Donn, Vic and tiki bar authenticity

ABSTRACT

This study explores the social history of the tiki bar and associated phenomena, from its origins in the 1930s up to the present. In doing so, we aim to contribute to theory on consumer research about social categories and authenticity. Piecing together fragmented accounts and materials, we first sketch a brief socio-historical narrative of the tiki bar. The narrative describes several colorful, quirky and idiosyncratic individuals, but shows that the tiki bar nonetheless became established as a widely recognized part of American popular culture. At no point did the tiki bar represent an accurate manifestation of Polynesian culture or food, despite its popularity, growth and cultural embeddedness; the tiki bar thus fails any kind of basic test of objective or nominal authenticity, which concerns the provenance of an object. The tiki bar does eventually generate its own institutionalized social category, and many tiki bars fit the category and thereby possess type authenticity. The case is interesting theoretically because the tiki bar’s authenticity status changes across its history and because its growth and institutionalization as a category occurred without explicit endorsement by the state or any professional body or regulator. We speculate that evolution of the tiki bar was driven by a peculiar set of conditions and status dynamics.

KEYWORDS:

• Tiki bar
• authenticity
• escapism
• social category
• cultural form
• themed immersive space

Acknowledgements

We appreciate helpful comments on an earlier draft from Amanda Koontz Anthony, Maria Sarita Gaytan, Özgecan Koçak, Bálazs Kovács, Kieran O’Connor and David Lehman, as well as the journal editors and reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Glenn R. Carroll is the Laurence W. Lane Professor of Organizations at the Graduate School of Business, and (by courtesy) Professor of Sociology, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University. He is also Professor (part-time), Durham Business School, Durham University, U.K.

Dennis Ray Wheaton, Ph.D. in Sociology (1987) from the University of Chicago, was a restaurant critic for a quarter century at Chicago magazine, 20 of those years as chief dining critic. He has reviewed well over 1000 restaurants internationally and from coast-to-coast for a variety of publications, including national food magazines and the New York Times. He is interested in the social and cultural meanings of cuisines and dining, including various aspects of authenticity.