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One of the most important research problems in tourism today, and one still to be thoroughly investigated, is the understanding of tourist decision-making processes and the way they are reflected in tourist spatial behaviour. Until very recently, the study of tourist decision-making and that of tourist flows went on independently of one another. Thus, geographers were detecting and describing tourist flows while psychologists and marketing analysts were trying to understand the destination-choice process. The current study merges these two aspects and addresses the following questions: A. What are the most important and frequently assessed destination attributes anticipated and desired by tourists? B. Is destination-choice behaviour (when based on different desired destination attributes) class-differentiated? C. Are spatial patterns of tourist flows also classdifferentiated? D. If class differentiation does exist, is there a causal connection between the manner of destination choice and tourists' consequent spatial behaviour? This study rests on two general assumptions. The first is that the process of selecting from among alternative tourist destinations is a direct outcome of the individual's evaluation of the aggregate value of utilities inherent in destination attributes. The second claims that the general tourist spatial pattern is a product of subpatterns created by different groups of tourists. The derived operational hypotheses suggest that both destination-choice and tourists' spatial behaviour are class-differentiated. Initially, the study involved the detection of the 25 most frequently assessed destination attributes. These were then introduced into a questionnaire examining the destination-choice and spatial behaviour of the North-Vest London Jewish community. Analysis of the data collected using Della Pave's 'Value Stretch' concept shows that destination-choice processes among Barnet's Jewish tourists are significantly class-differentiated. Significantly different tourist behaviour patterns were also found among them. The concept of 'Value Stretch' also revealed the possible causes of different tourist spatial behaviour emerging in the wake of class-differentiated destination-choice patterns.

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In this thesis I argue that within Canadian society, mainstream environmentalism has been constructed as a consumer-based activity that fundamentally excludes low income households and serves to support a capitalist economy. Historically, humans’ relationship to the environment has been based on economic benefit and so people readily accept this construction of environmentalism as it conforms to established social norms. Contemporary research has shown that eco-labeling is one of the primary marketing tools that give the impression of social structural change while keeping capitalism intact. This thesis critically examines documents from three Canadian sources: the Toronto Star newspaper, the David Suzuki Foundation website, and the Canadian Government. By applying the theories of social constructionism and representation, I show that these documents and articles have multiple levels and meanings about environmentalism that favour the capitalist agenda. This analysis also identifies four main ways in which these sources contribute to and reinforce the exclusion of low income families from Canadian mainstream environmentalism: 1) sources primarily promote ‘green’ consumables and disregard the associated cost of these goods, 2) sources do not acknowledge the constraints associated with level of access to non-consumable green resources, 3) sources shape environmental problems as economic issues by focusing on corporations, and 4) increased time commitments associated with green behaviour are not acknowledged. These three sources would suggest that the current form of environmentalism, as a consumer based construct, exclude low income household in mainstream Canadian society. By illuminating some of the problems with the current construction of environmentalism, it becomes possible to construct new perspectives on environmentalism that are both effective and inclusive. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-25 16:26:11.314