A Tale of Two Societies: A case study of American Tourism in Cuba
Consumption is everywhere in American life. Some researchers argue that American culture is consumer culture and that every event that takes place in the American citizen's life is an act of consumption. Hence, visiting another country would be an act of consumption. The tourist has been referred to as the consummate consumer of our time. So it would follow that as a tourist from the United States interacts with members of another culture, consumption will play a large role in shaping his or her experiences and perceptions of the visited society. But how will consumption function in a society that is not consumer-driven? This study analyzes the experiences of American study abroad students in Cuba to find an answer to this question. In employing the experiences of study abroad students from the University of Illinois 140/220 Spanish class, the study expects to find not only evidence of consumption shaping the experiences of the students and the opinions they formed of Cuba but also specifically which experiences were affected. Considering that the students are all members of a consumer culture, the study expects to find that all experiences were affected by consumption. Other relevant questions are: What opinions were formed that were affected by consumption? What practices were used to form these opinions? And finally, what conclusions did the participants form about United States culture in the context of their trip? In order to investigate this topic, students participating in a study abroad program in Cuba were recruited to keep daily journals detailing their interactions in Cuba. In addition to the journals, the participants filled out two surveys. The researcher also kept a journal of observations. Theories on identity and consumption as well as leading research on tourism were used to analyze the participant's observations.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Advertising
Research Advisor:
Jason Chambers
Department of Research Advisor:
Advertising
Year of Publication:
2003