Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions to the Marketing of Thanatourism

The terms “thanatourism” and “dark tourism” relate to visiting places of human tragedy, which are increasingly developed as tourist destinations. There is a need to trouble thanatouristic assumptions through sharing and discussing lived experiences. These challenge the simplistic mechanistic marketi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative report 2021-03, Vol.26 (3), p.992-1011
Main Authors: Lloyd-Parkes, Elizabeth, Deacon, Jonathan, Grant, Alec, Thomas, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Authors
Autoethnography
Consumer behavior
Consumers
Consumption
Dark tourism
Marketing
Qualitative Research
Researchers
Tourism
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Summary:The terms “thanatourism” and “dark tourism” relate to visiting places of human tragedy, which are increasingly developed as tourist destinations. There is a need to trouble thanatouristic assumptions through sharing and discussing lived experiences. These challenge the simplistic mechanistic marketing and conventional research practices of thanatourism. This dialogic autoethnographic study responds to this need, addressing thanatourism from the subjective and emotional perspectives of “insider” scholar-participant-consumers. Two interactive dialogic stories are presented by the lead and second authors, with the fourth providing a theoretically informed response. In the final section, the third author, an experienced autoethnographer and outsider to the thanatouristic topic and context, interrogates the lead author on concepts and issues emerging in the autoethnographic dialogue. Through engaging with this study, the reader is offered a multilayered, polysemic, emotionally provocative account of the ethical interface between thanatourism, consumer behaviour and marketing practices, and an exemplar model for future autoethnographic work.
ISSN:1052-0147
2160-3715
DOI:10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4733