuous
goods (Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009). People tend
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4 Journal of Travel Research
to buy goods to satisfy their own hedonic requirements
(Dubois and Laurent 1995; Tsai 2005). Dubois and Laurent
(1996) maintain that an increasing number of consumers
purchase conspicuously, primarily in order to gratify them-
selves rather than to impress others. This tendency is more
obvious in people with high personal orientation (Vigneron
and Johnson 1999). Hedonic value and social status should
be regarded as consequents, for while hedonic value refers to
the functional value of the consumptions or leisure experi-
ences, social status refers to the social value of these
commodities.
Methodology
In order to elicit the most relevant facets of conspicuous
travel choices of Portuguese public exposed individuals, and
as a result of the exploratory nature of our study, qualitative
methods were adopted. The research aims to assess
Portuguese public exposed individuals’ perceptions of con-
spicuous travel choices. Public exposed individuals are peo-
ple who exert a significant influence on several facets of
society, ranging from the arts, music, movies and television,
sports, culture, politics, religion; this group even includes
Socialites, who have no defined careers apart from looking
beautiful and attending the right events. Because of the status
of these individuals, they were very difficult to reach, and it
was an even more complex task to convince them to partici-
pate in this research. According to Fink (1995), snowball
sampling is the best way to obtain participants for this kind
of study. Snowball sampling is a type of non-probability
sampling that ensures purposiveness rather than random
sampling (Miles and Huberman 1994). The method consists
of asking individual participants to invite other colleagues of
the same group to participate as well (Hauck and Stanforth
2007). Theoretical sampling considers unique combinations
of case profiles, across a range of four to seven attributes
(Woodside et al. 2005), and recommends five to eight inter-
views per cell (McCracken 1988; Woodside, MacDonald,
and Burford 2005).
In this study, 27 public exposed individuals were inter-
viewed. There were nine in each social group, plus an addi-
tional nine-person control group, comprising ordinary
people, to account for heterogeneity. By doing this, we
assumed that public exposed individuals perceive tourism
differently from ordinary people; moreover, within this
group, we predicted that there would be different perceptions
(Musicians, Reporters, and Socialites). Therefore, we were
able to identify four different groups: our sample contains
nine Musicians, nine Reporters working for social and fash-
ion magazines, nine Socialites, and nine ordinary individu-
als. Despite the recommendations of McCracken (1988) and
Woodside, MacDonald, and Burford (2005), this sample is
only representative of the respondents’ behavior. When the
research was carried out, the Celebrity respondents were the
most famous people in the fields of Portuguese music,
magazines, and among socialites. The Musicians group
included pop and rock stars, some of whom were internation-
ally renowned. In the Reporters group, we selected those
who work on TV or gossip and fashion magazines, and the
Socialites were invited on the basis of their visibility in these
magazines over the past year. The group of ordinary people
mostly consisted of people with considerable experience of
traveling abroad, such as professors, pilots, and entrepre-
neurs, all of whom had very similar levels of purchasing
power as the public individuals. This allowed us to collect
tourism experiences, because in Portugal, tourism abroad is
only available for a very restricted sector of the population
(in 2012 Portuguese tourists in foreign countries represented
2.3% of the total inhabitants; INE 2013). As we wished to
conduct research that included the most famous people at
that time, the number of interviews was necessarily limited,
because of the problem of accessibility.
The interview guide was based on “a progressive and
humanistic approach” (Guba and Lincoln 1994), moving
from topic to topic in order not to disorientate respondents.
Accordingly, the aims of the research were as follows: (1) to
analyze how the interviewees define conspicuous experi-
ences in a tourism context; (2) to depict how individuals with
a high socioeconomic status and different levels of public
exposure, interests, and opinions perceive conspicuous tour-
ism; (3) to understand to what extent conspicuous travel
choices relate to public or private self-identity; (4) to account
for heterogeneous perceptions across the groups.
