Young Asians’ imagination of social distinction

Abstract

This research investigates the imagined social distinction of young Asian travelers. Factors such as culture, language, and distinction were found to influence the development of young Asians. A disparity in the impact of these factors on personal development is evident in the comparison of two groups of travelers, with and without prior travel experience to Western countries. This supports the claim that social distinction is imaginary. The study advances the understanding of travel as a social phenomenon by operationalizing and verifying the imagination of social distinction in the context of travel. Practical implications suggest that tourism professionals might engage with these lucrative travel segments.

Keywords

Asia imagination middle class social distinction youth tourism

Introduction

Rising household incomes and the growth of the new middle class in Asia has occurred through rapid industrialization and has resulted in increased demand for international travel (Winter et al., 2009). In this research, ‘Asia’ refers to greater East Asia region including Northeast and Southeast Asia. The regional perspective adopted in this study allows exploring the unity of Asian despite their diversity (Chua, 2004; Keyes, 2002; Nisbett, 2009). The ‘Asian’ identity is distinct from the Western counterpart, such as North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand (Huntington, 1996). The region has a population of nearly 2 billion people and is home to the important economies of Japan, South Korea, and China. In 2013, there were 98.1 million Chinese, 17.4 million Japanese, and 14.8 million South Koreans who traveled overseas (World Bank, 2014), largely from the middle class.

The term ‘middle class’ emerged during the Industrial Revolution in Europe and refers to people who were ‘neither lord nor peasant’ but who were ‘well-off’ and living comfortable lifestyles (Wallerstein, 1988). In Asia, the relatively wealthy social group that emerged during postwar economic development is labeled as the ‘new rich’ or nouveau riche (Chan, 2000). In periods and places of rapid economic expansion, where significant numbers of people from the middle class have risen to become newly prosperous industrialists or professionals, there has often been an explosion in status and a consequent striving for social distinction (Pinches, 1999).

Hedrick-Wong (2007a) provides a comprehensive analysis of the new middle class in Asia by comparing the pathways to affluence across three countries in East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and China. In addition to a sizable middle class that existed in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Western-educated professionals, officials, intellectuals, and merchants now form a new middle class. Following Japan, South Korea has industrialized and grown rapidly over the last four decades and has risen to rank among the world’s leading economic powerhouses. The middle class in China, however, has taken a different path to affluence, with a new generation of middle class emerging in recent years after being eradicated in the middle part of the 20th century. In Southeast Asia, the creation of the middle class in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines has taken place in a different political and social structure. Singapore enjoys the highest level of income in the group, whereas at the opposite end of the spectrum, Indonesia and the Philippines are much less affluent (Shiraishi, 2006).

The emergence of this new middle class in the rapidly industrializing Asian countries has a parallel in the patterns of new middle-class formation during the industrial revolution in Western Europe, particularly in relation to status-influenced consumption activities (Pinches, 1999). This similarity justifies the adoption of a theoretical stance using Bourdieu’s (1984) theory of social distinction, which was often employed to explain the consumption patterns of the new European middle class (Featherstone, 2007), for examination of the upward social mobility among the new middle class in contemporary Asia.

Relative to their elders, the youth of Southeast Asia are ‘children of affluence’ (Chua, 2000: 5), thanks to rapid economic growth in the region since the early 1990s and the consequent emergence of a middle class. Young people perceive independent travel, which often occurs before taking on the roles of responsible adulthood and usually at a stage between university and the commencement of working life (O’Reilly, 2006). This form of travel has been described as ‘cultural consumerism’ (Shaffer, 2004: 145) for the development of social distinction by the new middle class (Munt, 1994), young Asian in particular (Hedrick-Wong, 2007a).

Social distinction via traveling, however, is imaginary according to Bui et al. (2013). Young Asian’s constructed perception of Western identity is closely related to the cosmopolitan aspects of the Western world, such as economic development, modern lifestyle, freedom, and richness of cultural heritage (Fujita, 2004, 2009). Empirical evidence from the Kawashima (2010) study on Japanese working holidaymakers contrasts the anticipated social mobility from traveling to the West with the reality of life after coming back home to Asia and has informed the debate on the difference between imagination and reality of achieved social distinction.

Research on Asian youth travel began to appear in the literature in the early 2000s, with analysis of the travel experiences of young Asians from geographical (Teo and Leong, 2006) and ethnographic perspectives (Muzaini, 2006) and on the liminal experience (Bui et al., 2014a). Travel was undertaken to acquire experience by young Japanese, driven by motivation for self-development, particularly language skills (Andersen et al., 2000), a desire to experience globalization (Nakamura and Watanabe-Maruoka, 2006) and social interactions (Bui et al., 2014b). A growing number of publications concern the motivation and behavior of Chinese backpackers (Chen et al., 2014; Ong, 2012), and a special segment of this market, Chinese international students in Australia (King and Gardiner, 2015). The relative shortage of research on the social aspects of Asian youth tourism justifies this research.

