紀念品：旅遊回憶的保存與觸發

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(1)國立交通大學應用藝術研究所碩士論文. 紀念品：旅遊回憶的保存與觸發 The Souvenir as a Travel Memories Keeper and Trigger. 研究生：賴彥均指導教授：鄧怡莘教授. 中華民國九十六年六月.

(2) 紀念品：旅遊回憶的保存與觸發 The Souvenir as a Travel Memories Keeper and Trigger. 研究生：賴彥均. Student：Yen-Chuan Lai. 指導教授：鄧怡莘. Advisor：Yi-Shin Deng. 國立交通大學應用藝術研究所碩士論文. A Thesis Submitted to Institute of Applied Arts College of Humanities and Social Science National Chiao Tung University in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in. Arts in Design June 2007 Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China. 中華民國九十六年六月. 2.

(3) 摘. 要. 紀念品一直以來都被視為是深具意義的物品，亦為許多學者所探討。在旅程中，人們會蒐集紀念品來保存回憶，而在旅程結束後，這些紀念品轉而成為旅遊經歷的象徵並觸動回憶。像這樣的紀念品，對人們而言，意義最為深重。. 旅人以物保存回憶，該物又因為有了回憶而變得珍貴有意義。簡而言之，物保存了回憶，而回憶也使物得以保存。這種物與回憶間的微妙連結使得人與物以及人與回憶的關係都持續地更長久。本研究即欲藉由研究人們對紀念品所抱持的情感以及紀念品、回憶與旅人間的關聯，來了解如何強化甚或建立這樣的連結。. 研究內容主要分為兩部分：紀念品如何保存旅遊回憶；旅程結束後，旅遊回憶又是如何被觸動。資料蒐集採脈絡訪查法（Contextual Inquiry）與訪談來進行，其後以關聯圖表（Affinity Diagram）整理資料，透過質性分析與討論，對保存回憶與觸發回憶兩個層面分別提出了設計提示。在保存回憶方面，紀念品可以是實用物品、旅伴、旅遊經歷的收據、場景中的片段、回憶創造者或是旅人所見的另一種版本；而在觸發回憶方面，則提出了四點：可抗拒適應機制（adaptation）的立體裝飾、不時被使用的實用物品、重新體驗旅程的設定以及社交場合中引發好奇心的物品。期望兩個層面的設計提示能供設計師交錯整合運用，從中汲取想法，提出深具意義之紀念品的設計構想。. i.

(4) Abstract. Souvenirs have been regarded as highly significant material objects. In a journey, tourists tend to collect souvenirs to keep memories. After the journey, these souvenirs serve as symbols of travel experience and evoke memories. A souvenir like this is considered to be most meaningful. A souvenir keeps memories. The memories kept then make the souvenir cherished by people. That is to say, the object keeps the memories and meanwhile the memories keep the object. The subtle connection linking objects and memories makes both association between people and objects, people and memories last longer. By studying the emotions that people hold toward souvenirs and the relation between souvenirs, memories and tourists, it is possible to find out how to strengthen, or further, build this connection. In this research, two main parts are investigated; namely: how a souvenir is being a memories keeper and being a memories trigger. Contextual inquiries and interviews are conducted to collect data. Through qualitative analysis and discussion, implications for memories keepers and triggers are respectively delivered. For keeping memories in the journey, it is implied that souvenirs can be useful things, partners of traveler, receipts of travel experience, fragments of the whole scene, memories creators, or other versions. As memories triggers, the souvenirs are proposed to be three-dimensional decorations against human adaptation, practical things used once in a while, setting for re-experiencing the journey, or curiosity triggers in social occasions. Implications of two aspects are suggested to be interlaced and integrated for application. The results are referable for designers to derive ideas concerning meaningful souvenirs.. Keywords: travel, souvenir, memories, design implication. ii.

(5) 誌. 謝. 很幸運能進到交大應用藝術所。在這裡，不僅能豐實學識，也能豐實心靈。感謝所有的老師，提供我們這麼好的學習環境。. 感謝我的指導教授——鄧怡莘老師，引領我進入研究的領域，給予我無限啟發。曾經遺憾在大學時代沒機會修到老師的課程，幸好在研究所時期，能成為老師的學生。老師所帶給我的，不僅是學術上的指導與設計思維的啟發，更包含了人生哲學的分享。這些，都是我研究所生涯的重大收穫。. 感謝兩位口試委員馬敏元老師與林銘煌老師仔細閱讀我的論文，並提出許多寶貴的意見，讓我的論文更加完整；同時也感謝莊明振老師與陳一平老師，提供了許多精闢的見解以及很有幫助的資訊。. 在論文撰寫期間，資料蒐集是一段漫長艱辛的過程。誠摯感謝所有接受訪談的朋友們敞開心胸，毫無保留與我分享自身經驗，還有熱心為我尋找、介紹受訪者的朋友們，協助我跨越了研究的重要關卡。感謝神鬼鴛鴦華憫學姊與家成學長，總是投入許多時間心力和我討論，解答疑難，分享經驗，每一次的對談都令我獲益良多。. 由於中途離開，曾經以為歸來後的論文生活將是孤寂的漫漫長路，然而同窗好友與 M Lab 陶藝音樂會成員的陪伴，讓這段過程變得豐富而多采多姿，在這裡致上由衷的謝意。. 最後要謝謝我最親愛的家人，總是給予我莫大的支持，因為擁有這樣強而有力的後盾，我才能來到這裡。. 賴彥均謹誌中華民國九十六年十月. iii.

(6) Contents. 摘要 ................................................................................................................................. i. Abstract..........................................................................................................................ii 誌謝 ...............................................................................................................................iii Contents ........................................................................................................................ iv Figures .........................................................................................................................vii Tables..........................................................................................................................viii -Chapter 1-. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Motivation ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Objectives ........................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Scope ............................................................................................................... 2 1-5 Outline of Thesis ............................................................................................. 3 -Chapter 2-. Literature Review ................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Souvenir........................................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Souvenir Definition .............................................................................. 4 2.1.2 The Meaning of Souvenir ..................................................................... 5 2.1.3 Souvenir & Memory............................................................................. 7 2.2 Memory ........................................................................................................... 9 2.2.1 Memory Process ................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 Types of Memory Systems ................................................................... 9 2.2.3 Memory Cue ....................................................................................... 10 2.2.4 Autobiographical Memory.................................................................. 11 -Chapter 3-. Methodology ........................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Research Structure......................................................................................... 12 3.2 Contextual Inquiry and Interview.................................................................. 14 3.2.1 Introduction of Contextual Inquiry..................................................... 14 3.2.2 Contextual Inquiry and Interview Plan............................................... 14 3.3 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 15 3.4 Recruiting ...................................................................................................... 17 iv.

