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Journal of China Tourism Research

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Tapping into Chinese Luxury Travelers

Elaine Yulan Zhang & Tony S. M. Tse

To cite this article: Elaine Yulan Zhang & Tony S. M. Tse (2018) Tapping into Chinese Luxury Travelers, Journal of China Tourism Research, 14:1, 71-99, DOI: 10.1080/19388160.2018.1437102

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19388160.2018.1437102

Published online: 20 Feb 2018.

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ARTICLE

Tapping into Chinese Luxury Travelers Elaine Yulan Zhang and Tony S. M. Tse

School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT Chinese luxury travelers, a rapidly growing segment of the coun- try’s traveling public, have attracted much attention from the tourism industry. Their motivations to undertake luxury travel are, however, not well understood. To tap into Chinese luxury travelers, this study reviews the literature related to luxury travel, and motivations for travel and luxury consumption, to provide insights into this market. There are 17 motivation dimensions generated from analysis of the literature. By taking Chinese culture into consideration, future research directions on the motivations of Chinese luxury travelers are suggested.

解读中国高端游客

摘要

作为中国游客群体中迅速发展的一个部分，中国高端游客吸引了 旅游业界的许多关注。然而，他们参与奢华旅游的动机未被深入 了解。为了解读中国高端游客，本研究回顾了现有的关于奢华旅 游、旅游动机及奢侈品消费动机的文献，对这一市场进行深入了 解。文献分析发现17个动机维度。考虑到中国文化产生的影响， 研究員提出了关于中国高端游客的未来研究方向建议。

ARTICLE HISTORY Received August 2017 Accepted November 2017

KEYWORDS Confucianism; conspicuous consumption; luxury travel; travel motivation; Chinese travelers

关键词

儒学; 炫耀性消费; 高端旅 游; 旅游动机; 中国游客

Introduction

China has been the number one tourism source market in the world in terms of expenditure since 2012 (UNWTO, 2016). International expenditures of Chinese tourists have grown consistently in recent years (Figure 1). In 2016, Chinese people spent US $261 billion on international travel, way ahead of Americans, who spent US$122 billion (UNWTO, 2016). More than 60% of Chinese outbound tourists are middle to high-end consumers who spend more than RMB 10,000 (US$1,470) per trip (China Tourism Academy, 2015). These top spenders are wealthy Chinese who enjoy traveling and those with average incomes who spend their savings to enjoy luxury travel services. The first group is becoming increasingly significant in the population; the number of High Net Worth Individuals with personal wealth of at least RMB 10 million (about US

CONTACT Elaine Yulan Zhang [email protected] School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

JOURNAL OF CHINA TOURISM RESEARCH, 2018 VOL. 14, NO. 1, 71–99 https://doi.org/10.1080/19388160.2018.1437102

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

$1.42 million) increased by 10% in one year, reaching 1,340,000 in 2016 (Hurun Report, 2017b) and travel is their most preferred leisure activity (Hurun Report, 2015a). The second group is also increasing because there is a trend for spending more on luxury hotels and customized travel services among average Chinese citizens (China Tourism Academy & Ctrip, 2017). This trend is referred to as the “consumption upgrade” of travel products. Thus, there is increasing demand for luxury travel among these two groups of travelers.

The past decade saw an expansion in the establishment and development of travel agents providing dedicated high-end travel services in China. HH Travel, a luxury travel brand under Ctrip, offers an 80-day world trip selling at a price of RMB 1,280,000 (HH Travel, 2016). Another luxury travel agent, 8 Continents, is a distribution channel of the Four Seasons Private Jet Experience and sells package tours including an 18-night trip at RMB 972,000 (US$141,324) (8 Continents, 2017). Diadema, the largest Asian provider of travel services in polar regions, has organized trips to Antarctica and the Arctic for 2,000 and 800 Chinese, respectively (Diadema, 2017). According to the Luxury Consumer Price Index in the Hurun Report (2014, 2015b, 2016b, 2017a), the price of first class flight tickets between Beijing and Paris, operated by Air France, increased by 16.5% between 2014 and 2017 (Figure 2). Emblematic of this growth in the luxury travel sector, the industry holds luxury travel themed events such as the International Luxury Travel Market Shanghai and the China High-End Traveling Industry Forum and publishes outputs including The Chinese Luxury Traveler (by the Hurun Report), and China High-End Travel Trend (by HH Travel).

According to the Hurun Report (2016a), Chinese luxury travelers are experienced, family oriented, and seek diverse travel pursuits. They are interested in adventure and new destinations, and prefer culinary experiences, nature tours, and safaris as their travel activities (Affluential, 2016). To them, WeChat is the most important source of travel information, including both the WeChat official accounts subscription and WeChat moments (Hurun Report, 2016a). These industry reports also cover

Figure 1. Chinese citizens’ international tourism expenditures (source: UNWTO, n.d.).

72 E. Y. ZHANG AND T. S. M. TSE

destinations, hotels, airline brands, and shopping items preferred by luxury travelers (China Tourism Academy, 2015; Hurun Report, 2016a). However, the motivations behinds these preferences or even the motivations for undertaking luxury travel are not analyzed or well understood.

Despite strong interest within the industry, there is little discussion about Chinese luxury travelers in academia. Among 80 articles in 21 journals on the topic of Chinese outbound tourism published between 1995 and 2013, there is very little discussion related to luxury travel in China (Tse, 2015). It was found that the travel motivation dimensions covered in those studies are mostly expected, generic, and related to what has been discussed by Crompton (1979, cited by Tse, 2015). Thus, these studies cannot adequately explain the new trend of luxury travel among Chinese. Another literature review study concerning Chinese outbound tourism by Jørgensen, Law, and King (2016) found that existing research often considers Chinese travelers as a homogeneous group and suggests that addressing the diversity of this market is needed in future studies. Chinese luxury travelers, as a distinctive segment of the overall Chinese market, are worth studying but currently under-investigated.

While very little is known about why some Chinese travelers undertake luxury trips, there are numerous studies on travel motivations and motivations behind luxury con- sumption. Considering that Chinese luxury travelers are a subset of three groups – luxury consumers, travelers, and Chinese – our understanding of Chinese luxury travelers can be enriched by integrating current knowledge about these three groups. Luxury consump- tion involves the consumption of luxury products, which include haute couture and accessories, perfume and cologne, jewelry, designer homewares, boutique hotels, fine dining, great wines, champagne and cognac, publishing and decorative arts (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2012). As luxury travel is one type of luxury consumption, the motivations behind luxury consumption and luxury travel may be similar in important respects. It is found that travel motivations of Chinese are closely linked to Chinese culture, e.g. Confucian values (Fu, Cai, & Lehto, 2015). Tse and Hobson (2008) argue that

Figure 2. Beijing–Paris flight prices over time (source: Hurun Report).

