RESEARCH IN TOURISM

The objective of this research was to explore the perceived tourism values of Chinese rural
migrant workers to gain a deeper understanding of the well-being bene ts they receive from
participating in tourism. Chinese rural migrant workers are individuals who live and work in cities
but are registered in rural areas (Zhang, 1984). Until recently, this group of Chinese workers has
rarely been given the opportunity to participate in tourism activity. In this research we adopted a
constructiveness grounded theory approach to understand how participating in tourism activity
may improve individual well-being. We linked the increased sense of well-being of participants
with their perspectives on the perceive value of their tourism experience within a social tourism
context.

The term “migrant workers” is widely used in o cial reports and academic research (Yang et
al., 2020). According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2019), the country's 300 million
rural migrant workers made up 22% of the nation's population in 2018, constitute the largest
marginalized group in Chinese society and are generally employed in nonagricultural industries in
urban areas (Wong et al., 2007). Previous research into this group included consumer behavior
(Huang & Wang, 2018; Tang et al., 2020), labor politics (Chan & Selden, 2017), occupational stress
and segregation (Luo et al., 2016; Zhang & Wu, 2017), earnings inequality (Zhang & Wu, 2017),
mental health (Li & Rose, 2017; Zhong et al., 2018), and stay or return intentions (Mohabir et
al., 2017). The tourism literature however, has largely ignored how this signi cant tourism sector
creating a research gap in our understanding of the bene ts that rural migrant worker may gain
through participating in tourism activities.

Past research has found the participation in tourism provides an e ective pathway for improving
personal well-being (Uysal et al., 2016) and happiness (McCabe & Johnson, 2013; Qiao et
al., 2019) through improving family relationships and acquiring new knowledge. Building on work
by Diener and ChanM. (2011) and Gasper (2010), Morgan, Prichard & Sedgley (2015, p. 16)
describe well-being in a tourism context as “a multidimensional concept that accommodates
subjective components of an individual's health and capacity for living.” Morgan et al. (2015)
observed that well-being can be improved by aspects of tourism such as activity, self-
enhancement, and self-re ection, which collectively give participants a sense of purpose. Tourism
also can play an important role in gaining social life satisfaction through relaxation and making
new social contacts (McCabe, 2009). Although identi ed as an e ective way to improve well-
being, the literature has largely ignored developing tools to measure the perceived value of well-
being as an output of participation in tourism activity.

The perceived value of tourism as a product or service has been extensively investigated. From a
marketing perspective, Zeithaml (1988) observed that customer perceived value is the overall
evaluation of a product or service based on a comparison between the customer's perceived
bene ts and sacri ces. Woodru (1997) extended this understanding of perceived value by
proposing that customer's perceived value is based on their perceived preference and evaluation
of a product's attributes, performance and results that in uence their intention to purchase (or not
purchase) in a certain utility environment. Kotler (2003) adding to this understanding by observing
that customer perceived value was the di erence between the total customer value and the total
customer cost of a purchase. Although the de nition of perceived value has undergone a number
of modi cations, the understanding of perceived value remains at core, an assessment for the
perceived sacri ces, product preferences, and repurchase decisions in a marketing context.

In a tourism context, perceived value has been used to explore a range of issues including
destination selection and satisfaction, activity satisfaction, service satisfaction and loyalty
(Murphy et al., 2000; Pandža Bajs, 2015). Most tourism research in this area has been at the
macro or destination/industry level, which is consistent with perceived value research in the eld
of marketing. Less attention being given to perceived value as a function of individual well-being
particularly in a social tourism context. This is a signi cant gap in the literature. As Morgan et
al. (2015) observed, tourism is able to improve an individuals' level of well-being through
contributing to their sense of purpose as well as assisting with positive self-enhancement and
self-re ection. Bridging the gap between measuring tourism value at a macro level and measuring
tourism value at an individual well-being level o ers an opportunity to add another perspective to
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tourism perceived value that can be used by the tourism industry to create new markets for its
products and services. This research seeks to bridge this gap by focusing on the perception of
tourism value from an individual well-being perspective rather than from a product or industry
perspective.