The interview script was divided into three sections: The
first section characterized the participants’ tourism experi-
ences and invited the interviewees to describe a conspicuous
tourism experience in geographical and personal terms. The
second section invited the interviewees to talk about their
previous experiences of conspicuous tourism. The third sec-
tion, quantitative in its essence, aimed to get participants’
overall perceptions of conspicuous values tourism experi-
ences and travel choices. The four perceived values of con-
spicuous tourism—conformity, snobbism, social status, and
hedonic value—were measured with relevant items adapted
from the existing literature. A five-point Likert-type scale,
ranging from “totally disagree” to “totally agree” was used in
order to test the respondents’ heterogeneous perceptions of
tourism conspicuousness. The last section dealt with the
respondents’ social profile. The interview script was pre-
tested among a total of five students and professors and, as
the interview was performed in Portuguese, a translated ver-
sion of the interview was pretested among five English tour-
ists in Portugal, and then retranslated to ensure that the
meanings of constructs were not lost across the translation
procedures. Most of the interview was an unstructured narra-
tive, aiming to elicit information about tourism conspicuous
perceptions that are relevant to Portuguese public individuals
(see Denzin and Lincoln 2011). On average, each interview
lasted about 1.5 hours. All the interviews were recorded and
transcribed into English. Interviews were chosen as the most
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Correia et al. 5
appropriate technique for getting a holistic interpretation of
the interviewees’ perceptions, including their past and pres-
ent contexts and their travel choices. A content analysis of
each interview was carried out in order to identify the major
themes or clusters appearing in the texts (Miles and
Huberman 1994).
Content analysis was used in order to interpret the inter-
viewees’ verbalizations (Jennings 2010), since it provides
detailed information that allows for interpretation on various
levels and according to different contexts. The set of state-
ments derived from the literature was assessed by means of
empirical exploratory research—the Q-Method. This method
allows for the exploration of the subjective dimensions of
any issue, where a number of different viewpoints may arise,
in order to depict the shared views of the respondents
(McKeown and Thomas 1988). The study combined quanti-
tative and qualitative approaches (Brown 1996) in order to
arrive at a deeper understanding of the meaning of conspicu-
ous travel choices via the four values outlined in the litera-
ture—snob and bandwagon effect (social identity) and
hedonic value, which refers to the tourist’s self-identity. A
qualitative factor analysis was performed, with each of the
36 participants required to sort 32 statements taken from the
literature. Other research using the Q-method proposes a
sample of 30 (Brown 1996), but with a sample of 36 it is pos-
sible to achieve the same results. The Q sorting process
required each participant to classify how each statement
reflected their own subjectivity, ranging from “totally agree”
(5) to “totally disagree” (1). The Q-factor analysis clustered
respondents rather than variables (Stenner, Cooper, and
Skevington 2003). Persons with the same point of view on
the values of conspicuous travel choices were grouped into
the same cluster. A factor loading was determined for each Q
sort, expressing the extent to which it is associated with each
factor. The number of factors in the final set depends on the
variability in each of the elicited Q sorts (Brown 1996). This
set of factors was then rotated, and examined from different
angles. This rotation was performed in accordance with a sta-
tistical principle. The interviews were used to gain a deeper
understanding of the subjective opinions depicted in the fac-
tor analysis.
Results
From the data generated in this study, a total of three factors
emerged for interpretation, each with an eigenvalue greater
than 1.5. Two factors emerged for the Musicians group, sug-
gesting that travel choices assumed two different forms.
These two factors together explained 59% of the study vari-
ance. For the Reporters group, two factors also emerged,
with eigenvalues of 4.9 and 1.6, together explaining 72% of
the total variance. The same happened in the Socialites group
(where two factors emerged, accounting for 63% of the total
variance) and in the Ordinary group, where two factors had
eigenvalues of 3.4 and 1.8, together accounting for 53% of
the total variance). In each of the groups, between 80% and
100% of the respondents load at least one of the three groups.
The two distinct viewpoints of musicians regarding their
travel choices, extracted through the Q sorts, rely on Hedonic
values or self-fulfillment (Factor 1) and social identity,
wherein a bandwagon effect is more than evident (Factor 2).
This is illustrated in Table 1.
Factor 1 (with an eigenvalue of 3.8): The musicians fea-
tured strongly within adventures and experiences; they make
travel choices to pamper themselves. They prefer unique
destinations where they do not run the risk of being recog-
nized or censored. They prefer destinations with fame and
prestige. Although they prefer unique destinations, they do
not avoid the places where most of their friends go. This sug-
gests that they are more concerned with consuming tourism
in private rather than as a status product to gain the respect of
others, or with the photos that are taken to show to others as
evidence that they have been there.