The current research explores the imagination for social distinction of young travelers from the new middle class in Asia, contributing significantly to advancing the understanding of contemporary Asian society. This research, first, developed a scale to measure the imagination for social distinction by young Asians of the new middle class and, second, explores whether the effect of travel on self-development is real or a product of imagination of these young Asians. The article first draws on and engages with the theoretical background, then provides the methodological approach and empirical analysis of the study, and concludes with discussion and further research.

Literature review

Theories of middle-class consumption for social distinction

Bourdieu (1984) conceptualizes social distinction of the bourgeoisie, the middle class, into three types of cultural capital, social capital, and symbolic capital, and the social class is determined by the volume of capital attained, the balance between different forms of capital, and change of the relationships over time. In details, Bourdieu (1986) points to conversions and transformations of capital, when cultural capital brings advantages to its holders in that it can be ‘converted’ into social capital (social contacts and networks), symbolic capital (recognition), and economic capital (financial capital). The middle class, according to Bourdieu (1984), is most likely to employ consumption as a form of social distinction. In tourism research, Bourdieu’s theoretical perspective is contextualized using the example of tastemakers in the culinary world (Stringfellow et al., 2013) and the consumption of cultural attractions (Kim, Cheng, & O’Leary, 2007; Richards and van der Ark, 2013).

Many of the middle class achieve status by relying on informal methods, including travel and the consumption of leisure, and tourism provides an opportunity for social differentiation (Featherstone, 2007). Travel has moved from relaxation into an opportunity for learning and experiencing the world through a pseudo-intellectual frame (Munt, 1994) with travel, in addition to offering the opportunity for self-development, also being a means to express personal freedom (Gholipour et al., 2014).

Being well educated, pursuing an urban lifestyle, and having a global orientation are three characteristics marking the distinctiveness of young travelers from Asia (Hedrick-Wong, 2007b). Pursuing an urban lifestyle and being well educated are objective conditions that help define their lives, while having a global orientation is a subjective mind-set that is becoming more prevalent among the young consumers in contemporary Asia. Hedrick-Wong (2007b) further argues that the global orientation determines their attitudes to, and preferences for, overseas backpacking, a key anchor in the lifestyle of young consumers in their quest for identity. Compared to big items, such as a condominium or an imported car, ‘off-the-beaten-track’ backpacking is relatively affordable for young people, offering significant social and cultural values. As Hedrick-Wong (2007b: 11) states:

Travelling and especially visiting places off the beaten track, conveys subtle messages about a person. An adventurous look, cultural exposure, adaptability, and independent thinking are some of the positive attributes frequently associated with independent travel. Travel is another form of personal investment for young premium consumers. Far from being frivolous or costly, independent travel is seen as an important means to improve future prospects.

Several significant outcomes of travel for accumulation of cultural capital and social capital were reported (Desforges, 2000). First, learning culture in foreign countries is among the major motivations for young Asians (Kawashima, 2010; Prideaux and Shiga, 2007) and is a type of expected cultural capital. In addition, a report from the World Tourism Organization (2008) identifies Japan as the most important source market for language schools in 2005, while the largest growth in 2006 was in the Korean market. The evident desire to learn English was also found among Japanese working holidaymakers in Australia (Kawashima, 2010; Maksay, 2007; Prideaux and Shiga, 2007). Young travelers were in search of cultural capital by exposure to different cultures that enrich their knowledge and experiences. Their need for socialization can be fulfilled by accumulation of language, English in particular. Learning language therefore is not only a way to accumulate social capital but also a means to assimilate local culture.

Second, those who travel widely, with experience and knowledge, develop ‘road status’ (Riley, 1988; Sorensen, 2003; van Egmond, 2007), a type of social distinction. Western backpackers are viewed as having high road status, high degree of risk taking (Fuchs, 2013) which is aspirational for the relatively inexperienced Asian travelers (van Egmond, 2007), with, for example, Chinese travelers having a desire to emulate the Western style of traveling (Nyiri, 2006; Nyiri and Breidenbach, 2005).

Third, by accumulating knowledge and skills and achieving status, young travelers experience personal development. Tomazos (2015) illustrates the backpacker’s experience in three stages of departure, initiation, and return and highlights the role that former backpackers play through the sharing of knowledge and support they offer to novice backpackers. Experiences leading to personal development (Noy, 2004) are mainly influenced by interaction with others (Alexander et al., 2010; Hottola, 2004). The effects of travel are predominantly self-centered, producing changes that provide opportunities for growth in cultural and self-awareness (Adler, 1985) to high, a journey of ‘self-discovery’ rather than ‘self-recovery’ (Alexander et al., 2010: 574). Recent studies prove the positive outcome of personal development on Chinese travelers (Chen et al., 2013).

In summary, although young Asians accumulate cultural and social capital during travel, the realization of symbolic capital was achieved upon completion of travel. Personal development has resulted from accumulation of these capitals. Accordingly, three hypotheses have been developed.