This research makes two contributions. From a theoretical perspective, this study developed a
construct a six-dimension scale of tourism value that focuses on individual well-being within a
social tourism context. This approach has the potential to be applied to other disadvantaged
groups aside from Chinese rural migrant workers. Practically, this study provides useful
suggestions for governments, companies, and tourism marketers to develop tourism products for
this group of workers. Collectively, these contributions provide insights into strategies that are
required to promote structural adjustments able to provide opportunities for disadvantaged
groups to participant in tourism. The study also identi ed supply side opportunities for the
business sector to develop new products for a previously ignored market subsector.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Chinese rural migrant workers

In a Chinese context, rural migrant workers are described as laborers whose resident cards are
registered in a rural area, migrate to an urban area and engage in nonagricultural labor for
6 months or more, or rural migrant workers are who have moved their residence to an urban area,
with nonagricultural employment as their main source of income (Lu, 2008). According to the
National Bureau of Statistics (2020), 34.9% of China's rural migrant workers are females and
65.1% are males. In general, rural migrant workers experience di culties in joining local
community groups and rarely have a chance to socialize with neighbors or even other workers in
the same enterprise because of long working hours. It is not unusual for this group of workers to
live in dormitories of eight persons per room and work 12-h shifts (Zhang, 2015). Xue (2018)
reported that the boring routine of assembly line jobs and long shifts can lead to low levels of
happiness. Research into the psychological health of rural migrant workers (Lu & Pun, 2014) found
that they lack self-con dence and are prone to psychological problems caused by long working
hours, poor management attitudes and social exclusion (Lu & Pun, 2014).
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate aspects of the problems some rural migrant workers face on a daily
basis in their search for work.

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FIGURE 1

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Migrant workers gathering at a designated location to nd employment (photo courtesy of author)

[Colour gure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

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FIGURE 2

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Rural migrant construction workers hired on a casual basis and preparing for departure to a job
site (photo courtesy of author) [Colour gure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Research into issues related to psychological well-being and satisfaction with life (Cheng et
al., 2014; Ji et al., 2020; Yue et al., 2019) has largely ignored the bene ts able to be derived from
tourism despite other research that has established the bene ts that disadvantaged groups are
gain from participation in tourism experiences (McCabe & Johnson, 2013; Morgan et al., 2015).
Previous research has identi ed four types of psychological pressures that disadvantaged
workers may su er from are value pressure; aspiration pressure; deprivation pressure; and coping
pressure (Ren et al., 2018). In a Chinese context, value pressure emerges from the con ict
between Confucian culture and modern culture while aspiration pressure occurs when Chinese
rural migrant workers fail to achieve what they desire, such as money, jobs, reputation, and social
status. Deprivation pressure stems from perceived inequity while coping pressure refers to life's
challenges and di culties caused by poor coping skills (Ren et al., 2018; Zhang & Tao, 2013).

A review of extant literature indicated that Chinese rural migrants encounter considerable
disadvantages in urban society (Song et al., 2008) due to the institutional barriers of the hukou
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 system, which have led to inequalities in education, welfare, and social capital. An individual's
hukou status is assigned at birth and based on the registration status of a person's parents.
Established in the 1950s, the hukou system has been used to control both the migration of
farmers to cities and the job opportunities available to them once they arrive (Zhang & Wu, 2017).
Compared to urban residents, the social status of Chinese rural migrant workers is relatively low,
and most are employed in low-skilled jobs (Zhu, 2016). Many Chinese rural migrant workers work
illegally and as a consequence are unable to register for social insurance. Only small percentages
have college or university quali cations and are able to nd high-skilled jobs. They also are
subject to discrimination because of their rural origins. As Xue (2018) observed, rural migrant
workers are seen as “marginalized people” within Chinese society and are prone to su er from
social isolation, poor living condition and low self-esteem. Until recently, many have had limited or
no opportunity or encouragement to participate in tourism activities (Sun et al., 2020).