JOURNAL OF CHINA TOURISM RESEARCH 73

Confucian philosophy, as a key element of Chinese culture, has much influence on Chinese outbound tourism. Thus, analyzing the motivations of luxury consumers together with travel motivations and consideration of Chinese cultural influences may deepen our understanding of Chinese luxury travelers’ motivations. This explains the starting point of the current study design.

Chinese culture, including a set of core culture values, provides the basic identity of Chinese people, and contemporary Chinese culture is comprised of three major types of values: traditional culture (e.g. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism), communist ideology, and Western values (Fan, 2000). Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are similar in terms of their emphasis on consciousness of mind, subjective freedom, and life; they are different in their assumptions about life (Wong, 2001). Confucianism asserts that human beings are naturally good and seek moral order in life; Taoism considers life as void and encourages living in harmony with nature; Buddhism views life as full of pain and looks for escape (Wong, 2001). The communist ideology has been integrated with traditional values (Bush & Qiang, 2000). The Communist Party of China introduced the “harmonious society” as a vision of future development after they recognized the inequalities engendered by China’s rapid growth (Chan, 2009). Western values are also influencing contemporary Chinese culture. The appreciation of thrift, derived from Confucianism, probably explains why China has the world’s highest savings rate and, at the same time, luxury consumption in China is growing rapidly as well (Wang & Lin, 2009). One characteristic of contemporary social norms found in China is the desire for materialistic achievement, although materialism is not often used to describe culture (Leung, 2008). During the country’s rapid economic growth, many Chinese people learned the benefits of being rich, benefits that include comfort, con- venience, and social status.

While different values in contemporary Chinese culture are influencing the behavior of Chinese, individuals may not necessarily behave consistently. Leung (2008) gave an example of the Chinese businessman who may show his rational consideration for economic benefits in one context, whilst sacrificing those benefits in another context to save face. Thus, luxury travelers’ motivations may be expressed differently on different trips depending on how and which underlying values are activated.

To tap into Chinese luxury travelers by exploring the potential motivations of Chinese luxury travelers and to suggest future research directions, this study reviews an extensive number of studies related to luxury consumption, travel, and Chinese. This article will introduce the literature review process, discuss motivating factors of Chinese luxury travelers according to findings from the literature review, propose future research topics, and then offer conclusions.

Methods

Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOHost were used to search for relevant literature, as they are the three largest online bibliometric databases that cover academic outputs (Law, Sun, Fong, Fong, & Fu, 2016). A literature search should endeavor to exhaust accessible sources, aiming to help researchers become familiar with the current research status of a topic and enable them to situate and understand that topic within its broader corpus (Jennings, 2001). The search and review of literature reported in this

74 E. Y. ZHANG AND T. S. M. TSE

study was conducted from winter 2015 to fall 2016. Key words—“luxury”, “travel”, “tourism”, “motivation”, “conspicuous consumption”, and “Confucian”—are used to capture relevant literature about the motivations of Chinese luxury travelers.

After a screening of initial search results, a total of 299 articles from 135 journals, seven conference proceedings, and three book chapters are reviewed in this study. The majority of the articles are from two fields: (1) tourism and hospitality, and (2) business, marketing, and management. Table 1 categorizes the sample journals in terms of five different fields: tourism and hospitality; business, marketing and management; engi- neering, technology and natural sciences; social sciences; and others (including history, culture, media, sport, textiles, and medicine).

These articles were saved as pdf files before being imported into the qualitative analysis software package NVivo. The articles are reviewed and grouped into three categories according to their topics: (1) luxury consumption, (2) travel motivations, and (3) Chinese travelers or consumers. Some articles can be grouped into two categories, thus, three intersections are found: (1) luxury consumption by Chinese, (2) motivations of Chinese travelers, and (3) luxury travel. Figure 3 presents the number of articles under each topic; for example, there are 17 articles related to Chinese travelers that are grouped under both “luxury consumption” and “travel motivations”.

Nodes are generated manually when articles are reviewed. To show the exact words used in these articles, nodes are directly extracted from text. For example, Gao, Yang, Zhou, and Liu (2014) noted “show off” as a motivation for purchasing luxury goods, thus “show off” is extracted as a node. Nodes with similar meanings are grouped into the same dimension. In total, 17 motivation dimensions are derived; Table 2 lists motivation dimensions and the nodes under each dimension. It also shows the numbers of articles mentioning particular dimensions. For example, in total there are 166 articles mentioning “status” as a motivation for either luxury consumption or travel. As the articles at the intersections may reflect more relevant motivations of Chinese luxury travelers, a summary of motivations revealed by articles in these three intersections is also provided in the “subset” column of Table 2. In the table, “subset” includes 18 articles about luxury consumption by Chinese, 17 articles about Chinese travelers, and 32 articles about luxury travel.

Findings and discussion

Many studies equated luxury travelers with affluent or high-income travelers (Bhati, Chang, Kaur, & Cheong, 2013; Koch, 2011; Mann, 1993; Plog, 2002). Luxury travel is also linked to a range of activities and products including fine dining, golf, health spas, luxury yachts (Barrère et al., 2009; Park & Reisinger, 2009; Park, Reisinger, & Noh, 2010), business class, luxury trains (Thurlow & Jaworski, 2012), premium tours (Shaw & Leggat, 2009), space tourism (Billings, 2006; Ziliotto, 2010), luxury cruises (Hwang & Han, 2014), luxury shopping trips abroad (Yang, 2016),and bespoke travel agents (Buckley & Mossaz, 2016).

Among all of the luxury travel related products, luxury hotels or comfortable accom- modation is the element most frequently mentioned (Brenner & Aguilar, 2002; Chen & Peng, 2014; Kiessling, Balekjian, & Oehmichen, 2009; Lieux, Weaver, & McCleary, 1994; Richter, 1980, 1999; Routledge, 2001; Ryan & Stewart, 2009; Saldanha, 2002; Sandbrook, 2010; Scott & Mowen, 2007; Thurlow & Jaworski, 2012; Veríssimo & Loureiro, 2013). There are three possible reasons why luxury hotels are so often discussed. First, travelers spend

JOURNAL OF CHINA TOURISM RESEARCH 75

Table 1. List of journals. Field Journals/Conference Proceedings/Book Chapters

Tourism and hospitality Anatolia, Annals of Tourism Research, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Asia- Pacific Journal of Innovation in Hospitality and Tourism APJIHT, Cactus Tourism Journal, Chinese Outbound Tourism 2.0, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Current Issues in Tourism, European Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, Event Management, Festival Management and Event Tourism, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Culture, International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, Journal of China Tourism Research, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, Journal of Heritage Tourism, Journal of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, Tourism Review, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Journal of Kashmir for Tourism and Catering Technology, Journal of Sport Tourism, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Tourism & Hospitality, Journal of Tourism, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Journal of Travel Medicine, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Journal of Venue and Entertainment Management, Revista de Turism-studii si cercetari in turism, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research, Tourism & Management Studies, Tourism Analysis, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Tourism Geographies, Tourism Management Perspectives, Tourism Management, Tourism Planning & Development, Tourism Recreation Research, Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, Tourists’ Perceptions and Assessments, Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011, World Leisure Journal

