The relationship between travellers' career levels and the concept of authenticity

Abstract

Developments in applied social psychology have included a recent interest in the phenomenon of tourism. Two concepts to explain tourists' experiences and behaviour are employed in this research: the notion of authenticity and the view that tourists have a travel career. In the first study tourists' written descriptions of holidays were analysed (N = 198) and it was demonstrated that the proposed ways of coding authenticity and career levels were viable. Additionally an initial link between career levels and authenticity was suggested by analysing the data in terms of proportional reduction of error scores. In a more controlled study subjects' responses to holidays varying in authenticity levels were recorded (N = 160). It was demonstrated using analysis of variance that people's perception of holidays in terms of satisfaction and independence was jointly determined by the two concepts under investigation, namely travellers' career levels and the authenticity of the holiday description. Links between this kind of academic tourism research and the research needs of the tourism industry were briefly noted and the symbiolic value of applied social psychology research for mainstream social psychology was emphasized.