Low levels of well-being and a poor quality of life (Cheung, 2014; Nielsen et al., 2010) have led
some members of this group committing suicide. One widely reported example was the “Thirteen-
Jumps Event” where 13 young rural migrant workers committed suicide at Foxconn in Shenzhen
in 2010. The incident raised public awareness of poor working conditions (Chan & Pun, 2010).
That incident, and others like it, led the Chinese government and many Chinese companies to
introduce policies including paid holidays to improve the quality of life and mental health of this
group of workers.

Given the positive outcomes tourism can contribute to personal well-being and, increased
productivity, many Chinese companies have started to encourage rural migrant workers to take
paid holidays as a strategy to reduce stress (Chan & Pun, 2010). Although industry is beginning to
recognize the value of paid holidays for this group of workers, there has been no research into the
perceived values that they might derive from tourism.

2.2 Bene ts of social tourism

The concept of social tourism was rst de ned by Hunziker (1951, p. 1) who described social
tourism as “the relationships and phenomena in the eld of tourism resulting from participation in
travel by economically weak or otherwise disadvantaged elements in society.” A number of
scholars (Diekmann & McCabe, 2011; Hunziker, 1951; Lynn et al., 2011; Qiao et al., 2019) contend
that tourism should be considered as a basic human right given its positive impacts on subjective
well-being. From this perspective, tourism can be described as a form of social care (Lynn et
al., 2011) that aims to help those whose economic circumstances ordinarily preclude them from
holidaying (Diekmann & McCabe, 2011). The bene ts of social tourism have been extensively
examined in previous research (Ferrer et al., 2016; McCabe, 2009; McCabe et al., 2010; McCabe
& Johnson, 2013; Minnaert et al., 2009; Morgan et al., 2015).

A review of the literature indicated that the main focus of research in social tourism has been on
low-income families (McCabe, 2009; McCabe et al., 2010; Minnaert et al., 2009), individuals
(McCabe & Johnson, 2013), and elderly tourists (Ferrer et al., 2016; Morgan et al., 2015). Previous
research found that social tourism helps to increase the quality of life and subject well-being of
low-income families' and individuals' (McCabe, 2009; McCabe et al., 2010). Moreover, Minnaert et
al. (2009) pointed out that social tourism enables low-income families to increase family capital in
the short term and increase social capital (social networks, related to pro-active behavior and self-
esteem) in the medium term. Morgan et al., (2015, p.1) observed that for elderly tourists, “social
tourism presents older individuals with occasions for escape, respite, companionship, and
reminiscence and for renegotiation of self-identity following spousal bereavement.” Ferrer et
al. (2016) also found that social tourism played an important role in improving the health of elderly
tourists.

Social tourism is an under-researched topic in the context of China. One expectation is a study by
Qiao et al. (2019) that explored the positive impacts of social tourism on the subjective well-being
of children left behind by Chinese migrant rural workers working in urban areas. Qiao et al. (2019)
adopted a social tourism perspective that focused on the psychological and micro e ects of
tourism, nding that tourism could improve the subjective well-being of left-behind children,
improve their physical and mental health and enhance harmony within family groups.

Although there is a growing literature on social tourism, relatively little work has been undertaken
on models or scales that can be used to measure the value of social tourism. This is not the case
in other areas of tourism such as the perceived value of tourism where measurement of a number
of scales including PERVAL and SERVAL-PERVAL has been developed.