Business, marketing, and management

Academy of Marketing Science Review, AP-Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research, Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Asian Journal of Research in Marketing, Business and Economics Research Journal, Business Horizons, Contemporary Management Research, E-European Advances in Consumer Research, European Journal of Marketing, Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Global Management Journal for Academic & Corporate Studies, International Business Research, International Business Review, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, International Journal of Consumer Studies, International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, International Journal of Marketing & Business Communication, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, International Journal of Social Economics, International Journal of Wine Business Research, International Marketing Review, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Customer Behaviour, Journal of East-West Business, Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development ISSN, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Journal of Global Business and Technology, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Journal of Marketing Communications, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Journal of Promotion Management, Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Retail & Leisure Property, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Luxury Marketing, Management Decision, Management and Service Science (MASS), Management Science Letters, NA-Advances in Consumer Research, Open Journal of Business and Management, Oxford Economic Papers, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Research in Consumer Behavior, Romanian Economic Business Review, South Asian Journal of Management, The American Economic Review, The Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators, The Business & Management Review, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, The International Journal of Business & Management, The Journal of Socio- Economics, Thunderbird International Business review, Young Consumers

Engineering, technology, and natural sciences

Acta Astronautica, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Mountain Science, Scientific Papers Series-Management, South African journal of wildlife research, Space Policy, Technovation, The Professional Geographer, World Academy of Science

(Continued)

76 E. Y. ZHANG AND T. S. M. TSE

more time in accommodation than they do interacting with or using any other travel products and services. Second, there is an established hotel rating system and a luxury hotel can be easily identified by a 5-star rating. Third, luxury accommodation is mainly built for travelers, thus the influence and development of luxury travel in a destination is often associated with luxury hotels.

No study focusing on the motivations of Chinese luxury travelers was found in the extant literature. Thus, the 17 motivation dimensions of luxury consumption and travel may be motivations of Chinese luxury travelers. It might be the combination of different dimensions which drives travelers to prefer luxury travel products. For exam- ple, Kiessling et al. (2009) explored the value of luxury hotels among customers and found that uniqueness, exclusivity, comfort, lavish feel, exquisiteness, and personaliza- tion were the important value dimensions.

Table 1. (Continued).

Field Journals/Conference Proceedings/Book Chapters

Social sciences Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Consumer Psychology in a Social Media World, International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Procedia- social and behavioral sciences, Psychological reports, Psychology & Marketing, Social & Cultural Geography, Social Indicators Research, Social Semiotics

Others Health, Wellness and Tourism: Healthy Tourists, Healthy Business, Luxury, Media Asia, Physical Education & Recreation (SAJR SPER), Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, South African Journal for Research in Sport, Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Figure 3. Number of articles on topics related to travel, luxury and the Chinese.

JOURNAL OF CHINA TOURISM RESEARCH 77

In the following sections, dimensions will be discussed in groups, together with related research questions that could be used to guide future studies. Other potential future research directions related to the motivations of Chinese luxury travelers will also be proposed.

Table 2. Motivation dimensions and nodes. Frequency

Motivation dimensions Nodes Total Subset

Status Status, Waste, Talk, Symbolic, Symbol of pride, Superior, Success, Social market, Social display, Social comparison, Social class, Show off, Self- esteem, Recognition, Public self-consciousness, Proud, Prestige, My friend has not been, King, Image, Ideal self, For wealthy, Face or mien- tzu, Expressive function, Emulation, Elitism, Ego enhancement, Conspicuousness, Class, Bragging, Being respected, Being a pioneer, Achievement, Ability to consume

166 32

Interpersonal relationship

Interpersonal relationship, Togetherness, Tell my friend about my trip, Socialization, Social relationship, Social life, Social interaction, Social influence, Social gathering, Social comparison, Social capital, Sociability, Romance, Relatives, Pets, Partner, New people, New friendship, Network, Meet people, Love, Interdependent self, Human relationship, Guanxi, Gifting, Friend, Family, Date more, Connection

142 31

Relaxation Relaxation, Tension reducing, Self-mind arrangement, Release from routine, Regeneration, Refresh, Recreation, Out of routine, Out of daily routine, Minimization of punishment, Isolation, Escape, Day out, Away from stress

114 17

Hedonism Hedonism, Treat, Special time, Self-regard, Self-gift, Reward, Pleasure, Pleasant, Pampering, Lifestyle, Joy, Indulgence, Incentive, Happiness, Gratification, Fun, Fantasy, Excitement, Entertainment, Enjoy, Comfort, Celebration

107 18

Self-improvement Self-improvement, Training, Success, Self-fulfilment, Self-development, Self-actualization, Self-understanding, Lifelong dream, Learning, Knowledge, Know more, Inner cultivation, Improve my physical ability, Horizon, Enrichment, Education, Culture, Be productive, Achievement, Accomplishment

105 22

Perfection Perfection, Utility, Usability, Unobtrusive service, Service quality, Refined, Quality, Practical, Low risk, Guarantee, Functional, Food quality, Facilities, Excellence, Design, Beautiful, Aesthetic

96 23

Uniqueness Uniqueness, Rarity, Exclusivity, Different 60 15 Individualism Individualism, Taste, Snobbism, Self-presentation, Self-image, Self-identity,

Self-expression, Privacy, Personalization, Personality, Individual value, Independent self, Freedom, Fashion, Extended self, Distinction, Brand self-congruency, Autonomy, Anti-interaction

57 14

Novelty and curiosity Novelty, Unusual, Places not yet visited, New places, New experience, Interesting, Explore, Different, Curiosity

41 11

Health and safety Well-being, Sport, Security, Safety, Quality of life, Physical training, Health, Fitness

33 6

Love of Nature Love of nature, Scenery, Nature-lover, Nature resource, Nature appreciation, Nature

33 9

Collectivism Collectivism, Social normality, Respect for authority, Harmony, Group orientation, Conformity, Celebrities

26 13

Worthiness Value for money, Value, Price, Make money, Investment, Reasonable price, Financial value, Expensive, Economic value, CPV

24 5

Materialism Materialism, Possession 24 6 Brand Brand reputation, Brand value, Brand trust, Brand satisfaction, Brand

recognition, Brand preference, Brand name, Brand loyalty, Brand image, Brand identity, Brand history, Brand consciousness, Brand concept

21 4

Self-challenge Self-challenge, Risk-seeking, New challenge, Challenge my ability, Adventure

20 2

Environmental and social responsibility

Environmental and social responsibility, Wealth transfer, Supporting community, Social, Responsibility, Make a difference, Ethical, Environment, CSR, Contribute, Children’s education, Charity

16 1

78 E. Y. ZHANG AND T. S. M. TSE

Luxury travel as a status good

As shown in Table 2, the most frequently noted motivation dimension is status and it is found as a motivation of both travel and luxury consumption. Consumers purchase luxury goods to feel prestigious and use these goods to display status, hence, luxury goods are also denoted as “status goods” (Husic & Cicic, 2009).

