CLASS: B03E

NAME: TRAN NGOC KHANH

ID: 205093066
HOMEWORK
The phenomenon Backpacker following the 7 factors influencing the customer
behavior:
+ Motivations: The main motivation for backpackers to travel is to relieve stress and
achieve physical and mental relaxation. It shows that backpackers hope to escape
the pressure of life and work by backpacking, feel the local humanities and customs,
and be immersed in the process of traveling, so as to forget their worries and achieve
physical and mental pleasure. In the travel process, backpackers pay attention to
self-improvement, in order to improve their own knowledge and self-cultivation
while meeting personal social needs.
+ Culture:
 Several researchers have successfully analyzed the backpacking culture
through ethnographic research (Sorensen, 2003; Anderskov, 2002; Ateljevic &
Doorne, 2004; Riley, 1988; Scheyvens, 2002; Spreitzhofer, 1998; Teo & Leong,
2006), but other researchers have been cautious in studying the entire
backpacking culture (Anderskov,2002), choosing instead to examine a piece of
the backpacking phenomenon, or understanding backpacking from an
industry perspective and classifying it as a market. Welk (2004) views the
backpacker community as a scene, or an informal social group with undefined
boundaries. Members of a scene often share common leisure interests and
frequent particular ‘hangouts.’ Welk also argues that the backpacker
community is not a real subculture, but it does take on some of the
characteristics of one constrained by a constant assimilative pressure by
mainstream tourism. Backpackers have also been characterized as neo-tribes
(Mafessoli, 1995; Wilson & Richards, 2003), social groups that are temporarily
bonded together. Backpackers on the road are temporary members of the
‘road culture’ participating in short-term fleeting social interactions, often
traveling together, eating together, and sharing common experiences
together. The social interactions (Murphy, 2001) between them revolves
around the shared ideology and a sense of companionship in the midst of
social insecurity of traveling in a distant unknown place, but, traditionally this
ideology was temporally and physically constrained to the time spent traveling
and the physical spaces traveled to and through. The backpacker sociality was
preserved through the shared ideology.
  Welk (2004) proposed that the backpacker community has evolved around a
set of stable common symbolic lines of ideology (Pearce, 1990). Five pillars of
backpacker ideology include: to travel on a low budget, to meet different
people, to be free, independent and open-minded, to organize one’s journey
individually and independently, and to travel as long as possible (Welk, 2004;
Pearce, 1990). Welk’s findings were supported by Paris and Teye’s (2010)
study on backpacker motivations. In that study the authors found that there
were six dimensions of backpacker motivation including: personal and social
growth, experiential, relaxation, cultural knowledge, budget travel, and
independence. This common ideology has also led to the development of
negative perceptions of backpackers. For example, as many backpackers
attempt to travel on as small of budget as possible, and because ‘getting a
good deal’ is a status symbol (Riley, 1988), backpackers are often criticized for
excessive bargaining. The focus of backpackers to travel ‘off-the-beaten-track’,
to interact with the locals, and to seek out authentic experiences has led some
researchers to suggest that backpacking is more invasive (Butler, 1990), and
has more lasting and shaping impacts on host destinations (Spreitzhofer,
1998), particularly in the developing world (Scheyvens, 2002).
+ Age & Gender: Diverse in age and suitable for all genders.
+ Social Class: This study employs the concepts of social situation analysis to examine
the nature of interactions among backpackers in an attempt to better understand
their informal networks of information dissemination. Results indicate that gathering
information on destinations/businesses is a motivation for them to interact with one
another. However, several factors influence the value placed on information,
including the consistency of reports received, personal feelings or attitudes towards
the provider, and previous expectations regarding the destination/business under
discussion.
+ Lifestyle: Scholarship on backpackers speculates some individuals may extend
backpacking to a way of life. This article empirically explores this proposition using
lifestyle consumption as its framing concept and conceptualises individuals who style
their lives around the enduring practice of backpacking as ‘lifestyle travellers’.
Ethnographic interviews with lifestyle travellers in India and Thailand offer an emic
account of the practices, ideologies and social identity that characterise lifestyle
travel as a distinctive subtype within backpacking. Departing from the drifter
construct, which (re)constitutes this identity as socially deviant, the concept of
lifestyle allows for a contemporary appraisal of these individuals' patterns of
meaningful consumption and wider insights into how ongoing mobility can lead to
different ways of understanding identities and relating to place.
+ Life Cycle: The main purpose of this study was to conceptualize backpacker
motivation within the framework of the travel career pattern (TCP) theory of travel
motivation. An online survey was administered to backpackers targeted in
backpacker-specific online communities in order to obtain a diverse sample. The
relationship between backpackers' previous travel experience and motivations was
examined, and six underlying dimensions of motivation were extracted. Four of the
motivations, personal/social growth, experiential, budget travel, and independence
were found to be fluid in relation to backpackers' travel experience. Notably, two
dimensions, cultural knowledge and relaxation, were found to be constant in relation
to the backpackers' travel experience, which suggest that the two dimensions
constitute the core motivations for backpackers.
+ Reference Groups: The survey found that backpackers' travel expenses are mainly
concentrated between 100-300 yuan, and the consumption affordability is moderate.
With the country’s economic development and the continuous improvement of
national GDP per capita, backpackers’ ability to bear tourism consumption is also
rising. At the same time, due to factors such as rising prices, backpackers’ travel
expenses have increased compared to previous research results. The author also
conducted a survey on backpackers' consumption items in the travel process. The
survey found that catering and accommodation accounted for a larger proportion,
followed by transportation. They like to experience local life and enjoy local special
food. At the same time, they will choose cheap accommodation facilities and try to
take public transportation on the way to reduce the financial burden. In the choice of
local transportation, only 28.83% of tourists choose public transportation, because
travel time is limited, and some destinations are located in remote areas, and the bus
line has not yet been opened. Therefore, tourists who actually choose public
transportation are more likely to choose public transportation. less. More tourists
will choose to drive or take a taxi so that they can quickly reach their destination. In
addition, price is the most important factor influencing backpackers' choice of
accommodation facilities, followed by geographical location. They do not have high
requirements for the services, facilities and equipment of the accommodation, as
long as they are clean and tidy, they are already satisfied. Sometimes in order to
pursue the beautiful scenery, they will camp in the wild with tents. It can be seen
that backpackers prefer economical accommodation facilities in the choice of
accommodation facilities.