Factor 2 (with an eigenvalue of 1.57): Status travel
choices for musicians are in conformity with those of their
family and friends. They satisfy their wish for social emula-
tion by following the recommendations of friends and fam-
ily, or they go to the places where most of the others go. They
disagree with traveling to places where their friends have
never been, suggesting that they achieve social conformity
through the “keeping with the Joneses” bandwagon effect
(Leibenstein 1950).
This diversity of viewpoints clearly demonstrates that
tourists interpret their travel choices in a very personal way.
Whereas musicians search for pleasure and the emulation of
their family, reporters, who are not so public exposed in their
daily lives, distinguish two factors in their personal perspec-
tives on conspicuous travel choices: Factor 1 (hedonic, with
an eigenvalue of 4.9) represents the hedonic view that relies
on total agreement with sharing knowledge of their travel
experiences with others, whether through conversation or
photographs. Traveling to unique destinations and develop-
ing new friendships are their way of having conspicuous
experiences when traveling. The total disagreement with
buying shirts, with traveling to familiar destinations, and
with going to places where their friends want to go, suggests
that they are only concerned with their own pleasure, and not
with the public signaling of their choices. Either talking or
taking photographs is their way of documenting holiday
experiences, and this is not done to gain status but because of
their jobs (Reporters). Factor 2 (social identity, with an
eigenvalue of 1.6) suggests full conformity with their fami-
lies and friends, as suggested by their total agreement with
spending a good time with the family or accepting the rec-
ommendations of their peers (see Table 2).
In contrast, Socialites understand the bandwagon effect as
the way to be in conformity with their family and friends
(Factor 1, with an eigenvalue of 4.25). Considerations of
social status and social identity lead them to a very publicly
exposed and conspicuous way of traveling (Factor 2, with an
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6 Journal of Travel Research
Table 2. Distinguishing Statements by Factor for Reporters.
Items
Factor 1 Factor 2
Q-Sort Value Z-Score Q-Sort Value Z-Score
16 I like to talk about my travel experiences with other people 2 1.75
30 The holidays are a way of achieving my dreams 2 1.27
4 I like to travel to places to where very few people travel 1 0.53
24 To take pictures and show them to others 1 0.4
18 Developing close friendships 1 0.33
25 I always bought a T-shirt with the name of the place where I have been0 –0.17
5 I like adventures and risk situations 0 –0.19
7 I like to visit familiar destinations where I can feel at home –1 –0.58
8 I always choose destinations that I have not visited yet –1 –0.63
13 Going to places my friends want to go –2 –1.13
17 Being entertained 2 1.37
15 Visiting a place where I could spend good time with family 2 1.37
12 I like to visit destinations recommended by my family and friends 2 1.49
Eigenvalues 4.909 1.567
% Explained variance 55 17
Composite reliability 0.966 0.889
eigenvalue of 1.547). Such attributes as outrageous spend-
ing, outstanding quality, prestige, and luxury are determi-
nants of their choices (Table 3).
With respect to ordinary people’s perspectives on con-
spicuous travel choices, two distinct influential factors
emerged. Through the lenses provided by the typical Q sorts,
the nature of these relationships within the tourism setting
may be interpreted (Table 4).
Factor 1 (with an eigenvalue of 3.4367): Status is a domi-
nant theme that emerged for ordinary people. They signal their
travel choices with T-shirts and the outstanding quality of
familiar destinations. This factor is polarized in their positive
Table 1. Distinguishing Statements by Factor for Musicians.