Conspicuous consumption is a concept describing status-oriented luxury consump- tion. In the late nineteenth century, Veblen (1899) observed a characteristic of a small group of people in the US whose wealth exempted them from thrift, and he referred to this group of people as the “leisure class”. This group of people signaled their status by spending their time on non-utilitarian leisure activities, e.g. learning a dead language, and Veblen labeled such behavior as “conspicuous leisure”. As society advanced, there was a larger circle of people to whom the leisure class wished to signal their status, and the conspicuous waste needed to be more visible. Thus, the leisure class began to demonstrate their financial superiority by spending money on unnecessary goods, and they were described as moving from displaying “conspicuous leisure” to “conspicuous consump- tion”. In sum, Veblen uses “conspicuous leisure” and “conspicuous consumption” to, respectively, distinguish between time and money spent for status display purposes. Luxury consumption, which mainly involves goods, is often conspicuous consumption. Based on Veblen’s idea, Leibenstein (1950) identified three types of consumer effects and they are often applied to luxury consumption: (1) bandwagon effect, (2) snob effect, and (3) Veblen effect. The bandwagon effect refers to the notion that demand for products increases when others are consuming the same products (Leibenstein, 1950). This has been observed in cases where mainstream consumers follow the consumption behavior of the higher class (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012), and when consumers purchase luxury goods to follow social norms (Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Chen, Chao, & Lee, 2012; Dávila, 2015; Gao et al., 2014; Gupta, 2009; Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Memushi, 2013; Min-Woo, Lee, Sung, & Wilcox, 2012; Nwankwo, Hamelin, & Khaled, 2014; Stiehler & Tinson, 2015; Wang, Sun, & Song, 2010, 2011; Wolfe & Hsu, 2004). The snob effect denotes decreasing demand for products when others are consuming the same products (Leibenstein, 1950). Kastanakis and Balabanis (2014) found that customers who seek individual uniqueness tend to exhibit the snob effect. Yang and Mattila (2014) found that being different from others or being a pioneer is a motivation for consuming luxury goods. Finally, the Veblen effect refers to the phenomenon whereby demand increases when price increases (Leibenstein, 1950). Hence, the average price of luxury brands continuously increases to sustain demand (Kapferer, 2012), and the total cost increase of purchasing luxury goods, which results from taxation does not negatively affect sales (Bagwell & Bernheim, 1996).

Not only a driver of luxury consumption, status is also found as a motivation for different tourist activities including bird watching, extreme sports and events, cruises, shopping, and destination choices. Serious birdwatchers will travel long distances to see a rare bird because they consider it as an honor if their peers have not seen this bird (Scott, 2010). Travelers who had dangerous activities in Australia feel that they have achieved high status and feel honored (Hillman & Radel, 2012). Cruises may also be a “status good”; for example, some Hong Kong cruise travelers consider status as a motivation (Qu & Ping, 1999). Newly wealthy Brazilians appreciate the abundance of

JOURNAL OF CHINA TOURISM RESEARCH 79

food, free time, and attentive service on a cruise (Rocha, Rocha, & Rocha, 2015), and this can be explained by conspicuous consumption. Some Canadians travel cross- border to shop in the US and this activity is partially explained by conspicuous consumption (Matteo & Matteo, 1996). Destination choices may also be influenced by status concerns. Some travelers follow best-selling travel books (e.g. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die) and go to places to emulate others (Scott, 2010). Not only does the variety of the destinations visited matter, but so does the accessibility of a destination. Traveling to difficult-to-access areas brings prestige to travelers (Riley, 1995). Indeed, any destination can be visited with a conspicuous purpose depending on the extent to which a traveler desires to show off their experiences (Kerr, Lewis, & Burgess, 2012).

It is not surprising that status is also a motivation for consuming luxury travel products. Thurlow and Jaworski (2012), in analyzing the environments where luxury travelers may stay (e.g. luxury hotel lobby areas) suggested that travel style is both the indicator of and the resources for social status; and luxury travel can contribute to elite status, distinction, and privilege. For instance, space tourism, which is inherently expensive, is a status symbol (Billings, 2006), and prestige image is the motivation for luxury cruise travelers (Douglas & Douglas, 1999; Hung & Patrick, 2011, cited by Hwang & Han, 2014). Correia and Moital (2009) conducted interviews with four types of travelers, asking them to describe their conspicuous travel experiences. One of these four types of travelers, namely socialites, seeks status display when traveling and considers prestige as a determinant of vacation choice.

Chinese luxury travelers may be motivated by status not only because it is a motivation for both luxury consumption and travel, but also because face is an important value in Chinese culture and daily life. Face is rooted in Confucianism and can be understood in terms of two levels: “lien” which is the personal honor in one’s relation to others, and “mien-tzu” which is the power to gather people and to command them (Jacobs, Gao, & Herbig, 1995). “Mien-tzu” is a measure of social power, thus it is related to social status. There are studies revealing the association between face and luxury consumption (Chan, Wan, & Sin, 2009; Le Monkhouse, Barnes, & Stephan, 2012). The concept of face will positively influence the desire for luxury goods (Sun, Chen, D’Alessandro, & Winzar, 2011; Sun, D’Alessandro, & Johnson, 2014). Furthermore, consumers who are more face conscious are willing to pay more for luxury products (Siu, Kwan, Zeng, & Biswas, 2016). That is probably why selling at discounted prices can negatively affect Chinese consumer loyalty towards luxury brands (Xiao & Zhu, 2010). The value of face can also explain why the “rarity principle” lacks empirical support in Asia. The rarity principle means customers may dislike a certain luxury brand if it is too popular, but this is not found in the case of Hong Kong and Singapore because a popular brand is considered as an indicator of social position and prestige (Phau & Prendergast, 2000). This indicates that in China, the bandwagon effect may be more pronounced than the snob effect. In terms of travel choice, the prestige of a hotel positively influences Chinese travelers’ attitudes towards it and further increases the likelihood that they will stay there (Chen & Peng, 2014). Chinese tourists travel to Hong Kong and purchase luxury goods to enhance their social status (Guo, Seongseop Kim, & Timothy, 2007; Tsang, Lee, & Liu, 2014).

