You got a free upgrade? What about me? Entitlement and envy in tourist judgements.
All consumers want to get the best deal possible, and in an age of fast comparison websites, online testimonials and coupon aggregates, customers are more aware than ever of what deals, and experiences other customers are getting. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is now a major driver of consumption, and one that many destination and tourism retailers are quick to exploit. Websites highlight local events, time sensitive offers and endorsements from past tourists that showcase the experiences that a traveller might be able to enjoy.
But while seeing the positive experiences that other travellers have enjoyed might be a powerful motivator for some tourists, to others it may highlight missed opportunities and trigger feelings of envy. This is particularly true for travellers that feel entitled to the best possible experience, who are more likely to be resentful of positive experiences by others that they will be unable to enjoy themselves.
For these tourists, entitlement is more than just a desire for the best deal, it is a belief that they deserve better outcomes than other people, regardless of merit or performance. Rather than feeling disappointed, they instead feel a sense of envy and resentment at the negative comparison. This feeling of entitlement is particularly prevalent in the tourism industry, where travel has become a way to signal social status through sharing on social media.
This is of concern to tourism operators, as the feelings of envy associated with entitlement often trigger the consumption of different products within the same category, as the entitled individual attempts to achieve a better outcome in some other characteristic to alleviate their feelings of envy.
However there exists very limited research into how envy impacts on tourism in particular, with what little exists exploring demand characteristics of American tourists abroad. With the rise of the Asian middle class tourism sector, this current research explores how entitlement in Chinese tourists impacts their assessment of testimonials from other tourists and locals.
Methodology
Two studies investigated the impacts of entitlement in Chinese tourists. Study one (n=122) looked at tourists from Taizhou in Zhejiang province. Participants read a scenario in which they imagined they were on holiday in Italy when they learnt of a local festival that had finished before their arrival in which either tourists or locals participated. They then completed a questionnaire that measured both their entitlement, attitudes toward their destination, their emotional response, and demographic questions.
Study two (n=125) explored how specific types of envy impacted on the effects of entitlement, either benign envy (desire to better yourself) or malicious envy (desire to deprive someone else). This study also recruited tourists from Taizhou who were asked to imagine they were on holiday in England when they discovered from a testimonial that they had missed a street market that was said to be the best in the UK. This testimonial was either delivered by a local or a tourist depending on their assigned condition. They then completed a questionnaire measuring envy type, attitudes towards the destination and demographic questions.
Key findings
1. Entitled tourists respond more negatively when the person who enjoyed the missed benefit was a tourist rather than a local, suggesting that entitled tourists see other tourists as rivals and thus are more impacted by negative comparisons to them.
2. Entitlement brought about a negative response by triggering feelings of envy, rather than other emotional responses such as irritation, gratitude, hope, ect.
3. Entitled tourists are more likely to feel resentment towards others who have experienced a tourist activity they have missed out on, experiencing a malicious rather than benign envy.
Recommendations
This research highlights that entitlement is a major influence on how tourists interpret testimonials from others, with entitled tourists likely to feel resentful towards other tourists that have experienced activities they have missed out on. Given past research into entitlement this suggests that these resentful tourists are more likely to explore other tourism activities, avoiding the operators that have unwittingly triggered this feeling of envy.
This suggests that operators may be counterproductively promoting testimonials from past tourists, causing a negative attitude if an entitled tourist feels they have missed out on something that other have enjoyed. This research suggests that it is more productive to show locals enjoying an activity, as this is less likely to trigger feelings of rivalry and envy in entitled tourists. This has the additional boon of greater credibility, as locals are seen as better able to assess the quality of a local product.
Tourism operators and destination retailers should be careful about triggering feelings of envy, moving away from “What’s on this month?” style promotions that may accidently highlight experiences that a tourist has already missed out on. Promotions should instead be mindful of focusing on possible experiences, highlighting what is on today, or later this week. By avoiding
promotion of activities that have already happened in the past, feelings of envy and resentment can be minimised while still triggering feelings of excitement and possibility at the options available.
Researcher
More information
The research article is also available on eprints.