Items
Factor 1 Factor 2
Q-Sort Value Z-Score Q-Sort Value Z-Score
6 Visit a place where I could maximize my experience 2 1.8
11 The holidays are my gift, my way of pampering me 2 1.38
5 I like adventures and risk situations 2 1.35
4 I like to travel to places to where very few people travel 1 0.53
22 When on vacation I like to have a good time without being censored0 0.38
23 When I choose my holiday destination I look for places where I will
not be recognized
0 0.21
2 I like to visit places with fame and prestige 0 0.1
24 To take pictures and show them to others 0 –0.21
8 I always choose destinations that I have not visited yet –1 –0.71
19 To gain others’ respect –2 –0.8
9 I like to visit fashionable destinations –2 –1.33
25 I always bought a T-shirt with the name of the place where I have
been
–2 –1.89
30 The holidays are a way of achieving my dreams 1 0.76
32 Visiting a destination my family and friends recommend 2 1.37
13 Going to places my friends want to go 0 0.28
1 I like to visit places where my friends have never been –1 –0.074
Eigenvalues 3.8 1.57
% Explained variance 42 17
Composite reliability 0.952 0.941
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Correia et al. 7
and negative statements. Self-fulfillment and pleasure are not
an issue for them, and this is in accord with a very collectivist
view of Portuguese culture (Correia, Kozak, and Ferradeira
2010). Factor 2 (with an eigenvalue of 1.79): Snobbism places
outstanding quality, prestige, luxury, and fashionable destina-
tions as critical determinants of travel choices. This signals
their conspicuousness when traveling to places where their
friends are not able to go.
Discussion
We have considered some results of the research, specifically
the emergence of the distinctive factors of conspicuous travel
choices, discussed by means of Q-methods. We will now
enhance that discussion by exploring the interview responses.
Transcripts were kept by interviewees to capture their origi-
nal perceptions. Qualitative analysis allows for in-depth
perception of the meanings of conspicuous travel choices
according to social groups. When the interviewees were
asked, “What is the most conspicuous travel experience you
can remember?” their answers enlightened us as to what they
valued the most. Some excerpts from the interviews are
included below, describing the interviewees’ experiences
inside and outside of Portugal.
The Musicians seemed to value conformity with their
family (four out of the nine respondents refer to family, and
five refer to the companionship of their wife) or with their
companion, in scenery in which they could have fun without
being censored (two out of nine refer to being uncensored,
whereas three refer to anonymity). They tended to spend too
much money (five out of nine mention expensiveness, and
four refer to outrageous spending) and to taste the local gas-
tronomy (three out of nine). Gastronomy emerged as a theme
in all the groups, suggesting that the Portuguese prizing of
Table 3. Distinguishing Statements by Factor for Socialites.
Items
Factor 1 Factor 2
Q-Sort Value Z-Score Q-Sort Value Z-Score
32 Visiting a destination my family and friends recommend 2 1.33
20 Developing close friendships 2 1.33
17 Being entertained 2 1.29
11 The holidays are my gift, my way of pampering me 2 1.16
5 I like adventures and risk situations 1 0.65
15 Visiting a place where I could spend good time with family 2 1.47
24 To take pictures and show them to others 2 1.81
27 In holidays I prefer outstanding quality 2 1.46
26 While on holidays I tend to exaggerate on spending 1 0.91
3 Prestige and luxury are determinant for my vacation choice 1 0.91
Eigenvalues 4.25 1.547
% Explained variance 47 16
Composite reliability 0.96 0.889
Table 4. Distinguishing Statements by Factor for Ordinary People.
Items
Factor 1 Factor 2
Q-Sort Value Z-Score Q-Sort Value Z-Score
7 I like to visit familiar destinations where I can feel at home 2 1.08
26 In holidays I prefer outstanding quality 1 0.54
25 I always bought a t-shirt with the name of the place where I have been0 0.09
11 The holidays are my gift, my way of pampering me –2 –0.91
28 I like to talk about my travel experiences with other people –2 –0.91
30 The holidays are a way of achieving my dreams –2 –0.91
9 I like to visit fashionable destinations 2 1.12
27 In holidays I prefer outstanding quality 1 0.45
2 I like to visit places with fame and prestige 1 0.76
13 Going to places my friends want to go –2 –1.8
Eigenvalues 3.4367 1.7939
% Explained variance 38 15
Composite Reliability 0.889 0.952
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8 Journal of Travel Research
“good gourmet” experiences very highly is an engrained cul-
tural value. The destination could be in Portugal or abroad:
the places where the musicians had experienced their most
conspicuous holidays were Alentejo, a rural and restful plain
where they could remain anonymous, the Algarve, a destina-
tion recognized worldwide for its sun and sand and gastron-
omy, and elsewhere (e.g., Brazil or the Orient).
