ABSTRACT
China plays a vital role in the prosperity of international tourism as the world’s largest source of outbound expenditures. Shopping accounts for the highest proportion of China’s outbound travel expenses. Scholars have focused on individual tourism shopping behaviour; however, there is limited research on shopping behaviour at the macro level. This chapter applies involvement theory to Chinese shopping behaviour in the top ten destination countries for outbound tourism. Content analysis was applied to explain shopping behaviour, analyse this behaviour in various countries, and identify the reasons for behavioural differences. Data were obtained from comments about tourism shopping attractions on China’s largest online tourism website. The combined influence of personal, product, and situational factors through situational involvement, enduring involvement, or response involvement leads to differences in shopping elements, categories, and situations in different countries. This research extends the application of involvement theory in tourism and provides practical suggestions for destination marketing.