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Accumulation of cultural capital positively impacts perception of social distinction.

Hypothesis 2 (H2): Accumulation of social capital results on positive outcome of social distinction.

Hypothesis 3 (H3): A sense of social distinction positively impacts on perception of personal development.

The ‘imagined West’ and travel experience

‘Tourism involves the human capacity to imagine’ (Salazar and Graburn, 2014: 1). Tourism imaginary encompasses geographical imaginaries, which refer to how spaces are imagined, how knowledge about these spaces is produced, and how these representations make various course of action possible (Said, 1994). The concept of imagined West originates in Anderson’s (1991) conception of the nation as a community that is socially constructed or ‘imagined’ into being. Similarly, Ang and Stratton (1995: 180) argue ‘both “East” and “West” are imaginary entities constructed through a mutual symbolic mirroring in a battle of overlapping, interested Self/Other representations’. The imagined West in Asia has largely been created by a media that spreads Western values (Fujita 2004, 2009). Young Asians perceive the West as associated with modernity, progress, and advancement, and as a result, Western cosmopolitanism, language, and culture are considered prestigious (Kelsky, 2001; Seargeant, 2005).

Research on Asians intending to stay permanently in Western countries for the purposes of migration or education found that an assimilation of the Western cultures and languages was deemed necessary for the purpose of the long-term stay (Fujita, 2009). This expectation has been found to be equally important in the context of temporary pleasure travel. The maturity of the travelers and their travel experience determined the level of cultural and language knowledge they can absorb following the theory of the travel career ladder (Pearce, 2005). However, Kawashima (2010) asserts that the expectation of an improvement of social status is not necessarily true. Furthermore, the study of imagined West among young Asian (Bui et al., 2013) provides evidence that limited command of English and hesitance to break away from familiar home culture are among main reasons why young Asians failed to acquire cultural knowledge and language from the Western world. Thus, social distinction through traveling is rather an ‘imagination’. From this comes the question how to measure the aspiration for social distinction of young Asian backpackers and whether the social distinction is imaginary among those travelers.

Hypothesis 4 (H4): Travel experience influences the perception of personal development.

Even though social distinction has been recognized as an essential component of the youth travel experience (Hedrick-Wong, 2007b), research has yet to establish a measurement instrument to measure the extent to which young people aspire social distinction via traveling. The authors developed a scale to measure the imagination of social distinction for the segment of Asian young travelers prior to testing the hypotheses involved in this study.

Methodology

In light of the relative paucity of previous studies on the topic, this research adopts a mixed methods research design that involved the sequential use of qualitative and quantitative methods, where the first was used to inform the second (Creswell, 2003; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003). First, the researchers interviewed 31 respondents who were travelers from countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia and were staying at backpacking hostels while traveling independently in Vietnam (Hanoi) and Australia (Cairns, Sydney, and Brisbane). Those who met the criteria of independently organized travel, stayed at least 2 weeks in the country, and agreed to participate in the study were selected for interview on a volunteer basis. Participants came from eight Asian countries, were slightly dominated by males (61%), and ranged in age from 20 to 37 years. Table 1 shows the profile of participants.

Table 1.

Profile of interviews’ participants.

Participant	Pseudonym	Gender	Age	Occupation	Country
Informant 1	Ryo	Male	26	Working holidaymaker	Japan
Informant 2	Gyo	Male	25	Working holidaymaker	Japan
Informant 3	Erico	Female	22	Student	Japan
Informant 4	Tomoyo	Female	23	Office staff	Japan
Informant 5	Aki	Male	23	Salesman	Japan
Informant 6	Yutaka	Male	20	Student	Japan
Informant 7	Hiroeki	Male	22	Student	Japan
Informant 8	Lioka	Male	24	Student	Japan
Informant 9	Yasu	Male	30	Photographer	Japan
Informant 10	Noriko	Female	25	Office staff	Japan
Informant 11	Kimura	Male	20	Student	Japan
Informant 12	Yuta	Male	24	Student	Japan
Informant 13	Keiko	Female	20	Student	Japan
Informant 14	Hanami	Female	25	Officer	Japan
Informant 15	Keito	Female	26	Working holidaymaker	Japan
Informant 16	Wany	Male	25	Student	Korea
Informant 17	Hong	Male	27	Student	Korea
Informant 18	Krisada	Male	25	Engineer	Thailand
Informant 19	Ping	Female	36	Teacher	Malaysia
Informant 20	Wong	Female	22	Student	Malaysia
Informant 21	Por	Female	25	Marketing officer	Thailand
Informant 22	Ang	Male	23	Student	Singapore
Informant 23	Yang	Female	22	Student	China
Informant 24	Wang	Male	25	Musician	China
Informant 25	Rata	Male	28	Office staff	Philippines
Informant 26	Cheng	Female	25	Education consultant	China
Informant 27	Jang	Male	27	Technician	Singapore
Informant 28	Fang	Male	29	Small business owner	China
Informant 29	Wareng	Male	37	Trader	Indonesia
Informant 30	Xiang	Male	35	Teacher	China
Informant 31	Siri	Female	30	Teacher	Malaysian

The interviews provided an in-depth understanding of young Asian imagination of social distinction. Guided by theory of social distinction (Bourdieu, 1984), the topics of the interviews with Asian young travelers explored how cultural, social, and symbolic capital was accumulated through traveling and the likely impact of these types of capital on personal development of the respondents. Instead of using a structured approach, the conversations with selected informants were conducted in a flexible manner adopting a semi-structured framework.