It could be fruitful for future studies to investigate whether luxury travel is a status good and whether there are any moderating factors in the relationship between the

80 E. Y. ZHANG AND T. S. M. TSE

need for status and luxury travel. For example, Pearce and Lee (2005) suggested that status is more important for less traveled tourists as a motivation and this may also apply to Chinese luxury travelers.

Interpersonal relationships: motivation or influencer?

Interpersonal relationships are more often found as a motivation for travel than for luxury consumption. People may travel with friends for the purposes of a social gathering (Qu & Ping, 1999), and socialization is a popular motivation among different types of travelers including senior travelers (Jang, Bai, Hu, & Wu, 2009), young travelers (Prayag & Hosany, 2014), religious travelers (Abbate & Di Nuovo, 2013), sports travelers (Kurtzman & Zauhar, 2005), beer travelers (Kraftchick, Byrd, Canziani, & Gladwell, 2014), and festival travelers (Schofield & Thompson, 2007). Visiting relatives and friends is an important travel motivation (Rittichainuwat & Rattanaphinanchai, 2015), as travel is perceived as a good opportunity to build good relationships with family and existing close friends (Mohsin & Ryan, 2007). Some travelers also expect to make new friends (Lusby, Autry, & Anderson, 2012), to meet new people who share similar interests (Eagles, 1992), or have a romance during their trip (Pearce & Caltabiano, 1983).

Interpersonal relationships are also a motivation for luxury consumption. Consumers look for a sense of belonging from purchasing luxury goods (Nwankwo et al., 2014), and consider their family’s opinion about the purchase of such goods (Sukhdial, Chakraborty, & Steger, 1995). Chinese people are known for being family oriented (Feng & Page, 2000; Kwek & Lee, 2010; Mok & DeFranco, 2000; Pearce, Wu, & Osmond, 2013; Sun, Ryan, & Pan, 2014). Hsu and Huang (2016) found that family orientation or kinship is often a major consideration when Chinese travelers make travel decisions.

The influence of interpersonal relationships on luxury consumption and travel can be both a motivation for and an influencer of product choice; this is something worthy of exploration in future research to understand the choice sets and decision making of Chinese luxury travelers.

Augmented motivations: relaxation, hedonism, and uniqueness

Three dimensions—relaxation, hedonism, and uniqueness—are found to be motiva- tions of both travel and luxury consumption. Relaxation is widely recognized as a travel motivation, as travel is a way to escape from the stress of daily life (Qu & Ping, 1999). Similarly, “change from a busy job” is also an important travel motivation (Eagles, 1992). Other than physically being away from stressful places, situations, and processes in one’s daily life, travel is also a means for physical relaxation (Mohsin & Ryan, 2007). During a trip, travelers can slow down, rest, and enjoy doing nothing over the vacation (Jang et al., 2009). Interestingly, relaxation is also found as a motivation for luxury consumption, and consumers purchase luxury goods to release stress (Kim, Kim, & Lee, 2010). Luxury travel, thus, is probably motivated in some instances by a desire for optimal relaxation, as travelers can enjoy hassle-free facilities and services, and can even purchase luxury goods during their trip.

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Hedonism is another important dimension for both luxury consumption and travel. Consumers purchase luxury goods for pleasure, enjoyment, and comfort (Chen & Kim, 2013; Naz & Lohdi, 2016), and luxury consumption is equated with lifestyle for them (Wolf, Morris, Fountain, Bruwer, & Pitt, 2016). They can pamper themselves by purchasing luxury goods as self-gifts (Gao et al., 2014; Marciniak & Mohsen, 2014). When they purchase luxury goods, they enjoy the luxury shopping experience (Gao et al., 2014). While hedonism in luxury consumption means enjoying shopping experi- ence and high-end products, it translates to fun and comfort as motivations for embarking on a particular trip. Having fun and rewarding oneself motivates people to travel (Grimm & Needham, 2011), thus, they wish to be entertained during their trips (Eagles, 1992). Some travelers even believe that having fun and being entertained is the essence of the travel experience (Fodness, 1994). When the weather in a destina- tion is better than that which prevails at home, the comfort brought by nice weather can also be a travel motivation. For example, sometimes travelers enjoy warm climates at a destination (Eagles, 1992). Luxury travel, which provides the means for excessive indulgence and comfort, is probably preferred if travelers are looking for hedonism.

Uniqueness is an important motivation of luxury consumption (De Barnier, Falcy, & Valette-Florence, 2012; Vigneron, 2006). Luxury goods are purchased because they are exclusive, and will not be preferred once they are mass produced (Farah & Fawaz, 2016). The need for uniqueness motivates travelers to pursue cultural experiences on trips (Schneider & Vogt, 2011) and the uniqueness of a destination image attracts travelers to visit a place (Chien, Yen, & Hoang, 2012). The level of exclusivity is a travel motivation of prestige-worthy leisure travel (Riley, 1995). Thus, this uniqueness moti- vation is likely related to the status motivation dimension. In sum, Chinese luxury travelers may also look for unique and exclusive travel experiences, to express that they are different from other tourists.

Future studies could be executed to test whether luxury travel, as an intersection of luxury consumption and travel, can satisfy the needs for relaxation, hedonism, and uniqueness better, and whether Chinese luxury travelers are motivated by these three dimensions.

Benefit maximization: self-improvement, novelty and curiosity, and love of nature

There are three dimension only found as travel motivations and not motivations of luxury consumption: self-improvement, novelty and curiosity, and love of nature. Self-improvement is an important motivation dimension of travel, especially for Chinese. Travelers may visit a destination for a better understanding of local culture (Qu & Ping, 1999), or to learn about the language (Grimm & Needham, 2011). Travelers are interested to learn different ways of life, how other people live, and cultural events which are not available at home (Jang et al., 2009). Chinese travelers may look for self-improvement even more than travelers from other countries as self-cultivation and life-long learning are advocated by Confucian values. Xu, Morgan, and Song (2009) found that visiting famous sights and learning about culture and history are more important than having fun or challenges among Chinese student travelers.

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Novelty and curiosity may be linked to self-improvement; for example, those travelers who visited a former transit camp in the Netherlands indicated that they were curious about what has happened at the site and they would like to learn more about the Second World War (Isaac & Çakmak, 2014). Curiosity is a motivation of wellness travelers (Chen, Prebensen, & Huan, 2008), religious tourism (Abbate & Di Nuovo, 2013), and travelers who visit casinos (Phillips, Jang, & Canter, 2010). New places to see and new activities to participate in motivate travelers to visit a destination; this applies regardless of age, from senior travelers (Utama, 2014) to young travelers (Prayag & Hosany, 2014). Travelers like to go to places they have never previously visited (Jang & Cai, 2002) and have new and unusual experiences (Dann, 1981; Getz & McConnell, 2014). Some travelers never visit the same destination twice (Fodness, 1994). Fowler, Yuan, Kinley, Forney, and Kim (2012) refer to this motivation as exploration. Chinese travelers who visited New Zealand mentioned that they would like to undertake activities different from their daily life (Sun et al., 2014). Chinese luxury travelers may also be motivated by novelty and curiosity if luxury travel is new to them.