(7) 3.4.1 Demographic Characteristics.............................................................. 17 3.4.2 Screening Interview............................................................................ 17 -Chapter 4-. Findings .................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Tourists’ Behavior.......................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Collecting The Same Item From Different Places.............................. 21 4.1.2 Picking up Piece-of-the-Rock............................................................. 21 4.1.3 Taking Artifact .................................................................................... 22 4.1.4 Purchasing Merchandise..................................................................... 22 4.1.5 Passively Receiving Things which is Got due to Other Reasons ....... 23 4.2 The Factors for Souvenirs be Meaningful ..................................................... 23 4.2.1 Importance and Using Frequency in the Trip ..................................... 23 4.2.2 Reminding Explicit Travel Events...................................................... 23 4.2.3 Efforts having been Paid for Acquiring.............................................. 24 4.2.4 Unimportant Factor: Aesthetics .......................................................... 25 4.3 The Contents of Memories Evoked ............................................................... 25 4.3.1 Place-related: Destinations ................................................................. 26 4.3.2 Place-related: the General Impression of the Destination .................. 26 4.3.3 Place-related: the Episodes in the Journey ......................................... 27 4.3.4 Person-related: Personal Feelings....................................................... 30 4.3.5 Person-related: Interpersonal Interaction............................................ 30 4.4 Existence of Souvenir in Daily Life .............................................................. 30 4.4.1 Display................................................................................................ 31 4.4.2 Storage ................................................................................................ 31 4.4.3 Usage .................................................................................................. 33 4.5 The Timing and Occasion for Memories to be Evoked................................. 34 -Chapter 5-. Discussions .............................................................................................................. 36 5.1 The Modes of Memories being Encoded – involved in the journey ............. 36 5.1.1 Memories around time and place of obtaining souvenirs are encoded... 37 5.1.2 Experiences corresponding to the receipts are encoded ..................... 38 5.1.3 The journey that souvenirs joined is encoded .................................... 39 5.1.4 The memories created by the souvenirs are encoded ......................... 39 5.2 The Modes of Memories being Encoded – features of souvenirs ................. 40 5.2.1 Encoded on Visual Information – Images and Miniatures ................. 40 5.2.2 Encoded on Metonym -- Piece-of-the-Whole and The Same Items... 41 v.

(8) 5.3 Activities Contributing to Evoking Memories .............................................. 43 5.3.1 Arranging Souvenirs ........................................................................... 43 5.3.2 Seeing Souvenirs ................................................................................ 44 5.3.3 Reading Souvenirs.............................................................................. 44 5.3.4 Using Souvenirs.................................................................................. 44 5.3.5 Introducing Souvenirs ........................................................................ 45 5.4 Current Problems of Souvenir Design and Suggestions................................ 47 -Chapter 6-. Design Implications.............................................................................................. 49 6.1 Implications for Memories Keepers .............................................................. 49 6.1.1 Making souvenir a useful thing in the journey ................................... 49 6.1.2 Making souvenir a partner of traveler in the journey ......................... 49 6.1.3 Making souvenir a receipt of experience............................................ 50 6.1.4 Letting tourists take away a part of the whole from the scene ........... 50 6.1.5 Making souvenir with various versions.............................................. 50 6.1.6 Making souvenir a memories creator ................................................. 50 6.2 Implications for Memories Triggers .............................................................. 51 6.2.1 Making souvenir a three-dimensional decoration against adaptation 51 6.2.2 Designing a setting for re-experiencing the journey by filing souvenirs 51 6.2.3 Making souvenir a practical object used once in a while ................... 51 6.2.4 Making souvenir a curiosity trigger showing up in social occasions . 51 6.3 Examples ....................................................................................................... 52 6.3.1 Wearing the useful tube map .............................................................. 52 6.3.2 Carrying the travel partner on the back .............................................. 52 6.3.3 Taking away a part of the afternoon tea.............................................. 53 6.3.4 Collecting different versions .............................................................. 53 6.3.5 Creating memories together ............................................................... 54 6.3.6 Re-experiencing the journey............................................................... 54 6.3.7 Collecting receipts of experiences...................................................... 55 -Chapter 7-. Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 56 7.1 Conclusion of Findings.................................................................................. 56 7.2 Contribution................................................................................................... 57 7.3 Related Research ........................................................................................... 57. Reference ................................................................................................................. 59 vi.

(9) Figures. Figure 1 Research structure ......................................................................................... 13 Figure 2 Affinity Diagram ........................................................................................... 20 Figure 3 Piece-of-the-rock........................................................................................... 22 Figure 4 Tube map from United Kingdom .................................................................. 24 Figure 5 Fridge magnets from various travel destinations .......................................... 26 Figure 6 Train ticket from Egypt placed in the notebook............................................ 27 Figure 7 Packing of a cheese knife and the receipt from Italy .................................... 27 Figure 8 A puppet of Ekeko -- the God of wealth in Peru ........................................... 29 Figure 9 Textile pattern printed in V&A Museum from United Kingdom.................. 29 Figure 10 A pair of cattle figurines from the latest journey is displayed..................... 31 Figure 11 A “pieces-volume” displayed but souvenirs can not be clear at a glance ... 31 Figure 12 & 13 Collections of “pieces” edited in a folder .......................................... 32 Figure 14 & 15 Three-dimensional objects is put inside the “pieces-volume” ........... 32 Figure 16 Cocoa from Netherlands ............................................................................. 34 Figure 17 Structure of discussions............................................................................... 36 Figure 18 Model for explaining mode one .................................................................. 37 Figure 19 Model for explaining mode two.................................................................. 38 Figure 20 Model for explaining mode three................................................................ 39 Figure 21 Model for explaining mode four ................................................................. 40 Figure 22 Model for explaining the process of making a souvenir ............................. 40 Figure 23 Tube map t-shirt .......................................................................................... 52 Figure 24 Bags with an image of creature................................................................... 52 Figure 25 Mini cups from the afternoon tea ................................................................ 53 Figure 26 A postcard showing two versions................................................................ 53 Figure 27 A doll needed to be completed .................................................................... 54 Figure 28 Lighting made from “pieces of travel”........................................................ 54 Figure 29 Handbags consisting of tickets form the journey........................................ 55. vii.

(10) Tables. Table 1 Set of questions in the interview and contextual inquiry................................ 15 Table 2 Profile of informants....................................................................................... 19 Table 3 Corresponding relation between informants’ souvenirs and content of Chapter Five . 46 Table 4 Presenting which implications the example shows ........................................ 55. viii.