Second, after all interviews had been conducted and transcribed, the data were systematically examined through content analysis, which assisted in the categorization of themes in the interview transcripts (Boyatzis, 1998). Major codes that emerged from the interviews with Asian backpackers were formed into survey items, and the categories then formed into constructs for the development of a measurement scale. Then, the questionnaire was subjected to a pilot study on 124 college students from Asia. The questionnaires were developed in English and then translated into three major Asian languages: Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

Third, the final questionnaires were distributed a large sample. The decision to conduct the final survey in Vietnam was made on the basis of the theoretical design of the study. First, both the literature and the qualitative findings of this study highlighted that the imagination of the West prior to travels was an ‘illusion’ created by the media and travel stories (Bui et al., 2013; Fujita, 2009; Nyiri, 2006). Therefore, data collection in a non-Western destination would better measure the imagine West aspect of the travel experience. Second, the availability and accessibility to the target population of Asian backpackers who do not need a visa to Vietnam made data collection more feasible. In total, 3000 paper questionnaires were distributed in 30 different youth hostels with permission from a ‘gatekeeper’—an international hostel chain in Vietnam, who allowed the paper survey questionnaires to be distributed to potential participants via the hostels’ front desks with a small incentive of a bottle of drinking water.

After 6 months, 1610 complete and usable surveys were returned for a response rate of 53%. The respondents were slightly more likely to be female (52%), with an average age of 27, and most were educated to the university level (69.7%). The sample predominantly originated from Southeast Asia (38%), Japan (21.3%), Korea (20.3%), and China (20.4%). Of the respondents, 64% were repeat international travelers and 47% had traveled to Western countries; 84% had college/university education background. After validating the measurement scale, the researchers assessed relationships between different types of capitals and personal development using structural equation modeling (SEM) on the overall sample of 1610 cases.

Results

Item generation

The aim of this stage was to develop sufficient items to effectively measure dimensions of cultural, social, symbolic capital, and personal development. The analysis of primary data from the interviews and existing literature informed the development of the survey items. Four dimensions corresponding to four major hypothetical constructs of cultural capital, social capital, social distinction, and personal development emerged from the thematic content analysis of the interviews with independent Asian travelers.

Cultural capital

The interviews conducted with Asian travelers in Australia revealed that they perceived the country as a Western destination with a multicultural society. The aspiration of travel to Australia stemmed from the positive image of the Western culture.

If I stay here, I can learn Australian culture, Western and other culture. Here in Australia, there are many nationalities. If I was in Japan, I had not had [sic] that opportunity. I won’t speak English. I don’t know other cultures. (Informant 2, male, 25, Japanese)

Ten items were generated to capture the motivation for accumulation of knowledge and practice of Western culture by young Asians. Seven items referred to the desire to travel to Western countries for the opportunity to learn about the culture and lifestyle and meet people were generated inductively from interviews. In the second set of items, relating to young Asians’ perception of the Western style of backpacking, three of five items in this dimension had been generated from the literature (Nyiri, 2006; Nyiri and Breidenbach, 2005).

Social capital

The second set of items captures the motivation to learn English, a form of social capital. Young Asians expected to socialize with Westerners and learn about their ‘native’ way of life. To fully experience the Western way of life, they expected to immerse themselves in local culture and to meet and talk with Westerners.

I came to Australia to learn English. I want to stay here for two years. I came here on my working holiday visa. My first job was to collect fruit or vegetable but I quitted my job two days ago. It was such as boring job. I am drinking in the pubs. I want to talk with Australian and other English speakers. (Informant 1, male, 26, Japanese)

The interactions, as revealed in the interviews, were for the purpose of learning culture and practicing English. Five items were generated to measure this dimension, including two items from previous studies (Alden et al., 1999; Seargeant, 2005) and two items from qualitative interviews.

Social distinction

The sense of distinction and of being a star was achieved from a comparison of themselves to other people at home who did not have the opportunity to travel. Friends of the travelers would be impressed by their experience, new skills, and knowledge.

My friends are totally not interested to Australia, because they cannot understand English at all…People ask questions like a kindergarten’s questions [sic]…They don’t have chance to study English at all. Actually, they are not interested in other countries. (Informant 15, female, 26, Japanese).

