The identity construction of Chinese anime pilgrims

Anime pilgrimage is a form of tourism induced by a popular culture, the anime culture. To better understand contemporary cultural consumption, this exploratory research studies the tourist identity construction of Chinese anime pilgrims and the role played by cultural context in it. Following an interpretive methodology, this paper illustrates the process of an individual to construct the identity as an anime pilgrim. This research distinguishes four different identity levels of anime pilgrims, including a unique fantasized identity as the anime me. The findings also proposed an identity model showing that the identity construction of Chinese anime pilgrims goes through the processes of compliance, identification, internalization and individualization.