Vulnerabilidades sociales

The investigation of tourists‟ cultures is crucial because people from different cultures tend to have different consumption preferences and expectations. By investigating the cultural differences between the host and the target market and between various target markets, destination marketers will be able to better design and market the tourism offering, which in turn will contribute to an improved destination image, higher levels of tourist satisfaction, and increased economic benefits (Meng 2010:342).

According to Moutinho et al (2011:85), culture refers to “values, ideas, attitudes and meaningful symbols, as well as artefacts elaborated [on] in a society”. Essentially, these elements are learned and transmitted from one generation to the next and have the ability to shape human behaviour.

Chinese culture is a term used to represent all cultural values held by ethnic

Chinese regardless of where they live in the world. In general, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism constitute the essence of the traditional Chinese culture, with Confucianism playing a more dominant role (Ball, Horner & Nield 2007:31).

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC) during the Spring and Autumn periods (770-476 BC). In brief, Confucius‟s teachings

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were lessons in practical ethics without any religious content, aimed at achieving harmonious human relationships through discipline, obedience, devotion, and dutifulness (Li 2009:230; Mok & DeFranco 1999:103). Mencius (372-289 BC) is deemed the best interpreter of Confucius‟s thoughts (Rainey 2010:87) and the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. Mencius‟s interpretation of Confucianism has been recognised as the orthodox version by successive Chinese philosophers (Xu 2012:90). Mencius assumes the existence of four cardinal virtues: ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness), li (politeness), and zhi (intelligence); later, xin (trust) was added to this set of merits. These cardinal virtues find their application in wu lun (the five human relationships in which an individual is defined) – the love between father and son, the duty between ruler and subject, the distinction between husband and wife, the precedence between the elder and the younger brother, and the faith between friends. The consequences of wu lun are that superiors (people) can expect respect and obedience from subordinates (others), but in turn must care for and protect them (Ball et al 2007:32; Kwek & Lee 2010:130; Langenberg 2007:35-36). In summary, Chinese culture is highly complex and Chinese society is rooted mainly in Confucianism.

Major differences exist between Chinese and Western cultures and have to be acknowledged for an in-depth understanding of the Chinese outbound tourist (Reisinger 2009:115). The foundation for most cross-cultural research is the work of Hofstede and his colleagues (e.g. Hofstede 1980, 2001; Hofstede & Hofstede 2005; Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010). Hofstede et al (2010:53-298) identify six dimensions of national culture that allow for differentiation among cultures at a country level. These dimensions, acquired through „mental programming‟ (i.e. learned patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting), are briefly described below.

 Power distance (from small to large) – the extent to which a society

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 Individualism/collectivism – the extent to which a society is concerned

about the individual as opposed to the group.

 Masculinity/femininity – to extent to which a society stresses masculine

values (e.g. money and material possessions) over feminine values (e.g. quality of life and caring for others).

 Uncertainty avoidance (from weak to strong) – the extent to which a

society feels threatened by uncertain situations and tries to avoid them.

 Long-term/short-term orientation – the extent to which a society accepts

delayed gratification of material, social, and emotional needs.

 Indulgence/restraint – the extent to which a society allows relatively free

gratification of basic human desires related to enjoying life (Hofstede 2011:1-26; Hofstede et al 2010:53-298).

In addition to theorising these dimensions of national culture, Hofstede et al (2010:57-285) evaluate a large number of countries based on vast amounts of data, using a scale of roughly 0-100 for each dimension. Table 3.1 presents their evaluation of the five countries that are relevant to the context of the present study. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany are included because they remained the top three non-African source markets of tourist arrivals to South Africa during 2011 and 2012 (SAT 2012:21, 2013a:23). As shown in Table 3.1, in five of the six dimensions, China has an extreme position when compared with the other four countries. More specifically, for power distance and long-term orientation, China scores higher than the other countries; for individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and indulgence, China scores lower than the other countries; and only for masculinity are the scores more or less the same for China and the other countries.

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TABLE 3.1: DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURE

DIMENSION SOUTH AFRICA CHINA UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES GERMANY Power distance 49 80 35 40 35 Individualism 65 20 89 91 67 Masculinity 63 66 66 62 66 Uncertainty avoidance 49 30 35 46 65 Long-term orientation 34 87 51 26 83 Indulgence 63 24 69 68 40

Note: A high score on a dimension on the scale of 0-100 indicates a high evaluation on that dimension.

Source: Adapted from Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov (2010:57-285)

With reference to the influence of Chinese culture on tourist behaviour, some important implications for destination marketers can be named. First of all, a low level of individualism (or a high level of collectivism) suggests that Chinese tourists are “we” oriented and emphasise belongingness and relationships. They prefer group tours to individual tours for outbound holidays (Meng 2010:344-345). Secondly, a large power distance suggests that Chinese tourists are interested in seeing the most famous sights and the places connected to superlatives, and in imitating the travel behaviour of famous Chinese people. Since tour guides typically play the role of temporary authority, high demands are made regarding their knowledge and problem-solving skills. Thirdly, a weak uncertainty avoidance might imply that Chinese tourists show flexibility in planning and executing travel arrangements. Encounters with strange, unknown situations or persons are considered a reason for curiosity and amusement instead of a threat (Arlt 2006:105-106). Fourthly, a high long-term orientation explains why Chinese people often use learning as a justification for engaging in leisure activities, since Confucius‟s ethics suggest that spare time should not be spent leisurely, but should be devoted to self-improvement through education and learning. Finally, a low level of indulgence (or a high level of restraint) suggests that

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Chinese tourists expect quiet, passive activities rather than strenuous physical exertion. In fact, it is a tradition for Chinese people to engage in appreciating natural beauty and thus experience true inner peace, harmony, and tranquillity, and develop a better understanding of the meaning of life (Li 2009:231).