In addition, the ability to use the language was economically desirable, as the participants believed that they would have better job prospects in the future.

It is an advantage…I guess more people want to learn English. I can have a better job. (Informant 14, female, 25, Japanese)

The combination of the qualitative findings and literature generated a pool of seven items to measure the dimension of distinction. Among the seven items generated, six items were similar to the findings from literature (Desforges, 2000; Fujita, 2004, 2009; Kawashima, 2010; Nyiri, 2006) and one from qualitative interviews

Personal development

As a consequence of cultural capital accumulation, the travelers reached a higher level of both cultural and self-awareness. Many young Asians perceived travel as a learning journey. Not only did they accumulate experience from traveling, but they also became more mature, with the ability to better handle difficulties in their lives.

Traveling is a learning journey. I can experience doing something new. When I made the right decision, it made me proud of myself. I learnt from travel experience how to react in an emergency…I also learn from talking with different people, bargaining and getting the right price. I am proud to be able to share those experiences. It is a kind of ‘showing-off’ when I can label myself an experienced traveler. (Informant 30, male, 35, Chinese).

Five items were generated, including four items from interviews, such as ‘more independent’, ‘self-confidence’, ‘free-spirit’, and ‘less reserved’, and one item, ‘aware of other culture’, from literature (Adler, 1985).

The principles of reflective measurement were employed with each observed variable (item) specified as an effect indicator caused by an underlying latent variable that corresponds to a hypothetical construct and also by a measurement error term that represents unique variance (Kline, 2012). Furthermore, Edwards (2011) also contended that using reflective measurement models specified in particular ways fulfills the objectives of formative measurement. Reflective measurement, therefore, has been justified to be appropriate for the current study. Returning to item generation stage, an initial measurement scale with 25 items was developed from interviews and the literature review representing the four dimensions of cultural capital, social capital, symbolic capital, and personal development.

The draft of the questionnaire was judged by an expert panel of faculty members and graduate students who assessed face and content validity of the items within and between the construct dimensions. The questionnaire was then piloted on 124 Asian college students. The data from pilot test were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). Items with a factor loading (<0.50) and item-based statistics including item total correlations (<0.50) were subjects for further consideration and review of wording and content validity for decision to retain or remove the items (DeVellis, 2003; Netemeyer et al., 2003). At this stage, the items removed during the PCA were not completely discarded, instead, these items were reviewed in conjunction with the item-based statistical results, respondent feedback, and researcher reflection. In total, seven items were reworded for clarity, for example, the motivation to learn English had been specified to be more details, such ‘speaking’, ‘improve’, or ‘talk’. One item ‘speaking English is cool’ was removed, resulting in a scale comprising 24 items, plus 1 item to identify whether the respondent had previously traveled to Western countries, including Europe, North America, and European settle countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

Upon completion of data collection on 1610 samples with four versions of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and English questionnaires, the data were processed using SPSS 20. Prior to data analysis, the data were examined for missing values and for a random pattern of nonresponse items. Surveys where missing responses were below 5% and where the items omitted were ‘missing at random’ (Hair et al., 2005) were retained and are included in the response rate as complete and usable surveys. The missing values were imputed using maximum likelihood estimation substitution method (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). The data set was randomly divided into three approximately equally sized subsets (DeVellis, 2003). The first exploratory subsample was used for item selection and purification (n = 515) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The second subsample (n = 525) was used to confirm the findings in relation to scale dimensionality with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the third subsample (n = 570) of data was used to test the scale for convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. This technique is advocated over the collection of a new sample, as the randomly divided sample is more likely to represent the sample population (DeVellis, 2003). Reliability and validity of the measure examined were dimensionality, convergent, and discriminant validity as recommended by DeVellis (2003) and Netemeyer et al. (2003).

Dimensionality

The factor structure of the scale was initially assessed using EFA with oblique rotation on the first set of data (n = 515). In this process, five items were removed, one by one, owing to low factor loadings (<0.50), low communalities (<0.50), cross-loading onto more than one factor, or low-item total correlations (<0.50). The final model of four factors explained 58.74% of the total variances. Cronbach’s α indicated that scale reliability for the factors ranged from 0.71 to 0.83 (see Table 2).

Table 2.

Exploratory factor analysis.

Factor and item description	Factor loading	Eigen value	Variance (%)	Cronbach α	Mean	SD
Cultural capital		2.71	14.25	0.83	5.34	1.32
To learn more about Western way of life^a	0.90
To talk to Westerners^a	0.75
To travel to well-known places in the West^a	0.65
To get to know Western culture^a	0.62
Social capital		1.42	7.45	0.71	4.95	1.49
To practice speaking English^a	0.67
To improve my English^b	0.63
Speaking English while traveling would be exciting^c	0.58
Social distinction		5.52	29.08	0.83	4.44	1.56
To improve my job prospects^d	0.67
Traveling to the West is popular^a	0.65
My friends would envy my opportunities^e	0.62
I admire people who have traveled to the West^f	0.62
To make me feel good^e	0.60
To make me feel like a Western traveler^f	0.59
To make me more appreciated in my society^g	0.58
Personal development		1.51	7.95	0.81	4.97	1.38
To increase my independence^a	0.81
To increase my self-confidence^a	0.71
To be free spirit^a	0.64
To be less reserved^a	0.59
To become more aware of differences between cultures^h	0.56

Source: Authors’ compilation of item list. Five removed items after EFA were not included in the list.