2.3 Perceived value

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 Perceived value was rst suggested in the eld of marketing and refers to how customers feel
about a product or service, including perceived quality, internal, and external features of the
product and other psychological bene ts (Zeithaml, 1988). Perceived value has become an
important concept in marketing research (Jamal & Sharifuddin, 2015; Kim & Thapa, 2018) and has
been broadly de ned as a customers' assessment of the trade-o s between the bene ts and
sacri ces realized in selecting a given product from the options available in the market (Chen &
Dubinsky, 2003; McDougall Gordon & Levesque, 2000; Sánchez-Fernández & Iniesta-
Bonillo, 2007). Perceived sacri ces are associated with price as both a monetary cost and a
nonmonetary cost (the cost of time, physical e ort, mental e ort, and lifestyle changes related to
consuming said product) (Snoj et al., 2004). From a marketing perspective, perceived value is
used to identify consumer preferences for products and whether they will repurchase after
comparing the perceived cost (Pandža Bajs, 2015).

The two main approaches to investigating perceived value are the unidimensional approach
(Sánchez-Fernández & Iniesta-Bonillo, 2007) and the multidimensional approach (Fandos-Roig et
al., 2006; Sheth et al., 1991). The unidimensional approach emphasizes economic utility apart
from the trade-o s between the bene ts (e.g., customer utility) and sacri ces (e.g., price, time,
e ort) (Babin et al., 1994; Sheth et al., 1991). The unidimensional approach has been criticized for
ignoring various aspects of a person's emotional state and external conditions that can in uence
cognition, a ect, and behavior (Sánchez et al., 2006). To overcome these limitations and gain a
deeper understanding of consumer behavior, a multidimensional approach was proposed to
explore the factors underlying the phenomenon (Sheth et al., 1991; Sweeney & Soutar, 2001).

Sheth et al. (1991) identi ed ve dimensions of perceived value: social; emotional; functional;

epistemic; and conditional value. Social value refers to the bene ts that are derived through
interactions between people participating in a tour (Williams & Soutar, 2009). Social value is
measured on a pro le of choice imagery while emotional value is measured on a pro le of feelings
associated with alternatives. Functional value is measured on a pro le based on choice attributes
while epistemic value refers to curiosity, novelty, and knowledge. Finally, conditional value is
measured on a pro le of choice contingencies. Sweeney and Soutar (2001) synthesized previous
studies (e.g., De Ruyter et al., 1998; Grönroos, 1997; Groth, 1995a, 1995b; Sheth et al., 1991) to
develop the four-dimension PERVAL scale which can be used to measure the value received by
consumers after a purchase. The four dimensions of the PERVAL scale are: emotional value which
represents the utility derived from the feelings or a ective states that a product generates; social
value which refers to the utility derived from the product's ability to enhance social self-concept;
functional value (price/value for money) which represents the utility derived from the product due
to the reduction of its perceived short-term and long-term costs; and functional value
(performance/quality) which refers to the utility derived from the perceived quality and expected
performance of the product (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001). The PERVAL scale was later modi ed
resulting in two new scales aimed at measuring tourist perceived value, the SERV-PERVAL scale
(Lee et al., 2007; Petrick, 2002) and, the GLOVAL scale (Sánchez et al., 2006). The ve dimensions
of the SERV-PERVAL scale are quality; monetary price; nonmonetary price; reputation; and
emotional response (Petrick, 2004). Even though the SERV-PERVAL scale added an additional
value dimension to the PERVAL scale, the types of perceived value are similar. Compared to
previous measurement scales, GLOVAL measures the perceived value of both the consumption
experience, such as interaction with travel agency, and the purchase experience including the
functional value and price of tourism products. Key features of PERVAL, SERV-PREVAL, and
GLOVAL are illustrated in Table 1.