Travelers are motivated by the beautiful environment and scenery in a destination (Qu & Ping, 1999). The Confucian tenet implored the educated Chinese to seek inspiration from the landscape for their work in Chinese poetry, paintings, and calligraphy (Sofield & Li, 2011). Thus, enjoying nature is often essential for Chinese travelers. They seek to bridge the gap between desired natural environments and the environment in which they reside, which is often an urban area away from nature (Fu et al., 2015).

These three travel motivations can be potential motivations of Chinese luxury travelers if luxury travel products and services meet travelers’ expectation better. For example, luxury travel can provide opportunities for travelers to learn about self- improvement from the management of luxury travel businesses. Luxury travel can also provide new tourist experiences to inaccessible natural environments and thus better meet travelers’ desires for novelty and nature. Future research could identify and explore the distinguishing features of luxury travel products and investigate whether luxury travel can maximize the benefits of travel in these three dimensions.

Individualism and collectivism

Individualism is a motivation of luxury consumption. Consumers possess luxury products for self-expression purposes (Ghosh & Varshney, 2013); they use such pro- ducts to display who they are (Farah & Fawaz, 2016). Luxury products are also purchased because of fashion and style (Ali, Amir, & Akram, 2016; Li, Li, & Kambele, 2012; Park, 2014). Individualism can also motivate travel. Some travelers display their image by visiting particular destinations. If the image of a destination matches travelers’ ideal social self-image, they are more likely to visit that place with the purpose of self-image display (Sirgy & Su, 2000). The dimension of uniqueness is probably related to this dimension of individualism for those travelers who would like to be seen as different.

Collectivism also plays a role in luxury consumption. Bandwagon luxury con- sumption is motivated by susceptibility to normative influences (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012). Some Arab women are forced by their mothers to buy and wear luxury dresses, showing strong respect for and deference to authority (Marciniak &

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Mohsen, 2014). In China, there is a type of luxury consumer denoted as a “con- formist” who appreciates having similar tastes to others, which guides their choices of luxury items (Mo & Roux, 2009). Hsu and Huang (2016) found that conformity leads travelers to visit the most popular sites at a destination. Although some Chinese luxury travelers may be motivated by individualism and enjoy personaliza- tion of luxury travel, some of them may travel in a luxury way because of collecti- vism and follow their peers when making travel decisions.

Luxury travelers may be more motivated by individualism than collectivism for two reasons. First, they look for personalization and privacy, which they view as important value dimensions of luxury travel products and services (Bhati et al., 2013; Koch, 2011; Park and Reisinger (2009). Prayag and Hosany (2014) surveyed Middle Eastern students who had joined a luxury trip to Paris and found customized activities and amenities to be an important value dimension, indicating the importance of personalization. Mann (1993); revealed that seclusion is important for luxury travelers. Secondly, luxury travelers may embrace more individualist orientations compared with average Chinese. Fan (2000) classified Chinese culture values and found that collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance, and large power distance dominated. Although, generally, China is described as a collective culture, it is also believed that Chinese people in wealthier regions may be more individualistic because middle and upper class society is characterized by fewer interdependencies (Leung, 2008).

Future studies could be conducted to ascertain whether Chinese luxury travelers exhibit more individualism than collectivism in comparison to other Chinese travelers; and whether showing self-image or privacy is the major concern in addressing individualism.

Perfection

Consumers who look for perfection and excellence purchase luxury products (Jung Choo, Moon, Kim & Yoon, 2012). Superior product quality is an important reason why consumers prefer luxury goods (Xiao Lu & Pras, 2011); and the aesthetics or design aspects of a product also motivate purchase decisions (Ghosh & Varshney, 2013; Min- Woo et al., 2012; Prendergast & Wong, 2003; Walley & Li, 2015).

Unlike luxury consumption where the product is a major concern, the motivation of perfection in the tourism context is related to both service quality (Chien, Yen, & Hoang, 2012), and product quality of facilities used during the trip, e.g. accommodation facilities (Lau & McKercher, 2004).

The desire for a perfect holiday may be a motivation for choosing luxury travel products. Buckley and Mossaz (2016) interviewed luxury travel agents, who specialize in luxury wildlife excursions, about the factors they take into consideration when design- ing travel products; high client expectations was found to be an important influencing factor. Luxury travelers seek high-quality wildlife tourism and always want a positive experience. Thus, Chinese luxury travelers may also expect perfect facilities and services during their trips.

Unlike luxury goods, the actual experience of luxury travel can only be partially controlled and thus perfection cannot be guaranteed or ensured. It would be interesting for future research to explore whether and to what extent perfectionism and high

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expectations motivate Chinese luxury travelers to choose particular destinations and pursue different ventures.

Challenge or safety

Self-challenge is found as a motivation of travel but not luxury. Challenge and adventure are motivations of volunteer tourists (Grimm & Needham, 2011), and risk-seeking moti- vates adventure tourism (Naidoo, Ramseook-Munhurrun, Seebaluck, & Janvier, 2015). Indian students consider challenging their own ability as an important travel motivation (Mohsin & Ryan, 2007). Both Chinese and UK students described that to “enjoy a new challenge” was somewhat important as a travel motivation (Xu et al., 2009). Female Chinese tourists are motivated by thrills or excitement during travel and would like to be daring and adventurous (Li, Wen, & Leung, 2011). Thus, self-challenge may also be one motivation of Chinese luxury travelers and, indeed, the Hurun Report (2017a) revealed increasing predilections of Chinese towards adventurous travel in recent years.

While adventure trips are popular in luxury travel, health and safety is also an important motivation of travel and luxury consumption. People are seeking wellbeing via recreation from travel (Chen et al., 2008). Health and exercise are mentioned by cruise travelers as motivations (Qu & Ping, 1999). Wellness travelers believe that travel can improve the quality of life (Chen et al., 2008). Some travelers are motivated by the physical exercise involved during a trip (Utama, 2014) or in specific sports (Kozak, 2002; Mohsin & Ryan, 2007). Safety is a motivation of luxury consumption for particular products, e.g. luxury cars (Sukhdial et al., 1995).

Future studies could be conducted to investigate whether and the extent to which adventure or health and safety motivate Chinese luxury travelers, and if both are salient, how luxury travelers balance these two potentially conflicting desires.