(11) -Chapter 1-. Introduction. 1.1 Background Tourism is full of potential and plays a crucial role on economic growth. According to the statistic made by Tourism Bureau of Taiwan [1], during the whole year of 2006, there were 3,520,000 people visiting Taiwan from abroad, 14.50% growth than last year. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism amounted to 4.98 billion US dollars, 22.8% growth than last year. Souvenirs contribute a lot to these economic activities. Selling souvenirs is always an important part of tourism and contributes to the viability of retail trade in many travel destinations [2]. In 2006, planning new attractive products for international tourists had been incorporated in the policies for tourism developing by the government. Besides, the government also takes souvenir industry as an important part of “cultural creative industry”, which is a highly emphasized policy in recent years. For example, the leader of National Palace Museum, Man-li, Lin, is planning many activities to gather designers to bring out ideas of creative souvenirs. In past years the profit brought by authorized products of National Palace Museum amounted to two billion dollars [3]. The potential of souvenirs developing is obvious. From a perspective of tourists, a souvenir which can keep and evoke travel memories is usually regarded as the most meaningful and cherished one. A souvenir questionnaires investigation conducted by Hoven and Eggen [4] pointed out that about 75% of tourists bring souvenirs from their holidays, and about 50% of the souvenirs from the most recent holidays were brought primarily as a memory of the holiday. Moreover, most of the tourists did not throw away any souvenirs during the last year. As Stewart [5] said, “The souvenir distinguishes experiences … (it) speaks to a context of longing, for it is not an object arising out of need or use value; it is an object arising out of the necessarily insatiable demands of nostalgia.” A souvenir with memories means a lot to tourists. People hope that souvenirs can help them to keep their travel experiences in mind. Most of the currently existing souvenir merchandise, which can be found universally, however, doesn’t meet people’s expectation. Those products are often considered formulaic, tacky or meaningless to tourists. Through the research, how memories are kept and evoked by souvenirs is studied, and the results can contribute to designing meaningful souvenirs.. 1.

(12) 1.2 Motivation Tourists collect material objects in the journey for remembering memorable events. After the journey, these objects, existing in people’s daily life, act as a symbol of travel experience and evoke memories. According to Bationo, Kahn, and Decortis [6], these objects are especially important for story telling travelers to share their experiences. On the one hand, memories are kept by the meaningful souvenir. On the other hand, memories attached on souvenirs make souvenir cherished by people. Czickscentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton [7] investigated people’s most cherished objects in the home and found that “memories” is an important factor why people cherish the objects. In brief, the objects keep the memories and meanwhile the memories keep the objects as well. The subtle connection linking objects and memories makes both relationships between people and objects, people and memories last longer. In this research, study is conducted to learn the relation between souvenirs, memories and tourists. The ideas for developing souvenirs with memories can therefore be brought out.. 1.3 Objectives What this research aims to discover can be summed up to two main parts. One is to know that for tourists, how an object is being a memory keeper. People’s behavior of getting things and keeping memories that happened in the journey and the meaning encoded to these material objects are deeply concerned. The other one is to explore how an object is being a memory trigger. The way that souvenirs exist in people’s life and the context of memories being evoked are studied. Implications for designing souvenirs which can keep and trigger memories are proposed in the end.. 1.4 Scope The main subject discussed in this research is “material objects brought from journeys” because tourists’ behaviors such as how they concretized the memories by associating travel experiences to objects is the focus. Intangible things such as digital photos and video recorded are not the major concern. The relation between souvenirs and memories is the main point so they are not limited to commercial merchandise. Therefore, the results can be applied to not only souvenirs which bring profits directly as merchandise but also souvenirs that contribute to propaganda of tourism destination areas. The research focuses on overseas travel. People traveling abroad are selected as informants. Moreover, since tourists’ behaviors differ along their age, the younger group is 2.

(13) chosen as the target, in which memories keeping behavior can be generally observed. Consequently, younger tourists will be the target audience for souvenirs suggested by the implications.. 1.5 Outline of Thesis This thesis consists of seven chapters. The research background, motivation, objective, scope, and outline of this thesis are introduced in Chapter One. Relevant studies of souvenir, meaning of things and psychological research are reviewed in Chapter Two. The research plan and method of data collecting are described in Chapter Three. The data collected are analyzed and the findings are summarized according to the affinity diagram in Chapter Four. Issues which contribute to finding out implications for design a meaningful souvenir are brought up for discussion in Chapter Five. Design implications in terms of two aspects, encoding memories and evoking memories, are delivered in Chapter Six. In the end, the conclusion of the thesis is in Chapter Seven.. 3.

(14) -Chapter 2-. Literature Review. In this chapter, the prior research on souvenir is reviewed for gaining an understanding on meaning of souvenirs to people and the relation between souvenir and memories. Besides, for learning how the memory systems operate, the memory related theories and research from psychology field are also reviewed.. 2.1 Souvenir For obtaining various phases of understanding to souvenirs, research on souvenirs are reviewed. There are many perspectives for souvenirs to be investigated and interpreted, which can be roughly divided to two directions. One points to marketing and commerce side. The researchers investigate the diverse interrelationships between tourism and shopping. Data is collected for describing and classifying the souvenir, the tourist or the relation between both of them, e.g., differences in souvenir purchases corresponding to customers’ demographic characteristics. The other one focuses on symbolic role of souvenirs. The researchers are interested in the meaning that tourists attach to souvenirs. Ethnographic or empirical evidence is needed for finding out how souvenirs function in the daily lives of their possessors [8][9][10]. This thesis is in the direction of “meaning of souvenirs”. Various perspectives on meaning that souvenirs hold for people are reviewed. Research on the meaning of being a memories keeper and trigger are presented in a new section. The quantitative research toward the first direction on the relation between tourists’ demographic characteristics and souvenirs purchased are discussed in chapter three as the basis of recruiting.. 2.1.1 Souvenir Definition Several definitions of souvenirs are discussed from different point of view. In Hoven and Eggen’s [4] research, they define souvenirs by quoting etymology, looking up in dictionaries and conducting a focus group. Souvenir definition quoted from etymology is as follows: The word souvenir originates from Middle French from (se) souvenir (de) meaning “to remember”, which again comes from the Latin word subvenire meaning “to come up, come to mind”. 4.

