Perception and consumption of tourism products in the age of the wanghong economy: an explorative qualitative study

With the development of the Internet and technology, various social media have appeared in our daily life, which allows all kinds of information to be spread wider and faster than before. Compared to the past, the way how people gather information has changed as people mainly receive information from social media now. The post-90s generation has also grown up during the development of social media platforms. They are regarded as the first generation of the Internet in China and became the main consuming force. Their purchasing power also shows in the tourism field. Therefore, all the contexts mentioned above have formed the characteristics of the post-90s generation, which are relatively different from previous generations. Furthermore, these characteristics also affect their perception of various products as well as their consuming behavior, especially in relation to wanghong. Wanghong refers to online celebrities who gained popularity from the internet are also taking advantage of social media to advertise products. Wanghong has been confirmed as having a strong impact on consumers’ consumption of daily commodities. My research was conducted to find out how the post-90s generation reacts to the tourism products advertised by wanghong, and, to what extent, wanghong’s opinions could affect the post-90s’ perceptions and consumptions of tourism products. To do so, I first examined the literature about the wanghong economy and the main characteristics of the post-90s generation in China, looked at the relationship between social media and consumption in China, and presented theories about tourism experience in the era of social media. To collect my data, I used semistructured interviews and 10 respondents joined my research. I then used thematic analysis to organize and interpret my data. The results show that wanghong’s influences are different in affecting the post-90s’ perception and consumption of daily commodities and tourism products. Besides wanghong’s opinions, their consumption of tourism products is also influenced by spare time and financial power. Meanwhile, some of this generation’s characteristics also play an important role in affecting their consuming decision-making.