Materialism and brand reputation

Materialism and brand reputation are important motivations of luxury consumption but not travel. Materialism refers to the possession of luxury goods (Chan, To, & Chu, 2015; Chen & Kim, 2013; Dubois & Ruvio, 2014). It is considered as a personal value dimension and can positively influence purchase intentions of luxury fashion goods among Chinese consumers (Chen & Kim, 2013). Koch (2011) identified one type of luxury consumers, denoted by the term “Top of the World”. Such people are material luxury consumers, they always buy the best, and show off their wealth by purchasing luxury goods; thus materialism is linked to conspicuous consumption.

Consumers will purchase luxury products for brands. This desire for brands is multi- dimensional and can involve, for instance, appreciating the history of the brand (Ghosh & Varshney, 2013), and looking for brand value (Chen & Lamberti, 2015; Husic & Cicic, 2009; Jung & Shen, 2011; Roux, Tafani, & Vigneron, 2016). It is interesting to find that brands and branding are rarely mentioned in travel-related literature given the fact that there are many branded traveler service providers, such as Aman, and Four Seasons.

Materialism and brand reputation seem more relevant to luxury consumption than travel but there is a dearth of research in this area. Although services are intangible, the possession of travel experiences can still exist in a similar form to the possession of

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physical goods. Future studies could explore whether “collecting” destinations is a motivation for travel. While there are also luxury brands expanding their business in the travel industry, such as Armani and Bulgari who operate hotels, whether these brands can and do motivate luxury travel is still an open question.

Worthiness, environment, and social responsibility

Worthiness is a financial motivation. Sometimes, luxury goods are purchased for their worthiness because some consumers consider buying luxury goods as an investment (Stiehler & Tinson, 2015; Wang et al., 2011). Travel is seldom considered as an investment, probably because the travel experience cannot be resold to others. As a travel motivation, worthiness is more about whether the travel activity is affordable (Chen et al., 2008) and value for money (Henshall, Roberts, & Leighton, 1985). Chinese travelers may perceive worthiness as an important consideration because of cultural influences. Hsu and Huang (2016) found that thrift encourages travelers to carefully assess the monetary value of different travel products. There is a similar finding in another study by Li, Lai, Harrill, Kline, and Wang (2011) who note that Chinese travelers will evaluate facilities in a hotel according to the price they paid.

Luxury travelers from China may still be influenced by thrift and carefully evaluate the value of luxury travel products. The value thereof is not just limited to the monetary domain but also includes intangible values, e.g. benefiting from a personalized service and privacy.

Environmental and social responsibility motivates a special type of travel, namely volunteer tourism. Helping others in developing countries, making a contribution to society, and being responsible for other people and the environment are motivations of volunteer travelers (Grimm & Needham, 2011). A study found that a luxury brand’s performance in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) will influence customers’ purchase intentions (Carrigan, Moraes & McEachern, 2013). But consideration of CSR is less prevalent in luxury consumption contexts compared with more mainstream commoditized purchases (Davies, Lee & Ahonkhai, 2012).

Considering that the incomes and budgets of Chinese luxury travelers are different from other Chinese travelers, these travelers are probably less likely to consider worthiness as a motivation for travel. Consideration of environmental and social responsibility may also be limited among this group of travelers because, as suggested above, luxury consumers tend to be less concerned with CSR. A related study could be designed in the future to look into the role of worthiness and social and environmental responsibility in luxury travel consumption.

Connecting with luxury travelers

Some reviewed studies are only partially or tangentially related to luxury travel and thus may not contribute significantly to advancing understandings of luxury travelers. For example, King and Choi (1997) explored the Korean market for Australia as a destina- tion through interviews with travel agents and identified luxury travel as one segment with significant growth potential. It seems that luxury travel is well recognized as an important market segment. A number of studies have analyzed the development of tourist destinations and revealed particular social issues that result from hosting luxury

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tourism in developing countries including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, and Mexico (Brenner & Aguilar, 2002; Richter, 1980, 1999; Routledge, 2001; Saldanha, 2002; Sandbrook, 2010; Scheyvens, 2002). A study conducted by Scott and Mowen (2007), exploring the motivations of students engaging in luxury travel, found that material needs and fashion leadership are important motivating factors for this sample of travelers.

The reason why studies focusing specifically on luxury travelers are rarely found is probably due to the difficulty of accessing luxury travelers. This is partly because they are a small, specific subset of travelers more generally, but it is also because luxury travelers often value privacy and may not be willing to share their personal travel experiences. Nevertheless, the reviewed articles provide some ideas about practical research opportu- nities. Thurlow and Jaworski (2012) analyzed the environment of luxury travel through observation. This research inspires the use of two approaches that could be used to better understand luxury travelers. First, there are industry practitioners who work in these environments, and interviewing these practitioners—for instance, hotel staff and travel agents who cater for the luxury segment—is one approach. Second, Thurlow and Jaworski (2012) only examined the physical travel environment in their study and one alternative approach is to explore the virtual world, e.g. analyzing the digital marketing content of luxury travel suppliers or retrieving and analyzing consumer comments about luxury travel products.

The Chinese luxury travelers segment

Different motivations may lead to the same type of consumer behavior. For example, the desire for either conspicuousness, which is grouped under the status dimension, or rarity, which is grouped under the exclusiveness dimension, will result in consumers preferring high priced products (Hwang, Ko, & Megehee, 2014). High prices can facilitate a product’s role as a symbol of wealth because only rich people can afford it, satisfying the need of conspicuousness. The rare product can be priced high, thus, if consumers desire rarity, they may also prefer the product with the high price. Thus, it is important to understand the motivations behind the same consumer choice to target the right consumers with different product features.

Although Chinese luxury consumers are generally described as group-oriented, they are not a homogeneous group. Some types of consumers are more closely aligned with Confucian values than others. In one particular study, Chinese luxury consumers were segmented into four types according to their attitudes towards luxury consumption: indulgence, conformism, snobbism, and follower/pragmatism (Mo & Roux, 2009). Both the conformism and snobbism groups purchase luxury items for status reasons; how- ever, the latter seeks to display status by unique luxury items which are less group- oriented. Future research could be designed to delineate and explore different segments of Chinese luxury travelers according to their motivations.

Ngai and Cho (2012) classify young Chinese luxury consumers into four groups: the overseas pack, the self-established cool, the luxury followers, and the spirituals. Among all types, the luxury followers are status conscious and demonstrate collecti- vism, which is the core value of Confucianism, whereas, the overseas pack who have studied and worked overseas do not exhibit high demand for status when they

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consume luxury goods, indicating the influence of personal experiences on consump- tion behavior.

The impact of Western culture on Confucian values is found in Hong Kong travelers (Wong & Lau, 2001), in female travelers (Guo, 2014), and Chinese consumers in coastal regions (Zhou, Arnold, Pereira, & Yu, 2010). Consumers in coastal regions are more concerned with fashion than their inland counterparts, due to stronger Western influences in coastal regions. People living in different regions or being influenced by different cultures may become different types of luxury travelers.