(15) The definition of the word “souvenir” differs across dictionaries, three of them are held up: -. something that serves as a reminder, something you buy, give or receive to help you remember a visit or an event, the material counterpart of travels, events, relationships and memories of all kinds and a souvenir’s “function is to store or stimulate memories”.. In the focus group session, each participant was told to bring five souvenirs diverse in origin, size, color, material and function. According to those souvenirs, the participants had to come up with a definition of souvenir. The opinion varied greatly therefore three definitions were selected as candidates: 1.. A souvenir symbolizes a relation between people, moments, feelings, phases, locations or situations. 2. 3.. A souvenir is something which has emotional value to you A souvenir is something with which someone can consciously evoke memories.. Hoven and Eggen [4] then conclude the definition “physical objects to which memories are attached”, which is part of all participants.. 2.1.2 The meaning of souvenir Gordon [11] characterizes souvenirs as “messengers” and constructed the first typology of souvenirs. Five categories of souvenirs were identified: Pictorial images are indicated to be the most common type of contemporary souvenir. This kind of souvenir, e.g., postcard, can move through space therefore acting as a living messenger to convey travel experiences. Piece-of-the-rock souvenirs are natural material gathered from Nature. These items are parts of the whole and can be considered the truest metonymic type. Symbolic shorthand souvenirs are most often manufactured and related to actual objects or landmarks. It represents a typical sight of the place, but it is “three-dimensional, stylized, and out of scale”, e.g., a miniature of Eiffel Tower. Symbolic shorthand souvenirs are usually functional but the function and the form are usually irrelevant. Markers are souvenirs that in themselves have no relevance to a specific place or event, but are inscribed with words, such as “Grand Canyon”, which fill them with associations 5.

(16) of the place, and the souvenirs therefore become memories triggers. Local product souvenirs are specialties of the travel destination such as indigenous food and identifiable local clothing. Souvenirs are signs for symbolizing or illustrating things. The process can be regarded as rhetoric [8]. Gordon quoted Leach’s [12] distinctions to argue that the souvenirs functions as metonymic signs instead of metaphoric symbols. According to Pritchard and Morgan [8], cultural efficacy of souvenirs may be reduced when analyzing souvenirs as material metaphors. Rhetorically, “metonymy” is for creating a vivid image to represent a general or abstract phenomenon. Therefore, considering souvenirs from a perspective of metonymy, travel experience is represented by an actual piece of the whole. The relation between souvenirs and experiences is more than an arbitrary association. Uniqueness is an important attribute of souvenirs. A souvenir is more cherished when it is unique and not an object labeled to be a souvenir before people get it [4]. In Turner and Reisinger’s [13] research, “uniqueness” is one of three souvenir attributes found to be important and refers to containing “memories of the trip”. Another aspect of “uniqueness” is to make people consider themselves to be special, which can be indicated in Littrell’s [14] research. Littrell conducted interviews to find out symbolic significance of textile crafts for tourists. Tourists are grouped to five clusters and corresponding to eight meaning and purposes. The most common and presenting in four out of five clusters is meaning that enables the owners to feel unique and different from others. This finding can be explained by Czickscentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton’s [7] study on the meaning of things. They described that cherished objects in the home provide a continuum of opportunities for an individual to relate the self to the environment. At one end of the continuum are special or unique objects, which express one’s differentiation from others. At the other end are objects such as heirlooms which integrate one with others through memories. According to Gordon [11], “tacky” souvenirs reflect inversion of being in an extraordinary context, namely journey. The symbolic visual information such as image or form is used on tacky souvenirs, e.g., an ashtray with an image of Eiffel Tower imprinted on. The visual information is outside its usual context and the original meaning is lost and defiled. However, they are used by people as props for disguising their social personality and official status, which can be regarded as a kind of role reversal. They can be accepted by people because of the relaxing and playful atmosphere in an extraordinary context. It is mentioned that souvenir can serve as tangible evidence of having experienced the journey in many research [14][15]. Tourists obtain souvenirs for attesting that they have 6.

(17) traveled to the “back stage”, namely authentic local life of the travel destination [15]. Meanwhile, because souvenirs are material objects, they can concretize intangible states. People can’t hold on to the intangible travel experiences but they can hold on to a tangible piece of it. Therefore, when putting hands on a souvenir, people are not only remembering that they were there, but also proving it [11]. According to Kwint, Breward and Aynsley [16], people leave traces on material objects while obtaining or using them. The public meanings of the objects are therefore overwritten by people’s personal transformations. Memories of relationships and occasions are inscribed on the objects. People materialize their travel experiences by souvenirs. After souvenirs are transformed into people’s daily life, the meaning is also changed with the contexts and the owners. It can be considered that objects are accumulating biographies. When moving through different hands, e.g., given to others as gifts, objects are invested new meanings [8]. The narratives collected in Pritchard and Morgan’s [8] research also reveal that the meaning of objects varies with individual’s own experiences.. 2.1.3 Souvenir & Memory Souvenirs’ function of keeping and evoking memories has been broadly discussed. Littrell [14] conducted interviews to study symbolic significance of textile crafts and identified seven contributions that crafts and the memories associated with them offer to the tourists, including helping consumers participate in nonordinary experiences, sampling indigenous lifestyles, expanding a worldview, differentiating the self from or integrate with others, enhancing feelings of confidence, expressing creativity, and experience aesthetic pleasure. In Hoven and Eggen’s [4] souvenir study, they conducted a focus group to find out souvenir definition. A total of 49 criteria for an object to be a souvenir were gathered, which were categorized after the focus group session. Three main categories were formed, one of which is memory function, covering nearly half of the criteria. Under the main category are six subcategories including general, emotional, location-based, time-based, event based and social relationships. After the focus group they created a quantitative questionnaire to investigate some issues. The conclusion reveals that when people are asked to watch their most cherished souvenirs, memories popping out are the first things they experience, which occur in almost half of the cases. In the study conducted by Czickscentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton [7], they investigated the objects which people consider “special” and categorized them separately by physical 7.

(18) characteristics and meaning for cherishing. The percentages of meaning classes making up the objects categories are presented and show that “memories” takes a large proportion. Memories make people cherish the objects and want to keep them. The “memories” category consists of four sub-categories: memento (general memories), recollection (memories of occasions), heirloom (inherited object), and souvenir (memories of a place). Meanwhile, findings from this part of research suggest that almost everything can be a target for people to attach meanings to and derive meanings from. However, the significations conveyed are not decided by the physical characteristics of the objects. In Pritchard and Morgan’s [8] research, they bring out three purposes that individuals reflexively use souvenirs for by auto-ethnography. One of the purposes is to use souvenirs as touchstones of memory. The touchstones are indicated to have the power of bringing the past into the present and making past experience relive. These objects can not only act as symbols of past experiences but also evoke and animate memories which inform people’s present self. Casey [17] claimed that there is no perception of place without memory and souvenirs are totems that trigger specific memories and experiences of travel places. Generally, people conceptualize the landscape in terms of visual construct. Moreover, Tilley [18] proposed that in addition to visual aspect, places are also heard, felt and smelt. These multi-sensual memories, such as fragrances, tastes and sounds, can be evoked by material souvenirs, when the souvenirs act as channels for recollecting travel experiences and transporting people across time and space. Tangibility of souvenirs is an important point for evoking memories. Souvenirs concretize travel experiences and therefore intangible states are incarnated to tangible objects [11]. Tangible objects have various attributes such as colors, textures, shapes and smells. According to Miller [19], memories can usually be much more powerfully conveyed through these attributes compared with words. Moreover, Bationo et al. [6] described that physical contact with tangible souvenirs is more important for tourists to tell stories than visual presentations, and this might indicate that when sharing memories with others, people prefer recollecting memories by souvenirs rather than photos. Souvenirs stride across time and space, and provide a strong link form the present to the past because of the memories attached on them. According to Pritchard and Morgan [8], souvenirs should be seen as objects of transition. Souvenirs can mediate the past and the present, the domestic and public. Transformed into household objects and staying in people’s life, souvenirs hold a power that can temporarily bring people back to the past. They are objects of thresholds, or prisms of remembrance, detaching people from daily life through the meaning attached on them. Whitmore [20] conducted interviews to study 8.