The first time I visited Cacela in the Algarve was six years ago,
in a bright summer. I was with my present companion. I don’t
know how much I spent… The fish and seafood were exquisite
but I guess the highlight was swimming all the way across Ria
Formosa! I still remember the velvet touch of the water on my
body…
Maybe Macau, in the 90s, with my wife. The smells, the popular
streets, a first contact with the Taoist philosophy, but also the
contrasts between the two cultures (western and eastern) which
in those days converged in their original organic laws. I tasted
the flavors of the local gastronomy, I spent an outrageous
amount of money, much more than I usually spend when visiting
European countries. It was good to walk around town without
being recognized…
I enjoy the Alentejo coastline. I love deserted places and
outstanding sceneries, where I can enjoy my family
companionship and have a good time being myself, feeling
relaxed and uncensored.
Therefore, the emulation of family and hedonic value drove
their desires to have a conspicuous experience, as shown in
the above excerpts from their narratives.
In the Reporters group, the perceived hedonic value was
more closely related to learning and social knowledge.
Snobbism or conformity was not as evident as in other
groups. The excerpts analysis suggests a certain reminis-
cence of their normal occupation—journalism—as in their
daily life they are forced to write gossip stories about other
people’s lives. While on holiday, they looked for learning
and knowledge of local cultures (five out of nine refer to
cultures, and four refer to knowledge):
India, for one week, with friends, €3,000. I remember the visit to
Taj Mahal, a beautiful world heritage icon, and the social
differences . . . so manifest, so shocking . . . the will to help
everybody and everywhere and the total incapacity to do so.
New York, with friends, a five star hotel in Times Square. One
week, three thousand euros . . . it was like living in a movie . . .
the imaginary [scene] of Starbucks [Cafe], the snow, lights
everywhere, Christmas celebrations.
A week in the Azores Islands: 12 hours in S. Miguel; two days at
Pico Island and the rest of the time at Terceira Island. I went with
my sister. I spent around €4000 on these trips, not including the
accommodation. My experiences: boat trip from one island to
the other, wandering about S. Miguel to visit furnas [natural
steam boilers that emerge from the soil, where the local
inhabitants cook special traditional dishes]; the local festivities
at Terceira island, the gastronomy, beautiful landscapes in
general, but specially Terceira, the visit to the grouts.
The group of Socialites was more likely to associate con-
spicuous tourism experiences with being recognized and
with gaining popularity. An analysis of the transcripts rein-
forces the social importance of tourism for this group, as well
as its associated status, since they photographed (in three out
of nine cases) everything, to show to others. Recognition is
associated with photos (in four out of nine cases), as stands
out from their interviews:
Three weeks alone in Serra da Estrela. I intended to be isolated
so I would enjoy a more special experience. Actually, in that
way, you “live” all the different aspects of a destination and you
absorb its energy . . . and it also becomes easier to understand the
host community. I don’t remember how much I spent, but I was
recognized by everybody, it was very gratifying!
So many: Cuba, my husband, our friends found it too basic; I
made a lot of friends for life, I saw their houses, I went to private
parties in their homes, I tried their food and dishes.
I enjoy doing sports, but photography is my hobby. . . . Food and
beverages, the friendliness of the residents, they recognized me
and were really welcoming . . . that’s what really struck me.
Ordinary people were looking for exquisite experiences,
with these being experiences they perceived as the most con-
spicuous. Striking sceneries, different cultures, and contact
with natives (as well as good gastronomy) were the main
drivers of their conspicuous touristic experiences, where
hedonic (five out of nine interviewees refer to striking scen-
ery) and snobbism (four out of nine interviewees refer to
uniqueness) drove what they expected would confer social
recognition upon them. This is illustrated by the following
transcripts:
Our holidays in the Maldives, we stayed in a bungalow in an
atoll; striking scenery, I guess it was paradise.
We went to the north of Portugal, we passed by small villages
where we could appreciate the people, their habits, the exquisite
gastronomy, the unique scenery, striking natural parks in a very
relaxing ambience.
The different ways of perceiving these conspicuous tourism
experiences was even more evident in the participants’ defi-
nitions when they were asked, “How do you define a con-
spicuous tourism experience?” The transcripts by social
group reinforce how they perceived conspicuous tourism
experiences that, if not yet lived through, relied on
imagination.
