Tourists' shopping experiences at street markets: Cross-country research

Highlights

• The study answers the call for research about shopping behaviour on street markets in a tourist context.

• The study offers a comparative analysis between Portugal and Turkey.

• The model considers the influence of status consciousness and moral values.

• Street markets act as an attraction; nevertheless, more proactive actions should be taken.

• The study offers a different perspective on such behaviours to revive the nature of shopping experiences.

Abstract

Considering shopping as one of the most important motivations for travel, this study focuses on tourists' shopping attitudes towards street markets while on a vacation. Specifically, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that assesses how price consciousness and perceived utility, as critical drivers of attitudes in street markets, may influence tourist satisfaction and future intentions. As opposed to the structure of previous research, this study is also based on a cross-national comparative study conducted among foreign tourists visiting Algarve, Portugal and Bodrum, Turkey, in the summer of 2011. Study findings confirm that price and utility perceptions are the most important marketplace cues and higher level of satisfaction moderates tourists' willingness to return or recommend street markets in both destinations.

Introduction

Shopping is a crucial part of tourists' experience. Street and night markets are considered as the way to revive countries' culture and one of the most popular attractions within international tourists (Chang et al., 2007, Henderson et al., 2011, Kikuchi and Ryan, 2007). Tourists prefer to shop in spaces where they are able to interact with natives to learn about local cultures (Timothy & Butler, 1995). Being aware of this reality, tourism destination managers strive to keep street markets alive, where tradition and heritage abound. Street markets or bazaars are understood as generally dedicated to shopping for leisure. However, street markets usually adopt a very peculiar type of transaction, and bargain and counterfeit products are the axes of a business where legal norms are abided to ensure a genuine experience for tourists. The prejudice around counterfeits does not damage the image of these street markets.

Examples of the success of street markets where counterfeits are sold are everywhere. In a particular reference to Portugal, the “thieve market” is a street market where counterfeit products are tolerated due to the number of visitors this ancient market registers. In Turkey, the Grand Bazaar is a must-visit place in Istanbul, and even if it has plenty of counterfeit products, it works as a visiting card of the city. In fact, counterfeiting and tourism are phenomena that date back to ancient times. While the history of tourism began in the sixth century B.C. in Babylon, counterfeiting started in the 13th century (A.D.), and both grew exponentially. Interpol (2015) estimates that counterfeits account for more than US$1.7billion at U.S. borders. Therefore, counterfeit transactions can be considered a powerful force within world commerce. The tourism industry is also a major contributor to global GDP, accounting for 9.5% (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2015). Both phenomena play a major role in the socio-economic development of some communities, although on opposite axes. This impact is even more relevant where both phenomena are operating at the same time.

On the one hand, the results of past research demonstrate that shopping is one of the major motivations for tourists (Turner and Reisinger, 2001, Wang, 2004), accounting for a significant part of tourist expenditure (Bojanic, 2011, Kinley et al., 2002). Tourists shopping behaviour were supported as a stimulus to novelty seeking behaviour (Chang & Chiang, 2006), the search for their self-identity (Chang & Hsieh, 2006). However, the research into tourism-related shopping explaining tourists' preferences and behaviours is still an emergent topic (Oh et al., 2004, Lloyd et al., 2011). On the other hand, although the current body of literature yields several examples including black markets (Lehmann, 1980), harassment (Kozak, 2007), sex and prostitution (Ryan and Kinder, 1996, Harrison, 1994), and drug use (Uriely & Belhassan, 2006), the empirical investigation of illicit behaviour by tourists is still limited. This lack of research is also evident on the subject of street markets (Bian & Veloutsou, 2007). Bearing this in mind, this study attempts to contribute to the call for research about purchasing shopping experiences in street markets in a tourism context.

The trigger for developing this research has arisen from the evidence that tourists tend to adopt quite different behaviours while on holidays, particularly while shopping (Yuksel, 2004, Kozak and Tasci, 2005). Jansen-Verbeke (1994) identifies several major tourist shopping motivations: experiencing the specific identity of the destination; taking advantage of the bargain prices offered, of the exchange rate, and of the social cues of the shopping experience. The bargaining effect of tourism-related shopping has also been discussed recently by Kozak (2015), who argues that tourists are more prone to bargain while on holidays than in their home countries. In another vein, consumer attitudes and motives towards street markets vary widely, for example from price to social acceptability – where any illegality is excused by the commonplace nature of these behaviours in society (Anti-Counterfeiting Group, 2009).

In addition, most of the literature on both topics focuses on a single geographical context (Veloutsou & Bian, 2008). This study goes beyond a narrow geographical focus to offer a comparative analysis between two of the most important counterfeit paradises for tourists, namely Portugal and Turkey. This evidence illuminates the contribution of this research to the body of knowledge in two of the oldest headaches of humankind – tourism and counterfeiting. For the purpose of this study, the reality of street markets, where counterfeits abound, is accepted without prejudice, as in the study carried out by Gentry, Putrevu, Shultz, and Commuri (2001). As such, the focus of the study includes tourists who consciously seek out street markets to buy counterfeits.

Tourist shopping behaviour is considered to represent an action which is completely distinct from tourists' ordinary routine (Oh et al., 2004). This fact and the status that street markets have achieved as tourist attractions in Turkey and Portugal justifies the sample population focussing only on foreign tourists visiting the most popular paradises for counterfeits – the Algarve in Portugal and Bodrum in Turkey. The stalls sell mostly bric-a-brac ranging from the usual stuff, to fake clothes, toys and antiques. These street markets where haggling is welcome have become a tourist attraction in both countries, attracting millions of tourists over the years.

However, buying counterfeit products in a street market is rarely studied in a tourism context. Thus, this study aims not to offer value judgments about consumers who shop for counterfeits in street markets; rather, it analyses tourists' attitudes towards street markets in a specific holiday context. A group of tourists representing various European nationalities and visiting a particular destination both in Portugal and Turkey were selected as the sample population of this study and data were collected while the respondents were about to complete their holiday and when heading back to their home country from each destination.