(19) elders’ cherished possessions. He found souvenirs allow people to see their lives retrospectively, therefore fostering feelings of self-continuity. Objects from the past can play a role of reinforcement of the self in the present, and into the future. Through objects, what is known about one’s past experiences can be witness and contemplated.. 2.2 Memory In this section, memory related theories and research from psychology field are reviewed for gaining a preliminary understanding on “memories” from a perspective of psychology.. 2.2.1 Memory Process According to psychology, no matter what type of memory, for using it later, three operations of memory process are needed, namely encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding is the first stage for processing information. External stimulus coming in from different channels such as eyes and ears is transformed into mental representation in this stage. Mental representation can be regarded as mental signs for representing external stimulus. The types include visual code, acoustic code, semantic code or others. During the stage of storage the encoded information is stored in memory system. When needed, the stored information is retrieved [21].. 2.2.2 Types of Memory Systems Psychologists have found that memory system consists of two parts long time ago. Two parts of memory are now named short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory is also called working memory. Information stays shortly in short-term memory for people to use, and therefore coherence of the whole information is maintained. Long-term memory is known as general memory. Events are stored there for a longer time [22]. Various long-term memory systems have been proposed. According to Tulving, memory is divided to procedural memory and propositional memory. Procedural memory refers to “knowing how”, involving the techniques such as riding a bicycle or knitting. Propositional memory refers to “knowing what” and is divided to episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memory stores information about personal experiences, and semantic memory stores general knowledge, concepts or facts such as historical data. Tulving claimed that episodic memory stores in units of events. The relation of time 9.

(20) between events is the basis for events to be organized in memory, and also the way for events to be recollected [22][23]. Two other types of long-term memory, more related to recalling, are explicit memory and implicit memory. Explicit memory requires conscious recollecting, needing a trigger such as a question, while implicit memory does not require conscious recollecting, memory simply popping out [23]. The last two types of long-term memory concern the future and the past: prospective memory and retrospective memory. The former is defined as remembering to perform an intended action and it is self-initiated, while the latter is for remembering past events. Both of them can be supported by external memories. For example, a souvenir can be a retrospective memory cue [23].. 2.2.3 Memory Cue A cue, also known as “trigger”, is a stimulus that can help people to retrieve information from long-term memory, but the cue must be related to the to-be-retrieved memory. As long as there is a connection between the cue and the to-be-remembered thing, anything could be a cue, e.g., a color, a sound, odor [24]. Evoking memory by cue is deeply related to encoding specificity principle, which was proposed by Tulving. He assumed that memory of an event consists of information about both to-be-remembered thing and the context. Therefore, if the physical context during retrieval is partly the same as the context during encoding, a memory is easier to retrieve [22][23][24]. People usually use objects as cues for remembering without realizing it. A study on external memory aids was conducted by Neisser [25]. He recruited his students as informants, whom are asked what aids they used to remember future or past events. The informants do not know which types of external memory they use unless they are explicitly asked, such as “do you use diaries for remembering”. Hoven and Eggen [4] found the consistent results that when it came to functions of their souvenirs, people do not mention “remembering”. However, when they looked at their souvenirs, half of them experienced memories popping up or being relived. Therefore obviously people did use their souvenirs as external memory.. 10.

(21) 2.2.4 Autobiographical Memory Over the past years, the autobiographical memory, memory for the events of one’s life [26], has been greatly studied. Autobiographical memory and episodic memory are deeply related to the recollection of personal experiences. The relation between two memory systems is still unknown but they have a large overlap in memories [27]. Conway and Pleydell-Pearce [28] proposed a model which describes three levels of specificity of autobiographical memory. The first one, lifetime periods, consist of temporal knowledge and thematic knowledge about common features of a certain period, which usually lasts for years. The second one, general events, contain both repeated and single events, which last for days up to months. The last one, event-specific knowledge (ESK), concerns detailed information unique to a single event, which lasts for seconds or hours. ESKs are often accompanied by images popping into mind and can be used as evidence showing that one really remembers. According to Tulving [29], recall may be accompanied by a “recollective experience”, namely the memory containing feelings, having in mind images, highly specific event knowledge and a sense of “pastness”, and therefore ESKs are included in recollective experience. When a memory is not accompanied by a recollective experience, the recalled information is simply “known” and there are no ESKs present.. 11.

(22) -Chapter 3-. Methodology. This research aims to discover how tourists keep memories in objects and how objects evoke memories. Tourists’ behavior, memories evoked by souvenirs and the context for evoking needs to be investigated. The researcher should gain ideas about how and why people get the souvenir; what do they tell from it and the environment or occasion for them to recall the memories attached on the souvenir. The research method “contextual inquiry” [30] [31] is therefore used. Through this research method, researcher can go into the real environment people live in and investigate users’ experience by interview and observation. After acquiring information data, a qualitative method “affinity diagram” [31] is used for analyzing. All the data can be sorted by a hierarchy for further interpretation and discussions.. 3.1 Research Structure The research plan consists of three main parts: collecting data by contextual inquiry, analyzing with qualitative method and proposing implications for design. At the beginning, the related researches are studied to acquire a sense for listing critical issues so that the script of contextual inquiry and interview can be planned. Next, the criteria of souvenirs are proposed and the informants are profiled for recruiting. After informants are recruited, a pilot contextual inquiry is arranged to examine and improve the script and also activities in the inquiry. Then the contextual inquiry and interview are conducted. The contents of inquiry are audio-recorded and transferred into transcripts. In the interpretation session, affinity diagram is used to sort the data for discussions. Finally, understanding of tourists’ behavior, the meaning encoded to souvenirs and memories evoked context are formed, and the implications for design are delivered. (See Figure 1). 12.

(23) Figure 1 Research structure. 13.