Note: n = 515.

^aItems generated from interviews (10 items).

^b Seargeant (2005).

^c Alden et al. (1999).

^d Desforges (2000).

^e Fujita (2004, 2009).

^f Nyiri (2006).

^g Kawashima (2010).

^h Adler (1985).

To further refine the measurement scale, a CFA was conducted using the confirmatory sample (n = 525). The CFA model indicates good fit, with χ ² = 159 (df = 59, p < 0.05), χ ²/df = 2.70; goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.95; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.94; Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.94; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.057; and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.039 (see Table 3) after the removal of six items owing to poor squared multiple correlations (<0.40) (Hair et al., 2005). The factor structures are valid with factor loadings above 0.60 (Hair et al., 2005). In addition, all average variances extracted (AVEs) were greater than 0.45, a threshold recommended by Netemeyer et al. (2003) for new scale development.

Table 3.

CFA on confirmatory and validation samples.

	Factor loadings		AVEs (%)		CR
Factors/Items	n = 525	n = 570	n = 525	n = 570	n = 525	n = 570
Cultural capital			55	59	0.84	0.86
To learn more about the Western way of life	0.83	0.86
To travel to well-known places in the West	0.73	0.72
To talk to Westerners	0.71	0.74
To get to know Western culture	0.70	0.73
Social capital			56	53	0.71	0.71
To improve my English	0.76	0.79
To practice speaking English	0.74	0.66
Social distinction			46	47	0.77	0.78
To improve my job prospects	0.70	0.64
My friends would envy my opportunities	0.70	0.73
I admire people who have traveled to the West	0.67	0.67
To make me more appreciated in my society	0.64	0.70
Personal development			55	54	0.79	0.79
To be free spirited	0.78	0.75
To increase my independence	0.74	0.80
To become aware of differences between cultures	0.71	0.65

Note: n = 525; χ ² = 159 (df = 59, p < 0.05), χ ²/df = 2.70; CFI = 0.95; CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.0.57; SRMR = 0.039; n = 570; χ ² = 166.52 (df = 59, p < 0.05), χ ²/df = 2.82; GFI = 0.96; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.057; SRMR = 0.035. AVE: average variance extracted; CR: composite reliability; CFA: confirmatory factor analysis; GFI: goodness of fit index; CFI: comparative fit index; TLI: Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA: root mean square error of approximation; SRMR: standardized root mean square residual.

Convergent and discriminant validity

Concerning scale validity, Campbell and Fiske (1959) proposed two aspects of construct validity, namely, convergent and discriminant validity. Fornell and Larcker (1981) proposed a different approach with an emphasis on the value of AVE. This approach has been advocated in scale development process with further adjustment by Netemeyer et al. (2003) and Hair et al. (2005), offering a basis for the current study to access scale validity.

The validity of the scale was further confirmed using the third set of data (n = 580). Standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.65 to 0.85. Furthermore, all four factors exceeded the recommended composite reliability of 0.70, and the AVEs were well above 0.45. The measurement model again yield satisfactory model fit, with χ ² = 166.52 (df = 59, p < 0.05), χ ²/df = 2.82; GFI = 0.96; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.057; and SRMR = 0.035. These results of the analysis on the validation sample identify that the measurement scale is reliable and valid. The results of the two rounds of CFA are shown in Table 3. The multidimensionality of the factor structure was further assessed by discriminant validity analysis. As Table 4 shows, the squares of correlations between constructs were all smaller than AVEs, providing evidence of discriminant validity (Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2005; Netemeyer et al., 2003). Thus, the psychometric properties of the constructs and items developed and validated throughout the study are proved to be valid and reliable. These are conditional for structural modeling for hypothesis testing in the final stage.

Table 4.

Discriminant analysis.

		Cultural capital	Social capital	Social distinction	Personal development
	AVE	0.55	0.56	0.46	0.55
Cultural capital	0.55	1.00	0.30	0.03	0.26
Social capital	0.56	0.55	1.00	0.18	0.28
Social distinction	0.46	0.16	0.43	1.00	0.27
Personal development	0.55	0.51	0.53	0.52	1.00

Note: Values shown below the diagonal are correlations estimates; values above the diagonal are the squared correlations. The percentages of AVE have been shown as decimals for ease in comparison with squared correlations. AVE: average variance extracted. p < 0.01.