Studies into Chinese luxury travelers should not only focus on past travel experiences but also examine the individual’s personal and domestic experiences, to explore the extent to which Chinese traditional culture and Western culture differentially influence various types of luxury travelers.

Evolution of Chinese luxury travel

A recent study addressed the question “Would a consumer prefer to look like a king or feel like a king?” and found that powerless individuals’ preferences are directed towards material goods whilst powerful individuals prefer experiences (Dubois & Ruvio, 2014). There might be a trend emerging whereby positive preferences for the consumption of luxury goods are shifting to experiential consumption, e.g. luxury travel. The emergence of luxury travel in the Chinese context has been associated with many observable changes.

Future studies can be developed to investigate whether such preference shifts exist at the individual level. It would be worthwhile to understand whether powerful individuals who currently prefer experiences previously favored the acquisition of material goods. Understanding if and how motivations and preferences change during an individual’s life or between generations would be helpful for industry practitioners to evaluate customers’ lifetime value and offer tailored products and services on that basis. For those luxury travelers who still seek material possessions, luxury travel service providers can provide physical evidence of the trip, as suggested by Yang (2016). When luxury travelers prefer experiences rather than material phenomena, service providers can focus more on creating memorable trips.

Comparative research

Chinese travelers share many similar travel motivations with other travelers, e.g. a desire to escape and relax. They also have their own characteristics because of cultural influences; for instance, they are family oriented, face conscious, and often see value for money. It appears that Chinese luxury travelers are similar to other luxury travelers in terms of status motivation and are similar to Chinese travelers in terms of family orientation. Thus, a possible research question could be: do Chinese luxury travelers have more in common with luxury travelers from other countries or with Chinese travelers more generally?

A recent report by COTRI (2017) shows that Chinese travel agents targeting the high-end market are providing travel products embedded with luxury branded hotels but not authentic local experiences. It is believed that Chinese travelers are aggressive in

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geographically expanding the domain of their travel experiences instead of having a deep understanding of each destination, and this is happening even in the high-end market. These findings vis-à-vis the Chinese market are different from what has been reported by Virtuoso (2016) about luxury travelers more generally. Virtouso’s survey revealed that “seeking authentic experiences” was the second most important motiva- tion of international luxury travelers. Thus, as per the research question specified above, a future study could be conducted to compare Chinese luxury travelers with luxury travelers from other countries.

Conclusions

As an attempt at tapping into Chinese luxury travelers, this study suggest that luxury travel can be conceived of as a status good and thus be involved in conspicuous consumption. Prior research has shown that preferences for conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure may differ across countries. US citizens prefer conspicuous consumption because of their high mobility, thus making this form of consumption more visible (Frijters & Leigh, 2008; Scott, 2010), while Australians prefer conspicuous leisure instead of luxury consumption(Huang & Shi, 2015). China is expected to be the world’s second-largest market for luxury goods by 2018 (Deloitte, 2014), and the interplay between increasing urbanization and enhanced mobility in China may con- comitantly augment preferences for the conspicuous consumption of luxury goods (Bain & Company, 2015).

Veblen (1899) believed that conspicuous consumption is more advanced than con- spicuous leisure in terms of its visibility. However, technological development has facilitated “conspicuous display” via social media (Sekhon, Bickart, Trudel, & Fournier, 2015) making conspicuous leisure more visible than before (Huang & Shi, 2015); for example, travel bloggers will “show off” their trips online (Hsieh, 2014). Thus, both conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption can satisfy individuals’ desires for status display.

Leisure consumption can increase both status and happiness: a US$10,000 increase in spending on leisure goods is associated with a 0.17-point increase in life satisfaction (DeLeire & Kalil, 2010). As China ranks 79th in the World Happiness Report 2017, after neighboring Asian countries, e.g. Taiwan 33rd, Singapore 26th, Hong Kong 71st (Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2017), it is likely that Chinese may become more involved in leisure consumption in the near future to enhance their status and happiness.

Unlike some conspicuous leisure activities which mainly require time and effort, luxury travel involves different activities such as shopping and luxury dining experi- ences, thus it is time, effort, and money that are simultaneously required for these activities. Luxury travel can be perceived as a form of conspicuous leisure and con- spicuous consumption following Veblen’s analysis. It is a form of conspicuous leisure because it entails “waste” of time and effort, and it signals wealth and status. It is also conspicuous consumption because it “wastes” money and involves purchasing tangible phenomena. The cost of travel can be a proxy for luxury, and shopping during travel can be a tangible demonstration of consumption.

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The importance of status motivation for Chinese luxury travelers is also bolstered by the concept of face in Confucianism. “Face” in many studies invariably refers to “mien- tzu”, meaning social status, instead of “lien”, meaning personal honor. This concept may augment motivations for luxury consumption of goods or travel experiences. Confucianism is known to advocate frugality and the avoidance of extravagance. However, this ethos does not stop Chinese people purchasing luxury goods. Indeed, Confucianism can be interpreted as viewing luxury consumption in a positive light because it contributes to wealth equalization (Hsiao & Chang, 2012). The poor can become better off because of the luxury spending of others.

Other Confucian values including group orientation and conformity also motivate luxury consumption (Park, Rabolt, & Jeon, 2008; Wang et al., 2011). These values have served to make luxury consumption more popular in China and have contributed to its unique features. The bandwagon effect, i.e. following other people’s brand choices, is common in China, whereas the rarity principle usually does not apply.

Travel is promoted in Confucianism because it is considered as a way of learning and enriching oneself. As a form of luxury consumption, luxury travel can also be explained or justified by the concept of “face”. Luxury travel and shopping are means of affirming one’s personal status and prestige or “keeping face”. Buying luxury gifts or treating luxury travel experiences as gifts for others to gratify or to appreciate other people is “giving face”.

As the largest contemporary source market in the world, Chinese people are increas- ingly benefiting from visiting many global destinations, e.g. Japan, the US, and various European countries (UNWTO, 2016). This study explores the motivations of Chinese luxury travelers through a thematic literature review and suggests future research directions. In sum, luxury travel is probably preferred mainly because a subset of relatively wealthy travelers are looking for status, interpersonal relationships, relaxation and hedonism, self-improvement, and perfection. They are looking for new, unique, and personalized travel experiences that may benefit their health, ensure their safety, and get them closer to nature. Both individualism and collectivism may influence travelers’ choices depending on travelers’ personal values. Materialism, brands, self- challenge, and environmental and social responsibility may have a limited influence on Chinese luxury travelers. These findings are based on analysis of the extant literature, and more robust and generalizable conclusions can only be drawn from pursuing empirical studies on the issues and questions proposed in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Elaine Yulan Zhang is a PhD student in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: elaine.yl.zhang@connect. polyu.hk).

Tony S. M. Tse is Professor of Practice in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]).

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