(24) 3.2 Contextual Inquiry and Interview The research method contextual inquiry helps the researcher get into the environment to see how souvenirs exist in people’s daily life. The context and process that memories are evoked can also be observed. Meanwhile, by entering the context, it can be efficiently prevented that informants filter off the information which is actually important to the researcher. In addition to contextual inquiries, interviews are also conducted for collecting information.. 3.2.1 Introduction of Contextual Inquiry According to Beyer and Holtzblatt [30], the definition of contextual inquiry is as follows: Contextual inquiry is a field data-gathering technique that studies a few carefully selected individuals in depth to arrive at a fuller understanding of the work practice across all customers. Through inquiry and interpretation, it reveals commonalties across a system’s customer base. Through contextual inquiry, what people really do and how they define what is actually valuable to them can be revealed. This technique is based in anthropology and ethnography. Therefore the basic method of research involves visiting and observing people. By doing so the researcher can figure out people’s behavior and realize how the product can fit into their lives [31].. 3.2.2 Contextual Inquiry and Interview Plan There are two contexts studied in this research. One is the context in which tourists encoded their travel experiences to the souvenirs, and the other is the context in which souvenirs evoked the memories. The former context is mainly learned by interviews and the latter one is primarily studied though contextual inquiry. Following the main spirit of contextual inquiry, it is important to get information from people’s practicing, which reveals experience. The primary “task” for the informants to conduct in contextual inquiry is “using the souvenir as a trigger to recall the memories and tell stories”. The environment in which souvenirs evokes memories can be observed and the memories popping out can be learned. The information got from this session mainly concerns the latter context mentioned above, in which souvenirs evoked the memories. Narratives of travel experiences can be partly acquired, while they are usually not enough 14.

(25) for leaning the former context, in which memories are encoded onto the souvenirs. Interviews are therefore conducted to acquire more complete narratives of travel experiences related to souvenirs. The background and reason of getting the souvenirs can therefore be understood. It also allows the researcher to gain a clearer outline of the travel. The contextual inquiry and interview were conducted where the souvenirs were placed, mostly home. The informants were told not to prepare for researcher’s visit in advance so that the context of memories being evoked could be observed. Each session lasted for one to two hours, depending on the number of souvenirs. Contents of inquiries and interviews were audio-recorded. Photos of souvenirs and surroundings were taken for analysis. Before the formal contextual inquiry sessions, a pilot one was conducted. It revealed the importance of entering the field where souvenirs are placed. Moreover, it reminded the researcher to avoid discussing photo at the beginning of the inquiry. Some of the informants would like to share the digital photos when it came to travel experiences, which was the former part of the inquiry. Browsing the photos, more or less, influenced the memories evoked in the latter part.. 3.3 Research Questions The whole inquiry is divided into two main parts: travel experience and souvenirs. When it came to travel experience, most of informants became talkative and willing to share their stories. It is suitable to be arranged in the beginning to warm up the conversation. Most of the questions are open-ended, allowing the researcher to acquire response with depth and encouraging full, meaningful answers. During the inquiry, the term “object”, rather than “souvenir”, was used to avoid giving the prejudicial impression, “tacky souvenirs” [11], to the informants. Table 1 Set of questions in the interview and contextual inquiry. Issues Travel Experience. Questions A. General travel experience. -. How often do you go traveling?. -. Are they self-service trips or group tours arranged by a travel agency?. -. What do you want to gain from traveling? Talk about your expectation.. -. What is your main concern while choosing the destinations and deciding what to do in the journey?. 15.

(26) requesting the informants to show the souvenirs B. The journal that souvenirs was brought from. -. Which journey did you bring this object from? (destination). -. When did you go there? For how long? Who did you go with?. -. self-service trip? group tour? visiting friends?. -. Talk about the “image of the place” in your mind.. -. How did you prepare in advance?. -. Generally speaking, is it a pleasant journey?. Souvenirs. C. How did souvenirs become memories triggers?. -. Please introduce the object.. -. What does it remind you?. -. How did you get it?. -. Why did you keep it? Why did you bring it back?. -. What’s special? Talk about what it means to you.. D. How do souvenirs evoke memories?. -. How do you store this object? (How did you sort these objects?). -. In what circumstance do you take it out for a look? In what circumstance does it catch your eyes?. -. How often? When was the last time?. -. Could you explain which part of the object evokes the memories?. -. How do you hope to store (sort) the objects?. Choosing another souvenir and repeat part B~D. 16.

(27) 3.4 Recruiting In this research, recruiting had been an especially critical procedure. The informants should match the profile and also be chosen in a purposive manner to increase variety and breadth. The screening is primarily based on two parts: demographic characteristics and screening interviews.. 3.4.1 Demographic Characteristics The related souvenirs studies [7] [14] [15] [32] give the ideas that younger people are more correspondent with “tourists who attach memories to the souvenirs”. For example, Littrell discussed age issue in her research of textile souvenirs and found that the meaning attached to souvenirs by younger tourists is out of action-oriented travel activities, whereas older consumers think that contemplation and use of beautiful textile crafts is pleasant and confidence building. The results also responded to Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton’s [7] research on the meaning of things, which used “doing” versus “having” to describe age differences in objects meaning. According to those researches, the younger group is chosen as the target. However, the differences on souvenirs due to tourists’ gender do not emerge in most of the researches. Therefore, in this research, the numbers of male and female informants are balanced.. 3.4.2 Screening Interview Screening interviews are conducted to understand one’s travel experience and souvenirs he or she brought from travel. Each interview lasts for 20~30 minutes. In the part of “travel experience”, for acquiring narratives about souvenirs getting and memories attached experience, people who have travel experience during the past three years were preferred. Meanwhile, for observing souvenirs storage and memories evoked context, the journey is better be more than three months ago. Moreover, this research focuses on overseas travel experiences. In summary, people who went abroad for traveling during the period from 2004 to the beginning of 2007 met the criteria. In the part of “souvenirs possessed”, people were asked if they have any meaningful or special souvenir brought from travel. The term “meaningful and special souvenir” let people understand what kind of souvenir is the main concern in this research, more easily than “souvenirs keeping memories”. A description of souvenirs written according to the 17.

(28) research issues was used for screening the souvenirs mentioned by people. Description: -. A specific event, place, moment or experience can be told from the souvenir. The tourist took part in the experience for acquiring the souvenir. The souvenir was brought back from travel area. The souvenir has something to do with the travel area. There is a sign or clue to show where the souvenir came from. The souvenir is tangible. (Digital photos and video recorded are not the major concern.) The souvenir is taken personally and kept by the tourist.. Because the contextual inquiries take place where the souvenirs are placed, mostly home, recruiting informants is not easy. Many people feel uncomfortable to let strangers enter their place, not to mention taking photos and recording the conversation. All of the informants were recruited from friends of the researcher or people introduced by researcher’s friends. Twenty-nine potential informants were screened personally or indirectly by the screening interview. Two of them were selected to join the pilot interview. Seven people matching the criteria and being willing to accept the contextual inquiry were decided to be the informants at the end. Even if the screening interview was conducted in advance, it was still hard to let people understand what kind of souvenirs was the major concern. Therefore, conducting the inquiry at home, where the souvenirs were placed, brought a large advantage. During the conversation in the session, the researcher could encourage informants to show more souvenirs that did not come to their mind before. Moreover, souvenirs which were big, heavy or fixed to somewhere could be seen.. 18.

