Interaction target selection

Although the selection of a potential interaction participant is not strictly part of the actual interaction process – it only begins when an interaction proposal is responded to – this choice can be considered the first contact between the interaction initiator and his or her selected target. The findings will be presented according to the visitor typology, as different traveller types displayed different criteria that factored into their interaction participant choice. Due to the similarities in patterns, the section on young and mature FITs will, in this instance, be combined. Only data stemming from social interactions initiated by interviewees will be included here, as visitors were frequently not able to provide reliable information on why they were selected as interaction participants during their responded interactions. A short overview of the connection between interaction target choice and antecedents will be provided, combined with an examination of the differences in interaction participants between initiated and responded interactions.

Figure 5.1 outlines both the structure and the main findings of this section.

Backpackers displayed the greatest variety of factors influencing their interaction target choice, due to their travel style and subsequent potential long-term expectations towards social interactions. Free independent travellers on the other hand based their selection solely on proximity and a personal interest stemming from overhearing certain conversations or accents, and were therefore less selective about whom they interacted with. The significance of the environmental setting emerges

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when comparing the interaction respondents of initiated and responded interactions – the latter occur in more varied environmental contexts which also lead to the presence of a greater variety of other visitors. Therefore those visitors that initiated interactions with interviewees show a slightly greater variation in their personal characteristics. In addition, the original antecedents also impact the selection of interaction participants, as for all interactions initiated due to extrinsic antecedents and conformity interaction participants were selected solely based upon proximity, while only intrinsically motivated interactions include more specific criteria.

Backpackers: Greater variety of selection criteria when intrinsically motivated

Type of interactions:

Initiated: Greater variety in criteria influencing partner choice

Responded: Assumed to be based mostly upon proximity, thus more diversity in interaction

Figure 5.1 Factors impacting interaction participant selection

5.2.1 Interaction target selection for backpackers

Due to their status as long-term single travellers, backpackers frequently emphasized the possibility of spending several days or even weeks with other visitors they have met during their holiday. This visitor segment thus displayed the widest variety of target selection criteria, including the proximity and appearance of interaction participants as well as factors such as overhearing something or having seen them previously (see Box A, Figure 5.1).

Proximity was the key factor in the selection of interaction participants for half of all reported backpacker interactions. Interviewees frequently mentioned the impact of shared spaces within accommodation and transport settings as the main factor determining whom they approached. On transport modes this would often be the person sitting next to them, whereas in youth hostels especially kitchens and

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common areas were environmental contexts within which proximity dominated.

Although proximity is also a prerequisite for other motivators such as overhearing something of interest, in many cases it has been reported to be the sole reason.

“Well, you just sit next to each other... At breakfast, in the evening, when you’re making, cooking dinner in the kitchen and you’re in a small space and do the same stuff, so it just goes from there... “

Male backpacker (UK, exploratory)

Having previously seen them during their travels was the reason why a further fifth of interaction targets were chosen. Common accommodation and transport preferences combined with similar itineraries and a long-term stay frequently led to re-encounters and therefore to social interactions, mostly in accommodation settings and during independent tourist activities. As mentioned in Section 3.5.2, only interactions with visitors that interviewees had not previously talked to could be included, as otherwise participants would have known each other prior to the reported interaction – circumstances that are not the focus of this research.

“Well, I came here on the bus, yesterday, and on the bus I realized that three girls behind me were talking Swedish, and I met them later, in the evening, at the lakefront and said hi.”

Male backpacker (Sweden)

Overhearing something other visitors had said was another recurring factor in choosing interaction targets, applicable to some of their initiated interactions. In these cases, interviewees were either interested in the experiences that others were talking about, could not place a particular accent, or had something to contribute.

This was most often the case in both accommodation and transport settings.

