Microblogging Behavior, Tourism Consumption and Identity Construction of the Chinese Middle Class.

Since the mid-1990s, the Chinese government has used tourism as an important tool to stimulate consumption and expand domestic demand. By implementing a series of policies, the Chinese tourism industry has flourished. Meanwhile, along with structural societal changes, the growing middle class has become a leading force in tourism. The enthusiasm and purchasing power of this socioeconomic sector have made China the world's largest outbound tourism market and the top international tourism spender. The rise of the middle class and its leading role in growing tourism consumption has drawn academic attention. In the existing research, almost all scholars regard the middle class as an established and unchanging social stratum, studying its tourism demand and behavioral characteristics. However, the middle class is not a universally fixed concept. Due to social and historical constraints, as well as political, economic, and cultural differences, members of the Chinese middle class have exhibited some unique traits in tourism consumption not shared by their counterparts in other countries. This is due to the fact that the Chinese middle class is still in the initial stages of formation, and its class consciousness is rather vague. To members of this class, tourism is not only for leisure and recreation, but also an important and effective means for building social networks and displaying their social status. This study observed Sina Weibo (Weibo means "microblogging" in Mandarin, and Sina Weibo is a popular social media platform) users who showcase the demographic features of the Chinese middle class. First, this study used textual analysis of Sina Weibo to reveal tourist behavior in the process of people striving to become part of the middle class. In-depth, offline interviews were also conducted with Sina Weibo users. This study categorizes the contents and confirms the functions of middle-class Chinese tourists' identity construction through tourism. Finally, this study pinpoints their characteristics and offers some suggestions to improve the tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]