“You Are First a Chinese Citizen, Then A Consumer”: Presenting and Balancing Identities Online as Chinese International Tourists

Fangheyue Ma

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.04

Authors

Fangheyue Ma Florida Gulf Coast University, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7773-0341

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.04

Keywords:

China, International Tourism, Consumption, Social Media, Presentation of Self

Abstract

This paper is based on the analysis of 261 video and word posts collected from four popular social media sites on which Chinese tourists shared their consumption-related experiences during and after the trip. It investigates Chinese international tourists’ diverse presentations of self to a broad audience online through explaining their shopping experiences and product reviews. Tourists are expected to balance multiple identities carefully when they project themselves online as consumers—on the one hand, they present themselves as global consumers and trendsetters who are strategic and savvy; while on the other hand, they still need to preserve and even emphasize their national identity as Chinese patriots. Providing the much-lacking qualitative insight, this study enhances our understanding of international tourists and their consumption behaviors, the construction and presentation of a digital self, and how globalization operates at the micro-level.

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Author Biography

Fangheyue Ma, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA

Fangheyue Ma is an instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University, Department of Sociology. She has a Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of South Florida. Fangheyue’s research and teaching interests include cultural sociology, specifically the cultural phenomenon of international tourism, social psychology, particularly the subfields of identity, interaction, and emotion. Her current research focuses on Chinese international package tours in the US, centering on Chinese tourists’ collective presentation of themselves as tourists and Chinese nationals, their emotional experiences, interactional rituals, and the construction of meanings during the trip. Her work aims to provide a micro-level understanding and reflection of the macro-level topic of globalization and the global economy.

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