Values of souvenirs as commodities

Abstract

Although souvenirs have received increased research interest in tourism studies, sociological research in this field still remains limited. This exploratory study aspires to overcome past research negligence on the values identified in social theory for commodities, such as Marx's use and exchange values and Baudrillard's sign-value, as well as introducing an additional one, the spiritual-value. By using a sample of twenty respondents in Veria, a small city in Northern Greece, this study attempts to interpret souvenirs as commodities with certain values and to identify the functions that touristsexpect to receive when purchasing them. Despite its limitations, this study provided a theoretical understanding of the sociological aspects of souvenirs' consumption in relation to the four values.