“Or you hear someone talking and can’t quite place their accent, or they talk about something that you know something about, and you, you just say yeah, I’ve been there, or yeah, I’ve heard from someone.“

Female backpacker (UK, exploratory)

The final influence on interaction target selection reported during the main interviews was appearance, a criterion only mentioned by backpackers. The exploratory interviews in particular emphasized the (sometimes subconscious) effect

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of this, as many interviewees used this visual impression to assess potential commonalities between themselves and their prospective interaction participants.

“And how they are clothed, I also think that is a good sign to see if they travel in the same way you do. (…) I think, at the clothes you see how they want to travel, if they just want to have party.”

Female backpacker (Germany, exploratory)

“You pick people that you think have something in common, people that remind you of...you I think. “

Male backpacker (Sweden, exploratory)

“A guy wearing a football shirt from Poole was there, and I spoke to him about his shirt.”

Male backpacker (UK)

As a certain similarity in age and variety in nationality amongst guests can be assumed especially within youth hostel settings, two thirds of initiated backpacker interactions were conducted with partners within the same age group (i.e. in their twenties or thirties), and over one third with visitors of the same nationality. Group constellation was frequently mentioned during exploratory interviews as an important factor in determining whom to target, as single travellers felt more comfortable in approaching other single travellers instead of larger groups – this is represented by the fact that two thirds of approached interaction participants had either the same or a smaller group size as the initiator, while the remaining third was initiated with either couples or informal groups of travellers that also had just met.

“I rather sit with somebody who’s on their own than speak to a group. I would sit alone and maybe speak with somebody who is not in that group. I think it’s, ahm, because this exists already and they know each other and I don’t want to just interrupt. It’s a bit weird too…”

Female backpacker (Austria)

139 5.2.2 Interaction target selection for FITs

Both young and mature FITs exhibit similar and less varied preferences when they choose their interaction targets (see Box B, Figure 5.1). Their group constellation and shorter length of stay means that they place less emphasis on potential long-term interactions and therefore make the majority of their choices, regardless of the environmental context, based upon proximity. The interactions of these two visitor types frequently occur in tourist activity related public settings where the main focus is not on meeting other visitors but on the respective activity, therefore making approaches either less targeted and more coincidental, or required due to an organized group activity. Interactions in accommodation settings and during organized activities were initiated solely based upon proximity, whereas the remaining interactions originated from interviewees overhearing something and therefore deciding to approach someone – this was mostly a factor during independent tourist activities.

While backpackers reported to interact with visitors who were relatively similar in demographic characteristics as well as group constellation, free independent travellers did not display these preferences to the same extent. The preferred interaction settings for FITs can be assumed to come with a wider variety of visitors, and although they also prefer to approach visitors with the same group constellation, they have fewer interactions with travellers of the same age and nationality than their backpacker counterparts – variations that can be explained when recalling the environmental settings they interact in and the fact that they do not appear to choose their potential interaction participants based upon personal characteristics.

5.2.3 Interaction target selection, antecedents and interaction types

During all interactions based upon conformity and extrinsic antecedents, interaction participants were selected solely due to their proximity (see Box C, Figure 5.1), whereas intrinsically motivated interactions showed a greater variety in selection criteria. For both young and mature FITs, these included both proximity and the fact that they overheard something, whereas backpackers reported the additional impacts of appearance and having seen someone at an earlier stage during their travels.

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All visitor types tended to approach visitors with a group constellation similar to their own. When responding to interaction proposals by other visitors on the other hand, their interaction participants showed a greater variety in both group constellation and demographic characteristics. This pattern is especially clear for backpackers (whose sample size also allows for better distinctions), due to the fact that they were approached more in public settings where the population characteristics vary while initiating most frequently in accommodation settings with more selective and therefore narrow criteria as to whom to target. However, there were no differences between age and nationality of interaction participants and interaction type. When asked to suggest why they were the ones being approached by other visitors, the large majority of all interviewees assumed that they were targeted simply based on proximity, sometimes with the additional criteria of interaction initiators having overheard something they had said or having seen them before.