(29) Table 2 Profile of informants. Informant. Age(yrs) Gender. Travel destinations (2004~the beginning of 2007). Number of souvenirs provided. A. 25 female. Egypt. 8. B. 25 male. UK. 7. C. 26 female. Japan. 2. D. 25 male. Japan, Bali Indonesia. 4. E. 24 female. UK, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands. 6. F. 27 male. Peru, Eastern Europe, Japan. 5. 25 female. Egypt, Northern Europe, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Portugal,. 5. G. 19.

(30) -Chapter 4-. Findings. After contextual inquiries and interviews, the data were analyzed and sorted with affinity diagram. The transcripts were coded into notes and then clustered into patterns, which. were organized to create the hierarchy. Five main themes have been concluded to show the various phases of findings about a meaningful souvenir. The first theme is about tourists’ behavior of getting things. The behavior involved in memories keeping are specially pointed out and categorized. In the second theme, the factors making souvenirs meaningful to people are presented. In the third theme, contents of memories evoked by souvenirs are categorized. Finally, how souvenirs exist in people’s daily life and situations for memories to be evoked are reported.. Figure 2 Affinity Diagram. 4.1 Tourists’ Behavior Three main activities are found for tourists to keep their travel memories: taking photos, writing travel notes and bringing back souvenirs. Tourists get souvenirs for many reasons. In some cases, it is because the souvenirs are useful and practical; in some other cases, the souvenirs are popular due to uniqueness or beauty. Besides, some people think that since they travel to an outland, they should bring back something indigenous. Focusing on the reason of keeping memories, behavior of obtaining souvenirs can be categorized to five primary actions, namely: collecting the same item from different places, picking up 20.

(31) piece-of-the-rock [11], taking artifact, purchasing merchandise, and passively preserving things they got due to other reasons. These five actions indicate how tourists obtain souvenirs out of memories keeping motivation.. 4.1.1 Collecting the Same Item from Different Places Tourists like to collect the same kind of things from different places. Putting them together not only forms a spectacular collage but also present a complete record for people to remember the travel destinations they have visited. People gain fulfillment in proving where they have been by this way. They also show expectation for different style of the same item. Once they get one in a place, they want to know what the second one in another place looks like, and so on. Every single piece represents different travel experience. When the habit for collecting a specific item is formed, tourists get a target. Wherever they travel, they are looking for this specific item to bring back. Informant F: “Fuji Mountain climbing stick” We got a burned mark on the climbing stick at each specific height, from the bottom of the stick to the top. It is kind of “tourist-like behavior” but really valuable for commemorating the journey. It is like “every step leaves a footprint”.. 4.1.2 Picking up Piece-of-the-rock When traveling to a place that is famous for its natural environment, people tend to gather items from Nature as souvenirs, e.g., seashells on the beach of Bali, sand in Sahara desert, rocks called “flower stone” from Egypt. Even though the “piece-of-the-rock” looks quite similar to the same item from any other places, it still can remind people of the travel destination and some specific travel experiences. The piece-of-the-rock is also used as a sample for recording the detail. One of the informants uses the sand as a reminder: Informant D “Sand from the beach of Bali” The sand from the beach of Bali is whiter. Sometimes I forget that the sand is bigger or smaller kind. Look at it and I will remember again.. 21.

(32) Figure 3 Piece-of-the-rock. 4.1.3 Taking Artifact There are always some things which can be taken for free in the journey, mostly leaflets, e.g., business cards, propaganda DM, coolcards. Tourists collecting them for remembering the corresponding travel experiences or details, e.g., taking a business card for remembering a good time at dinner and the address of the restaurant. It can also be used for recording a specific thing consciously and purposely. One of the informants took a piece of coolcard in order to bear a good idea in mind she heard in the store, even if the coolcard does not show any text saying the idea. “Ink” is another form of “artifact taken for free”, which means “stamp”. Offering tourists a representative stamp is quite common in many travel destinations. Stamps may be regarded as evidence showing that the tourists have been to the place.. 4.1.4 Purchasing Merchandise People do purchase merchandise as souvenirs. Many souvenirs purchased do remind the tourists of the travel experiences. However, the findings show a conflict between purchase behavior and memories keeping. Souvenirs seem to be less meaningful if acquired by purchase. Neither do people have much feeling toward them. Some souvenirs purchased are even considered less important and can be given to others as gifts because people think that buying a souvenir is easy. Informant B “Leicester Square nameplate” I simply bought it. There are no special memories inside. I bought it as a souvenir, but on the contrary, there is no meaning of souvenir inside. I was wrong… 22.

(33) 4.1.5 Passively Receiving Things which is Got due to Other Reasons Tourists get things for specific purposes during the journey. A museum map shows the visiting route. A paper box packs the bun. A gallery leaflet introduces the paintings. Nevertheless, after achieving the purpose, people did not throw them away. Instead, they kept them for holding memories of related experiences. People bought the ticket in order to get entry, while after the visit they kept the stub of the ticket as a record of being there. For one of the informants, a paper packing box of bun was preserved for commemorating the good time of buying and enjoying the bun. The mood and the travel experiences during that whole day were eventually evoked. If the tourists have a pleasure or exceeding expectations experience, they will more like to keep the related things.. 4.2 The Factors for Souvenirs be Meaningful The factors that make souvenirs meaningful are usually related to travel experiences and encounters. Three kinds of factors are categorized. First, the importance and high using frequency make ordinary things meaningful. Second, if a souvenir reminds people of explicit events that happened in the journey, it becomes meaningful. Finally, the efforts people pay for acquiring a souvenir make it meaningful. It is possible that all of the situations happen on one souvenir, but they respectively reveal different phases of the factors. On the other hand, the factor “aesthetics” was specially mentioned to be unimportant on meaning of souvenirs. Because the contrast is quite strong, it is presented at the end of this section.. 4.2.1 Importance and Using Frequency in the Trip Ordinary things become meaningful when the tourists use it quite often during the trips. The more often the tourists use the thing during the journey, the more meaningful they consider the thing is after the journey. Besides, the thing which is important in the travel such as a map is still taken to be important after the travel even if the tourists do not use them anymore.. 4.2.2 Reminding Explicit Travel Events Souvenirs which can remind people of explicit events happening in the journey are regarded as meaningful ones. One of the informants keeps all the stubs and considers them to be meaningful because she can recollect those experiences in the journey by them:. 23.