Hypothesis testing

Once the measurement scale has achieved reliability and content, convergent, and discriminant validity, we implemented a two-step approach for hypothesis testing (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). The direction of the relationships was then stated according to the three hypotheses. The structural model was tested using SEM function. The fit indices generated through statistical analysis were below acceptable level (RMSEA was greater than 0.08). Exploring a range of solutions to improve goodness of fit of the data to the hypothetical model, two new relationships between cultural capital, social capital, and personal development were added. These additional relationships have been supported by literature. Firstly, international travel has the power to increase cross-cultural understanding (Ward et al., 2001). Travel to open one’s mind to get to know the world, therefore, contributes to personality maturation process of young people, has been identified in previous studies of Western backpackers (Bell, 2002; Riley, 1988). Travelers accumulated cultural capital through traveling (Desforges, 2000) and are considered as being educated in ‘the university of travel’ (Pearce and Foster, 2007: 1285). Second, travelers interacted with other travelers who have the same travel interests (Maoz and Bekerman, 2010). The interactions enrich travelers social capital and contribute to their achievement of the road status (Riley, 1988), making them ‘distinct’ from the crowd. As the current study centers on the role of ‘social distinction’, these two additional relationships were not developed into hypotheses for testing. The hypothetical model was then adjusted as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Hypothetical model.

The results of path analysis reject H1 when cultural capital does not influence symbolic capital at p < 0.01. However, cultural capital has an indirect impact on personal development (ς = 0.36, p < 0.01). In other words, the accumulation of cultural capital is most likely generating more symbolic capital. H2 is supported by a significant relationship between social capital and symbolic capital (ϕ = 0.46, p < 0.01). Additionally, social capital also indirectly influences personal development (σ = 0.15, p < 0.01). As for H3, the path hypothesized between symbolic capital and personal development is significant (ω = 0.36, p < 0.01) and is supported by H3, with 42% of the personal development explained by the accumulation of cultural and social capital as well as social distinction (see Table 5 and Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Tested model.

Table 5.

Hypothesis testing (H1, H2, and H3).

Path	Estimate	t Value	p	Note
H1: cultural capital → social distinction (β)	−0.08	−2.00	0.04	Rejected
H2: social capital → social distinction (ϕ)	0.46	9.76	***	Accepted
H3: social distinction → personal development (ω)	0.36	10.15	***	Accepted
New paths
Cultural capital → personal development (ς)	0.36	9.85	***
Social capital → personal development (σ)	0.15	3.39	***

Note: R ²: social distinction = 0.18; personal development = 0.42. χ ² = 325.24 (df = 59, p < 0.01), χ ²/df = 5.51; GFI = 0.97; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.053. GFI: goodness of fit index; CFI: comparative fit index; TLI: Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA: root mean square error of approximation; SRMR: standardized root mean square residual.

***p < 0.01.

To test H4, the total sample was divided into two groups: one group who had travel experience to Western countries, named ‘experienced’, and the group who had none, labeled ‘inexperienced’. The prior travel experience to the West is a factor determining the expectation for social distinction was reality or imagination. Prior to assessing the relationships between constructs across the two groups, an invariance test was carried out.

The results of this test indicated that the measurement model was invariant across the two groups with χ ²(9) = 10.23 and p > 0.05. Next, a structural model was carried out to measure the impacts of culture, language, and distinction on the level of self-development. The fit indices suggested that the model fits the data reasonably well for both the groups (χ ² = 453.11, df = 118, χ ²/df = 3.84; GFI = 0.96, CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.039).

Travelers with previous travel experience to the West perceived culture (ς = 0.39, p < 0.01) and distinction (ω = 0.45, p < 0.01) strongly influence the degree of development perceived by young travelers. Differently, all three types of capital positively influenced the perception of personal development. The relationship between language and development was insignificant among the group with experience (δ = −0.05, p > 0.05) but was significant for the group without experience (δ = 0.39, p < 0.001) (see Table 6). This result, therefore, supports H4.

Table 6.

Hypothesis testing (H4).

	Experienced (n = 718)			Inexperienced (n = 821)
Travel experience	Value	t Value	p	Value	t Value	p
Cultural capital → social distinction (β)	−0.04	−0.77	0.44	−0.10	−1.60	0.11
Social capital → social distinction (ϕ)	0.47	7.48	***	0.44	5.73	***
Social distinction → personal development (ω)	0.45	8.27	***	0.26	5.39	***
Cultural capital → personal development (ς)	0.39	7.83	***	0.24	4.25	***
Social capital → personal development (σ)	−0.05	−0.81	0.41	0.39	5.41	***

***p < 0.01.

Discussion

Adopting a theoretical stance derived from the theory of social distinction (Bourdieu, 1984), the study demonstrated that travel is a meaningful device for young Asians to accumulate social distinction. The measure for social distinction was developed and proved to be valid through serial tests for dimensionality, conversion, discriminant, and predictive validity. Three dimensions—cultural capital, social capital, and social distinction—were validated through the quantitative survey. In the first dimension, knowledge about different cultures and enhanced language skills accumulated while traveling internationally constitutes a type of cultural capital. The finding that young people in this study expected to improve their English through travel is similar to other findings in the literature concerning Asian travelers (Prideaux and Shiga, 2007). The inclination for cultural diversity and language learning supports the premise that the younger generations in Asia are willing to embrace globalization (Nakamura and Watanabe-Maruoka, 2006). It also aligns with Munt’s (1994) argument that travel experience provides a kind of embodied cultural capital.