For these Portuguese social groups, conformity with fam-
ily and friends’ expectations was the primary motivation for
engaging in conspicuous tourism experiences, this being a
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Correia et al. 9
sign that the social value of tourism prevailed in deciding
their holiday destinations. This is in accordance with the col-
lectivist cultural value of Portuguese society, as suggested by
Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions. The influence of
family and friends on leisure decisions is also corroborated
by research by Reis and Correia (2013a, 2013b), who posit
this as the major interpersonal facilitator to participation in
leisure activities. Although the strong presence of some cul-
tural values was more than evident for the Musicians, family
always came first at the time of choosing their dream holiday
(six out of nine refer to family, and three refer to friends).
They aimed to get away from the common social etiquette or
code that normally inhibited them, in order to have fun with
their companions without being censored (four out of nine
interviewees refer to being uncensored on their speeches).
Furthermore, the destination did not matter to them, as long
as they could remain anonymous (in four out of nine cases)
in a pleasant place where they could have fun with their
friends or family. Excerpts from their interviews provide
compelling evidence for these conclusions:
A conspicuous trip always presupposes transcendence. A manner
of going out of our normal way of being in our daily lives and,
in that sense, a trip becomes essentially our own opening onto
the world outside.
Fundamentally, the company of my family and my friends;
when you’re in good company, the destination and conspicuous
perks become irrelevant.
Any destination, as long as it is with my family, and in a place
where I won’t be recognized.
Non-planned trips, the taste of adventure.
For this group, comprising those who are used to dealing
with crowds, their holiday preferences were focused on
being with their family outside the influences of their popu-
larity; unplanned destinations without frills, in contrast with
the Reporters, who tended to persist in relating conspicuous-
ness with destinations full of history, and with experiences
capable of providing them the hedonic pleasure of learning
about other cultures. One reporter said,
Locations that are politically safe, hot climate, nice beaches.
Different cultures, and experiences of tasting the food and
learning about the way of life of the inhabitants of a certain
place.
In contrast, the Socialites related conspicuousness to holi-
days paid for by others (two of the respondents refer to
offered holidays), and reported favoring those travel experi-
ences capable of giving them the sense of social status that
drives their lives; parties (according to two respondents) and
social recognition (three respondents explicitly assumed the
need for social recognition, whereas only two refers to social
needs) drove their perceptions of conspicuousness:
Zanzibar, with my girlfriend, at a local lodging. I would engage
on some sort of photography work and travel writing, in order to
share it with my friends.
Any paradisiacal place, an offered trip, no “spending money”
whatsoever.
Ordinary people chose instead to differentiate themselves
from others; for this group, it emerged that experiencing
thrills and adventures in a pleasant and exquisite destination
were the most valued perceptions of conspicuous tourism:
The trip that will make me feel in heaven, open my mind, be
myself, enrich myself, and make me feel like a real person.
Striking, breathtaking scenery, staying at a very comfortable
place . . . maybe in a palace, those that are now used as hotels, a
destination where I can learn more about different peoples and
cultures.
Riley (1995) contends that conspicuousness is perceived
more in the manner of traveling than in the destination cho-
sen. To some extent, this was corroborated by the results of
this study, since for most of the participating social groups,
the destination was not the most relevant attribute in defining
conspicuous holidays. In fact, the content topics amounted to
a total of 307, of which 126 referred to a destination or desti-
nation attributes. Nevertheless, in order to assess the level of
conspicuousness afforded to different destinations, the par-
ticipants were asked: “What were the destinations you would
choose to have a conspicuous experience?”
A cluster analysis by social group was performed, based
on a Pearson correlation. Figure 1 illustrates which destina-
tions the participants related to conspicuousness. The results
are not surprising: Asia, Africa, or Europe (for cultural pur-
poses) were reported as the most conspicuous destinations
for Portuguese tourists. This may suggest that external stim-
uli are effective, such as the promotional activities carried
out by Portuguese travel agencies. Furthermore, this proves
that conspicuousness concerns not only the manner of travel-
ing, but also the destinations chosen, as previously shown by
Correia and Kozak (2012).
This result, although exploratory in nature, shows quite
clearly that conspicuous travel choices have different mean-
ings, and that most of these meanings relate to people’s status
and social position. Furthermore, there is a clear tendency for
people to seek escape from their everyday lives, and this has
also been identified in other research as being the essence of
holidays (Pearce and Lee 2005). The results show that the
more publicly exposed people are, the less likely it is that
their decision will be motivated by seeking higher status.
