Reflection on a Face-to-Face Survey: Conspicuous Consumption in Travel

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Individual Reflection
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Introduction
This study mainly deals with the conspicuous consumption in travelling which is now
considerably prevalent in the people. It has also been studied that why people prefer conspicuous
consumption and what are the people who are mainly involved in the conspicuous consumption.
Conspicuous consumption is the over expenditure in acquiring luxury commodities to display the
economic superiority and to show off their riches. The higher economic class is mainly involved
in conspicuous consumption, and I am the ones following this trend highly (Bellezza et al.,
2016).
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Your reasons for selecting the particular method of survey administration used? What
were the advantages and disadvantages of using this method?
I understand that the method selected for the survey on conspicuous consumption on travelling is
a face-to-face survey method. The face-to-face method is used when a particular group of people
are chosen for an investigation. In this case, I need people who are wealthy and are akin to
exhibit their wealth by expenditure. So, I have a set of people whom the survey targets, which is
the higher economy class of the society. I comprehend that this method is chosen as in this
procedure, the responses are observed in real-time, and the behaviours of the respondents are
also analysed (Burns et al., 2018).
Advantages:
 High Response Rates: In this procedure of contemplation I recognise that the reply rate
of the person surveyed is faster than any other methods. As there is no questionnaire
involved in the survey, it is an asynchronous survey, so people tend to answer more when
asked about the subject matter.
 Bearable Interviews: I understand that people can be probed more and more by throwing
open-ended questions at them. The people when interviewed live tend to bear more than
any other method. Individuals also tolerate the open issues and act in response to it. I
appreciate that people are much able to express their long answers orally then I
communicate in writing.
 Behavioural Observation: These processes also benefit the research, as the behaviour
and the expression of the person who is being interviewed are seen. I recognise that this
helps to realise what the person is happy about and what the person is not satisfied with.
Disadvantages:
 High Cost: The major drawback which it faces is the high cost involved in the process. I
understand that this requires a venue where the interview is to be conducted, some staff
and some personnel. A personnel cost is the highest cost involved in a company (Brant et
al., 2016). Manual Entry: The data collected through the survey have to be written by hand. I
realise that this also elongates the time of the study.
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 Time Consuming: The manual entry and the time required to interview require time. The
need for travelling involved in the process also consumes time.
Was the administration procedure a success, i.e., did respondents understand the questions
(look confused or ask questions)? Was there missing data (i.e., skipped to queries)? On
average, how long it takes for respondents to complete the survey?
The administration procedure was a success in many terms, and in some points, it proved to be
exhausting for the interviewee.
Most of the people who were involved in the interview were of a higher financially viable class,
and I was excited as I had a chance to display their wealth. Half of the people were confident
about their answers and were deeply intricate in the interview. I understand that the first question
was their gender which was to make them comfortable in the conversation. The second question
asked them was about their age. I value that there was a little hesitation from the women's in
disclosing their age, but the men easily revealed their age. The people administered were in the
age group of 20-35 (Vannette and Krosnick, 2017).
Then, I was asked about their monthly household income. It can be said that all of them belonged
from the higher economic class of society and took satisfaction in conspicuous consumption. I
am aware of that there was the question that which category was preferred by them mostly, the
first class or the economy class. To this, everyone preferred first class in which the gratification
on their face could be seen. I all preferred staying in luxurious hotels while travelling.
I thought of conspicuous consumption as a reward to them and some thought of it as a
satisfaction and display factor. 65 % of the people interviewed highly preferred expensive brands
over the ordinary ones. The interview took around 45 minutes to 1 hour. Many people were
hesitant in answering the question of their monthly income (Walters and Carr, 2017).
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What suggestions would you make for improving the administrative procedure used?
I comprehend that the suggestions to the face-to-face administration procedure are that it should
not be done by taking expensive interviewers. This is the highest charge which is involved in the
whole process. I identify that this can be significantly reduced by making some person who
would be happy to be included in the interview and would like to throw open-ended questions
which come to their mind. Rather than a built questionnaire for answering in a sequence, it
should be a personal type of interview in understanding the interviewee (Chen et al., 2015).
The next implication can be the involvement of a less time-consuming way to conduct the
administration. I realise that the person should be given a time limit or options to answer the
most basic questions which do not require much time. Some problems like the genders should be
avoided. There can be a prize or reward for the person who gives the fastest answers s to the
issues so that the people don't delve deep into the problem.
Manual entry method can be changed by giving the person a copy of the questionnaire, and he
should be motivated to write the answer by them, or the main points he think should be
incorporated in the query should only be included. All the less required or unnecessary things
should be analysed and removed from the survey (Huhtanen et al., 2016).
I comprehend that there should be a reduction in the answering time and the burden time of the
interviewee. This can be done by perceiving the behavioural trend of the person who is being
interviewed. If a person is seen hesitating, the question should be changed or skipped without
taking much time.
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What, if any changes, would you make to the questionnaire before administering it to a
larger group of respondents?
In case the questionnaire is to be addressed to a large group of respondents then some of the
questions have to be removed or altered. I comprehend that the queries involved should only be
of the type which the common mass can answer to unlike the gender and percentage of income.
The questionnaire could include the question such as do the people prefer only luxury hotels, is
there anyone who would like to travel in lower than first class. I identify that these questions can
be answered by a combined group of respondents rather than a single person (Barbour et al.,
2018). We can ask questions like ' Which are the most preferred brands between them' or which
the best thing I like about luxurious hotels is.
I identify that the questions should be open-ended rather than closed so that every person feels at
ease while answering the question. The interviewer should keep an eye on every person, to
which are the people who are restless to solve and I am not getting a chance to respond. I should
be the one who should be asked questions to ease their nervousness. I understand that the
questionnaire should be made so that a group of people can respond to some questions and some
people can answer the other question. This can be done in a way that no one feels left out.
Everyone should be appropriately addressed. There should be a reward linked to some interesting
questions so that people are keener to answer the questions (Learned-Miller et al., 2018).
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On reflection, what were the key lessons you learnt from the survey administration
process?
I am aware that the main lessons learnt from the survey administration were that people do
conspicuous consumption due to their physiological needs. Every person has different needs and
lifestyle which drive them to do what I like to do. I also understand that some people like to brag
their wealth and feel it is a thing about gratification, I am the one who does conspicuous
consumption. I believe that I live in infinite exhibit ring where I have to have that maintained. I
guess it was also seen that the people belonging to the age group of 18-26 years were the ones
who took pride in conspicuous consumption and show off (Brant et al., 2016). The higher
economic class prefers only brands and a lesson for themselves and does that in a much-
controlled manner than the other categories.
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Conclusion:
The survey administration was conducted to check for the conspicuous consumption in the
people and what type of people prefers this type of expenditure. It is seen that the higher
economic class is an excellent pursuit for the conspicuous consumption rather than the middle
and lower class, it can also be concluded that I do this mostly as I take pride in the display and
show off of their riches. I don't feel comfortable in a lower case.
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Reference List:
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