Social distinction, as a consequence of improved social status, resembles Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital. The sense of accomplishment from traveling further reaffirms the argument that for people of different social classes, travel, in addition to education and occupation, has been widely adopted as a means to distinguish themselves from each other (Adler, 1989; Munt, 1994).

Another important contribution to theory from this study relates to the positive impacts of cultural and social distinction on perceived personal development of Asian young travelers. The impacts of travel on individuals are identified in the literature as a personal development process—a ‘coming of age ritual’ (Bell, 2002) or self-discovery (Alexander et al., 2010). The study’s findings regarding character building resulting from the backpacking experience support arguments of positive development found in previous studies of Western backpackers (Riley, 1988; van Egmond, 2007). Upon completion of their travels, the travelers moved from a low level of self and cultural awareness to a higher state, as asserted by Adler (1985). These sought-after personal changes supported the theory of the transformative power found in previous research of Western youth tourism (Bell, 2002; Desforges, 2000; Noy, 2004).

Concerning the second research question that explores whether the effect of travel on personal development is imaginary, the authors argue that the degree of perceived change varies according to the amount of prior travel experience. Travelers with experience of the West believed that cultural knowledge and the resultant social distinction had more impact on personal development, and the group without prior travel experience to the West expected travel to miraculously improve English-language skills. These findings support previous literature about the imagined West (Bui et al., 2013; Fujita, 2009; Kawashima, 2010) in the argument that improvement in English proficiency is illusory. Compared to their Western counterparts, Asian young travelers have less international travel experience and are relatively naive in imagining travel as a magic vehicle for providing their dream of social mobility.

Overall, the findings of this study reinforce the argument of Featherstone (2007) and Munt (1994) on the significant role of travel in providing social distinction for the new middle class. Young Asians who are the children of an affluent Asian middle class opt to travel independently for the purpose of cultural capital accumulation and personal development. This effect of travel demonstrates that the capital and social transition in contemporary Asia. Despite being a new phenomenon, Asian backpacking will rapidly expand in a fashion similar to successful economic development in Asia in the last five decades.

Conclusion

Theoretical implications

The study significantly advances current literature in the field of tourism through the conceptualization, operationalization, and validation of the dimensions of social distinction achieved through travel and its consequent impact on personal development. The theoretical foundation of the study has been built on the argument of travel as a way of culture consumption for social mobility of the new middle class in Asia, using the example of young travelers from Asia. The development of a reliable and valid measurement of social distinction validates this concept in the context of contemporary Asia. The study provides a mechanism to understand the meaning of travel to young Asians through an interpretation of how social distinction is developed in contemporary Asia.

Practical implications

Several practical implications arise from the research findings. First, this study provides a valuable tool for tourism managers to measure the perception of travelers toward the cultural elements of their products. With travel being perceived as a powerful provider of social distinction, travel should no longer be seen as a frivolous activity but should be verified as having a more central and significant role for social mobility. This change gives impetus to integrate international travel into formal educational curricula through activities in Asian educational institutions, such as field study trips abroad or overseas practicums. These packaging tactics will attract young Asians as they search for travel as a means of self-development for their future prospects.

Second, in marketing a destination to young Asians, a focus on cultural and language components is important, particularly for English-speaking countries. Managers should focus on enhancing cultural and language learning in the marketing of tourism products and justify the products to travelers as an investment in social distinction that will benefit them in the future. Asian young people are looking for international experiences that at the same time will improve their language skills, aspirations that correlate with the strategies of several Asian governments. English-based educational institutions might greatly benefit from this trend.

Limitations and future research

The findings are subject to a number of inherent limitations. First, the study explores young Asians’ imagination of social distinction when they were traveling overseas. Therefore, the social distinction is derived from imagination rather than experienced in reality. The social distinction would have better been measured after their return home and reintegration into their home society. The concept could also be better measured by comparing two groups of those who traveled overseas and those who did not travel. Second, the study focuses only on identifying the dimensions and measures for the concept of social distinction, without addressing the interrelationships between these types of capital or how they convert to economic capital.

Despite these limitations, this investigation suggests several areas for future research. As the perception of the language effect on personal development was lower among experienced travelers, future research could focus on analyzing the effect of post-travel evaluations. A cross-country comparison among Asian and Western respondents could clarify how respondents from different countries accumulate social prestige. Finally, a longitudinal study could clarify the interrelationships between the types of capital and how they convert to established outcomes.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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