Overall, the findings show that the respondents were pri-
marily looking for conformity, in particular with their fami-
lies. This is probably because their occupations involve
spending a great deal of time away from their families, which
they wished to compensate for as far as possible while on
holiday. Looking for family esteem and recognition, they
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10 Journal of Travel Research
Figure 1. Destinations to have a luxury experience chosen by
social group.
perceived conspicuous tourism as a way of obtaining plea-
sure for themselves (hedonic value) by having fun in a place
where the weight of being a public figure did not condition
their attitudes. However, while the findings show that one of
the primary motivations was to have a good time with their
families, the data also indicates their recognition that tourism
is a demonstration of status and wealth. These perceptions
assume quite different weights in different social groups.
The Musicians, on average, tended to value snobbism less
than conformity, this being the main driver of their holiday
decisions. Although in interviews they revealed the desire for
social recognition, this social recognition mostly relied on
conformity with their families. Furthermore, they also tended
to devalue the hedonic value of luxury experiences, whereas
the Reporters presented unusual preferences that emphasized
the hedonic value of their holidays above all else. Almost
half of the Reporters tended to perceive holidays as a nons-
nobbish pursuit, while the other half perceived holidays as an
activity of nonconformity. Whether they perceived tourism
luxuries as a snobbish or a conformity experience, for the
Reporters, luxury tourism scarcely resulted in hedonic plea-
sure more than improved perceived social status. Conformity
was also a shared value that drove them to seek luxury expe-
riences; this emulation of their peer groups relates particu-
larly to their families, as the qualitative data demonstrate.
Socialites were the snobbiest group, and their distinctive atti-
tude focused on gaining social status and pleasure. Being dif-
ferent from others is what drove most of their attitudes to
tourism. Surprisingly, it is the group of ordinary people that
most valued the status that the holidays conferred on them,
whether by assuming a snobbish attitude or a conformist one.
The study suggests that for ordinary people, the social value
of their holidays is as important as their own pleasure.
Conclusion and Implications
Tourism is somehow allied with conspicuousness, whether
through tourists’ attitudes or the destinations they visit.
Either way, defining conspicuous tourism becomes funda-
mental to understanding this market niche, since the subjec-
tive nature of the meaning of conspicuousness is difficult to
express. Riley (1995) proposes that conspicuousness relates
more closely to the manner of traveling than to destination
choice. This was confirmed to some extent in the present
study, since most of the participants across the social groups
reported that the destination was not the most important attri-
bute. However, according to Correia and Kozak (2012), con-
spicuousness is also found in selected destinations, and our
participants also conformed to this proposal, as it was possi-
ble to draw overall conclusions about those destinations per-
ceived to be conspicuous. The present study used a snowball
convenience sample of 36 Portuguese people, comprising 27
Celebrities; these were famous and public figures grouped
into the three clusters of Musicians, Reporters, and Socialites.
The fourth group was composed of ordinary people, and was
included to reinforce how different the perceptions of
Celebrities were as compared to the perceptions of ordinary
people. Mixed methods allowed us to assess the perceptions
and experiences according to social group, and the four val-
ues outlined in the existing literature were also depicted:
conformity, snobbism, social status, and hedonic value.
Our results illustrate destinations perceived as conspicu-
ous, and conform to the results of Correia and Kozak (2012).
In general, Asia, Africa and Europe are (for cultural pur-
poses) the most conspicuous destinations for Portuguese
public individuals. Regarding the first objective, to analyze
how they experienced conspicuousness in tourism, since for
these individuals, conspicuousness is in the manner of travel-
ing rather than in the destination they are traveling to, the
four groups showed different perceptions: while on holiday,
the Musicians (who are in the spotlight on a daily basis) pre-
ferred to be with their families and away from the pressure of
their popularity. The Reporters related conspicuousness with
historical and cultural destinations capable of providing
them the hedonic pleasure of learning about other cultures,
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Correia et al. 11
customs, and civilizations. The Socialites related conspicu-
ousness to holidays paid for by others, and enjoyed travel
experiences that gave them the sense of social status that
drives their lives, whereas ordinary people related conspicu-
ousness to differentiation, a differentiation that needed to be
perceived when they got back home via the photographs they
could show to their friends and family.
