The ‘McDonaldized Consumer Society’ and tourism industry governance by local development zones in China
An empirical study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21699875 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shasha Du (0000-0002-2650-7286, Nanjing University, corresponding author), Penghui Hu (0000-0003-3876-2732, Huazhong University of Science and Technology) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 874-886 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Issues in Tourism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1368-3500 • E-ISSN: 1747-7603 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13683500.2021.1907321 |
| OpenAlex | W3146896421 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 12 |
Empirical data from a qualitative study of tourism industry by a local development zone in a China county is analysed in the context of the theories of McDonaldization, consumer society, and postemotional society. Tourism industry in China appears to run on the principles of ‘McDonaldized Consumer Society’, with notable differences from Western countries. We found that the central status of consumers has given way to governments at multiple levels including county and village. What Baudrillard calls the symbol system is established by local development zones in China by means of, Administrative Priority and Market Affinity mechanisms, and are implemented through the Project System and the Agent System with a process of Industry Planning, Administrative Simplification, Non-Market Translation, Selective Demarcation and Zoning Technology. The end result is an unsustainable, low quality, industrial development characterized by indifference on the part of bureaucrats and protests by villagers. We propose the implementation of non-government organizations (NGO’s) as a way to remedy some of the issues we discovered in our research
Business · China · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Empirical research · Geography · Local government · Political science · Tourism · Zoning · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Public Administration · Taxation and Compliance Studies · Marketing
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |