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Understanding Thangka: an Explanation of Tourists’ Interest and Desire of Purchasing Thangka

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Understanding Thangka: an Explanation of Tourists’ Interest and Desire of Purchasing Thangka UNDERSTANDING THANGKA: AN EXPLANATION OF TOURISTS’ INTEREST AND DESIRE OF PURCHASING THANGKA A thesis submitted to the Kent State University College of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science By XXX LUOBUSANGZHU August 2016 Thesis written by Xxx Luobusangzhu B.S., Tibet University, 2011 M.S., Kent State University, 2016 Approved by __________________________________, Director, Master’s Thesis Committee Philip Wang __________________________________, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Barbara Scheule __________________________________, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Vilma Seeberg Accepted by __________________________________, Director, School of Foundations, Kimberly Schimmel Leadership and Administration __________________________________, Dean, College and Graduate School of Mark Kretovics Education, Health, and Human Services ii XXX LUOBUSANGZHU, M.S., August, 2016 Hospitality and Tourism Management UNDERSTANDING THANGKA: AN EXPLANATION OF TOURISTS’ INTEREST AND DESIRE OF PURCHASING THANGKA (103 pp.) Director of Thesis: Philip Wang, Ph.D. Thangka is one of the most famous traditional arts in Tibet, and originally it is a religious art. Later since tourism became the main industry in Tibet, Thangka slowly became a tourism product. This study applied well-known model AIDA to explore tourists’ interest and desire of purchase Thangka. In addition, it is examining the Thangka values affecting on their purchasing behaviors. Present research also used Aaker’s (1997) brand personality (BP) and Sirgy’s (1982) self-image/product-image congruity (SC) theories to explore tourists’ desire to purchase Thangka. The result supported the AIDA theory that there is an association between interest in purchasing Thangka and desire to purchase Thangka. In addition, the findings indicated that the tourists who had visited Tibet before, Buddhists tourists, and tourists with higher income showed interest in purchasing Thangka. The results revealed high congruity levels between desire to purchase Thangka and gender, and between desire and occupation. Implications of results will be discussed. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members Barbara Schedule and Vilma Seeberg for their advice and expertise. The insight and knowledge they generously shared with me were critical to making this research study a success. My sincere gratitude goes out to Philip Wang, my thesis advisor and committee chair, for his guidance and expertise in this study. His patience and encouragements gave me the strength to focus on the research that I personally find interesting. This project would not have been possible without his assistance. His willingness to give his time so generously has been very much appreciated. I extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to my representative ( Dorlma Tseren). Her generous support for collecting the data greatly helped to keep the research on schedule. I would also like to extended my appreciation to Han Zhang, staff of research and evaluation bureau, for her helping in doing meteorological data analysis. I would like to give my thanks to all the tourists that took the time to participate in this research. Thank for their trust in me and their dedication to this study. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………...………………iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ VI CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... ..1 Brief Introduction to Thangka .................................................................................................... 1 Cultural Heritage Conservation ..................................................................................... 4 Impact of Cultural Heritage Tourism on Thangka ...................................................... 6 Thangka As a Tourism Product ...................................................................................... 8 Tourists As Thangka Buyers ........................................................................................ 10 Types of Tourists in Tibet .............................................................................................11 AIDA and Conspicous Consumption .......................................................................... 12 Research Purpose ......................................................................................................... 15 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 16 The Role of Crafts in Tourism ..................................................................................... 16 The Values of Crafts. .................................................................................................... 19 Tourist Typology in Tibet ............................................................................................. 22 AIDA ............................................................................................................................ 25 Brand Personality and Self-congruence ....................................................................... 31 Conspicous Consumption ............................................................................................ 38 III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................................ 41 Interview ...................................................................................................................... 41 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................... 42 Data Collection ............................................................................................................ 45 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 46 IV. RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 48 Description of the Sample ........................................................................................... 50 Brand Personality of Thangka.. ................................................................................... 52 IV Perceived Image of Thangka Buyer ............................................................................. 52 Interest in Purchasing Thangka and Desire to Purchase Thangka ............................... 53 Interest in Purchasing Thangka and Participants' Background.................................... 55 Desire to Purchase Thangka and Participants' Background ......................................... 58 Thangka's Value and Participants' Background ........................................................... 60 Thangka's Personality and Participants' Background .................................................. 65 Conspicuous Consumption and Participants' Background ........................................ 68 Thangka's Religious Value and Thangka's Brand Personality ..................................... 72 V. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................... 74 Implications .................................................................................................................. 82 Limitations ................................................................................................................... 83 Future Research ........................................................................................................... 84 APPENDIXES. ................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX A REPRESENTATIVE TRAINING ........................................................ 87 APPENDIX B CONSENT FORM ................................................................................ 89 APPENDIX C QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH ....................................................... 91 APPENDIX D QUESTIONNAIRE IN CHINESE ....................................................... 95 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 99 V LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Description of the Sample ......................................................................................... 51 2. Brand Personality of Thangka ................................................................................... 52 3. Perceived Image of Thangka Buyer .......................................................................... 53 4. Interest in Purchasing Thangka and Desire to Purchase Thangka ............................ 54 5. Relationship Between Interest in Purchasing Thangka and Visited Before .............. 56 6. Relationship Between Interest in Purchasing Thangka and Religion ....................... 56 7. Relationship Between Desire to Purchase Thangka and Gender .............................. 58 8. Relationship Between Desire to Purchase Thangka and Occupation ....................... 60 9. Relationship Between Thangka’s Value and Gender ................................................ 61 10. Relationship Between Thangka’s Value and Tourist Type ...................................... 62 11. Relationship Between Thangka’s Value and Trip Motivation ................................. 63 12.
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