The second objective, to assess how they perceived con-
spicuous tourism, was also answered: the Musicians, on
average, perceived conformity as very important in devalu-
ing snobbism. Emulation of family and hedonic value drove
their desire for a conspicuous experience. The Reporters
focused on hedonic pleasure rather than on social values.
Yet, for this group, the hedonic value was more closely
related to learning and social knowledge; neither snobbism
nor conformity was evident. Socialites proved to be the snob-
biest group among the public group: their distinctive attitude
to conspicuous tourism involved seeing it as a way of gain-
ing social status and pleasure. In fact, they associated con-
spicuous tourism experiences with being recognized and
with gaining popularity. Nevertheless, the snobbiest group
overall was that of ordinary people, who tended to relate con-
spicuousness with exquisite and different experiences.
Furthermore, the findings also revealed differing percep-
tions of conspicuous tourism. The results offer evidence that
when choosing their own holidays, privacy drives the deci-
sions of tourists, even though they are aware and understand
conspicuous tourism as a way of improving social standing.
In fact, conspicuous tourism relies on intrapersonal values
rather than on interpersonal ones, at least for individuals who
deal with fame and status on a daily basis. For them, con-
spicuousness is “to be with their families in quiet and private
resorts, where quality and hedonic value prevail.” In con-
trast, ordinary people perceived conspicuousness as the most
different, exquisite and thrilling tourism experience.
The results show that the interviewees perceive and
understand conspicuous tourism as a way of improving
social standing, but, above all, when it comes to their own
holidays, it is privacy that leads their decisions. These
research findings support the role of social class and public
exposure in travel choices and status hierarchies. Despite the
importance of wealth and income in determining status, this
research reinforces the evidence that interpersonal or intrap-
ersonal factors intervene more on status choices than income
and wealth. This research contributes to the body of knowl-
edge in a topic that is still scarce in the tourism literature,
namely, the topic of status and conspicuous tourism choices.
Following the research of Ross (1971) and Wang and Morais
(2014), the next step will be to explore how public/private
exposure moderates conspicuousness travel choice patterns.
The results are also critical with respect to social marketing
segmentation, as they suggest that persons with high levels
of public exposure are more likely to travel to inconspicuous
destinations, whereas those with low public exposure
prefer to travel to conspicuous destinations or, at least, to
upper-scale destinations where they are treated like “royalty”
irrespective of their social position (Riley 1995). Furthermore,
the methods used are also new to tourism research, with the
Q-method that is used to explore and identify subjective
judgments in social sciences. Applications of this method in
tourism are, however, limited. The main advantage of this
method is its ability to combine the strengths of quantitative
and qualitative approaches in assessing social subjective
topics.
Our results, exploratory in nature, indicate that the status
and social position of an individual reveals different mean-
ings of conspicuousness in tourism. Furthermore, the hetero-
geneity of the perceptions gathered suggests that the lower
the social status of individuals, the thirstier they are in the
search to increase their status while on holiday. This means
that the higher status people have, the less likely it is that
their decision will rest upon on seeking more. Moreover, the
findings show that there is a clear tendency for the higher-
status persons to run away from their usual lives, confirming
that this is the essence of holidays (Pearce and Lee 2005).
Nevertheless, the present research has focused only on a
small sample of Portuguese individuals: the results are there-
fore limited and cannot be generalized. A further limit on the
present study is that some of the public individuals are not
renowned internationally, which may lead to different inter-
pretations of tourism inside and outside Portugal. The need
for additional studies is evident, in order to assess the rele-
vance of conspicuous tourism and consumption among other
nationalities, in broader and more diversified groups, and
within different cultural, social, and economic contexts.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
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Author Biographies
Antónia Correia is a Professor at the University of Algarve. Her
research interests are consumer behaviour and marketing. She is
also member of CEFAGE a research center granted by the National
Science Foundation.
Metin Kozak is affiliated as a Professor with Dokuz Eylul
University and a Visiting Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic
University. His research interests entail tourism marketing and con-
sumer behaviour.
Helena Reis is Professor at the University of Algarve with a
research agenda on tourism gender and consumer behaviour.
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