TABLE 1. Comparison of the main perceived value scales for PERVAL, SERV-PERVAL, and
GLOVAL

PERVAL scale (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001)

Sub-value scale Concept

Emotional value The utility derived from the feelings or affective states that a product generates

Social value The utility derived from the product's ability to enhance social self-concept
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 Functional value (price/value for
Themoney)
utility derived from the product due to the reduction of its perceived short-

costs

Functional value (performance/quality)

The utility derived from the perceived quality and expected performance of the

SERV-PERVAL scale (Petrick, 2002)

Quality Outstanding, reliable, dependent and consistent quality

Emotional response Makes customers feel good, pleasure, a sense of joy, delighted, happiness

Monetary price It is a good buy, worth the money, fairly priced, reasonable priced, and economic

Behavioral price It is easy to buy, and required little energy and effort to purchase

Reputation It has a good reputation, well respected, and well thought of

GLOVAL scale (Sánchez et al., 2006)

Functional value of the travel agency

The installations were spacious, modern, clean, well organized, and well locate

(installation) favor con dentiality and privacy. The display window was attractive and eye ca

Functional value of the personnel

Theofstaff
the are professional and conversant with new items and trends

travel agency (professionalism)

Functional value of the tourismThe

package
tourism package purchased was well organized and had an acceptable leve

purchased: quality

Functional value: price The tourism package purchased was reasonably priced

Emotional value of a purchaseTravelers reported a good experience, felt relaxed, enjoy purchasing the produc

pressured by company staff

Social value of a purchase The travel agency performs services for many people that I know. The people w

obtain social approval

• Note: Sweeney & Soutar, 2001, Petrick, 2002, and Sánchez et al., 2006.

More recently, Wang (2011) identi ed four dimensions of perceived value from tourism
experiences: spiritual value; cultural value; economic value; and moral value. Each dimension has
a speci c set of indicators. In Wang's model, the impacts of tourism can be ascribed to the
dimensions of “psychological bene ts,” “cultural bene ts,” and “ethical bene ts.”

From a tourist perspective, value is a function of how a tourist views their holiday experience.
Previous research into PERVAL, SERV-PREVAL, and GLOVA and Wang (2011) discussed tourist
values at a macro level emphasizing the product but ignoring the psychological factors that
in uence how tourists perceive travel at an individual level. Developing an understanding of value
at a micro level will overcome this problem.

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3 METHODS

The objective of this research was to explore perceived tourism value from the perspective of
Chinese rural migrant workers to gain a deeper understanding of how personal well-being may be
enhanced by tourism. Because of the exploratory nature of this research, a constructivist
grounded theory approach based on in-depth interviews was adopted. Constructiveness
grounded theory is based on the analysis of systematically collected data to uncover social
processes based on behaviors and relationships which can then be used to develop theory (Mills
et al., 2006). It is particularly useful where there is no adequate prior theory. Application of
constructiveness grounded theory facilitates the development of theory through interaction with
study participants (Mills et al., 2006). One advantage of using a constructiveness grounded theory
approach is that it allows new ideas to “emerge” from the data. Coding of the data and then
grouping it into higher level concepts and categories enables new concepts or theories to
emerge. Scales such as PERVAL, SERV-PERVAL, and GLOV generally ignore the well-being
aspect of perceived value measured at the individual level. To address this situation, we
investigated the data to identify the perceived value that participants derived from tourism from a
well-being perspective. Previous examples of the use of constructiveness grounded theory in
tourism research include. Zhang and Wu (2017) and Li et al. (2020).

A standardized three-section interview instrument was developed. In the rst section,

respondents were requested to disclose a limited range of sociodemographic data including age,
gender, quali cations, and marital status. In the second section, participants were asked a series
of questions designed to elicit their views on a range of issues including the value they received
from participating in tourism experiences. The questions asked included “Do you need travel in
your life”?, “What can tourism bring you in your opinion”?, “Were there some changes for yourself
or for your family after traveling”?, and “Were you satis ed with your last trip? Could you describe
it in detail”? In the nal section of the instrument, participants were asked about the in uence that
travel has had on their outlook on life, work, and family relationships. To avoid problems that may
arise though either conscious or unconscious researcher agendas, follow-up questions were
asked based on the principle of “good questioning” proposed by Yin (2010, p.27). These included
“what happened”?, “how did it happen”?, “why did it happen”?, and “what did you think about
what happened”?

copywrit : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jtr.2496

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