Beyond luxury consumption: The meaning and meaning-making mechanism in conspicuous outbound tourism

Abstract

This study examined the social aspects of tourism from the perspective of conspicuous consumption. In the context of Chinese outbound tourism, it aimed to capture how the concept of conspicuous consumption was constructed and operationalized through a process in which the tourists made sense of their subjective travel experience. The findings suggested that this process was driven by behaviors both conforming to and diverging from mass tourism preferences and norms. The tourists personalized travel experience to manipulate certain signaling values congruent with their social identities and cultural assets to acquire desired status. This study contributed to the knowledge of conspicuous consumption by revealing the nuances and intricacies of the concept and the tactics and conditions in which it was applied and managed for status achievement beyond ostentatious economic display.

Keywords:

• Conspicuous consumption
• tourism experience
• values
• identities
• Chinese outbound tourism

Acknowledgements

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).