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

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Conspicuous Consumption of the Elite: Social and Self-Congruity in Tourism
Choices
Article in Journal of Travel Research · December 2014
DOI: 10.1177/0047287514563337
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Antónia Correia
Universidade do Algarve
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Kozak Me
Dokuz Eylul University
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Universidade do Algarve
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DOI: 10.1177/0047287514563337
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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
563337JTRXXX10.1177/0047287514563337Journal of Travel ResearchCorreia et al.
research-article2014
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, with different
status levels in their daily lives, perceive and adopt different conspicuous travel patterns because of public exposure. To
account for the moderated role of public exposure on conspicuous travel patterns, 36 Portuguese citizens were interviewed.
Q-methods were applied to explore the varying senses of conspicuous travel choices among citizens with different levels
of public exposure, both individually and relative to each other. Complementary qualitative methods were applied, in order
to explore how the interviewees construct tourism conspicuous meanings that match their social or self-representations.
The results suggest that social contexts moderate the ways in which individuals perceive and experience conspicuous travel.
Further, the results show that public groups with higher exposure tend to prefer subtle signals of conspicuousness, in order
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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