(34) Informant C “Stubs of tickets” I took the bus therefore I keep the stub. I have been to the exhibition therefore I keep the stub. I can know what I have done afterwards. But what’s the point to bring something like an irrelative candle? If I went somewhere famous for its stones and buy a stone back, I would forget it after few years. People take the souvenirs which can remind them of travel experiences, as far as meaning is concerned, to be valuable and important. One of the informants claimed that she will never give this kind of “souvenirs with stories” to anyone. Another informant recalled playing a funny game of reciting tube station names in the journey, therefore having a different view on the souvenir: Informant B “Tube map” Therefore it is unlike a tube map…It is like a…marvelous…how to call it…something like activator or enzyme. Anyway it can recall me something more.. Figure 4 Tube map from United Kingdom. People tend to regard the souvenir which keeps more memories as more valued one. When an informant was asked to choose the most cherished souvenirs from all the souvenirs he had introduced, he picked the city map and said that if other things were lost, he could still recall most of the experiences by it.. 4.2.3 Efforts having been paid for Acquiring Gaining by tourists themselves is important experience, which makes things different. When people pay efforts to get or make something on their own, the thing become 24.

(35) meaningful and valuable. One of the informants indicated that even though he knew he could buy the same thing from the internet, he preferred buying it himself abroad because when he did so, the merchandise got a special meaning.. 4.2.4 Unimportant Factor: Aesthetics When it comes to meaning of souvenirs, people show less interest in aesthetics. Beauty and meaning seems quite separate from each other. People would consider something beautiful, but holding no meaning. They tend to keep the souvenir with meaning instead of a beautiful one, which may be given to others as a gift. One of the informants introduced the postcard she bought: Informant E “Postcard from Rome” The image contains too many information and has no point. I “spiritually” don’t like this kind of layout. But it makes it possible to catch the impression very quickly. Another informant mentioned the delicacy of the souvenir. But he emphasize that the reason why he keeps the souvenir is the memories attached: Informant B “Tube map” Delicate things can be found everywhere, while it’s the thing that has reminiscent value. “Sally Lunn's packing box” Actually I don’t think it is beautiful. But the experience it gave me is very important.”. 4.3 The Contents of Memories Evoked The narratives of travel memories people talked from the souvenirs were analyzed and divided to two main parts according to the contents: place-related and person-related. In the place-related part, three categories were identified. They are presented in the sequence from large-scale to small-scale. The first category shows the remembrance of travel destinations people visited. The second category refers memories bout the whole impression of the destination. The last category presents more detailed memories of the episodes during the journey. In the person-related part, two categories were identified, namely personal feelings and interpersonal interaction. In all of the categories, the souvenirs which evoked the memories are also mentioned.. 25.

(36) 4.3.1 Place-related: Destinations When people have traveled many places and put souvenirs brought back together, there will be a “collage” showing the destinations they have been. The memories evoked by the collection are mainly various travel destinations, showing where they have visited. The things introduced by the informants were primarily “I have been to this country, this country and that country…”, while the actual detail is less mentioned. When contemplating respectively on each piece, the typical or symbolic feature of the destination will probably pop out next.. Figure 5 Fridge magnets from various travel destinations. 4.3.2 Place-related: the General Impression of the Destination Memories related to a general impression of a place such as the culture, customs, features of people can be evoked. Memories of local customs are evoked especially when the customs are special and different from those in tourists’ own country. When making tea with teabags from Egypt, the informant recalled the way how Egyptians make their tea: adding a lot of sugar. When making hot chocolate with cocoa powder from Netherlands, it reminded the informant of hot chocolate with a lot of ground cinnamon, which is a general custom in Netherlands. The mug from Italy evoked the memories of “drinking coffee with a very small cup”. The impression of the people in the destinations is evoked especially when the people have strong characteristics. One of the informants brought back a mug from Italy. The mug is unusually big and has “Made in Italy” written on the bottom. The informant indicated that it reflected the style of Italian: “The coffee cups in Italy are very small. This one is unusually big and in a coffee cup form. It is very “bizarre” and reflects the way Italian doing things: there’s no reason.” 26.

(37) 4.3.3 Place-related: the Episodes in the Journey The itinerary and schedule of travel can be evoked, especially by a map. Most tourists can remember where they did something but can not figure out when. Therefore locations are stronger clues for evoking travel experiences. Stories are evoked according to the locations. People pointed to a spot and described “I was doing……in this place”. The marks made by the tourists on the map can especially trigger more travel memories. Some “bits and pieces” that people get and preserve in their journey can evoke specific events, e.g., a receipt indicating a purchase, a museum ticket stub indicating a visit. The content people told from a piece is quite specific, including the reason they got it, mostly referring to the correspondent event, the experiences in the event, and some details such as date and location, which can be found on the piece. Informant A “Train ticket” Look! My train ticket of sleeping berths, one piece for four persons, 212 pounds, number 13~16, carriage one. Informant E “Packing of a cheese knife and the receipt” I bought a cheese knife in this shop and they all laughed at me because it was made in china. (“Made in China” is written on the packing). Figure 6 (on the left) Train ticket from Egypt placed in the notebook Figure 7 (on the right) Packing of a cheese knife and the receipt from Italy. Type of tour such as self-service trip or group tour influences people’s intentions of keeping those pieces in the journey. People are more willing to keep them in self-service trips because they would like to remember all the events they had joined since the itinerary and the schedule are arranged by themselves. 27.

(38) The events happening frequently are more likely to be evoked first. The occurring frequency of the events strengthens the evocation of the memories. On a map, the first thing evoked is the accommodation. For one of the informants, the first thing evoked from a journey in Stockholm is snowing because it snowed all the time when she was there. The scene that souvenirs were obtained are likely to be evoked, including the places, the obtaining process and the related person such as a vendor. A supermarket can be evoked by a can of cocoa powder; an experience of collecting sand on the beach can be evoked by a bottle of sands. The interesting episodes and interaction with local people happening when souvenirs were obtained make the souvenirs meaningful and valued. The events that happened around the time souvenirs obtained can be evoked as well. In some cases, the souvenir did not have a strong link with the place. However, because it was acquired at that time, it evoked the memories about things happening there. The part of journey that a souvenir is present in is easily evoked by that souvenir. When the tourist carried a souvenir for a period of time in the journey, after the trip, people will recall the encounters and experiences which happened during that period of time by contemplating the souvenir. One of the informants got a wooden fish in Bali and carried it for the whole afternoon: Informant D “Wooden fish from Bali” I recall the tour in that whole afternoon by this wooden fish because I was looking at this fish all the time on the coach. I love this fish so much!” Some people take a specific object as a travel companion on purpose. One of the informants bought a puppet of Ekeko, the God of wealth in Peru, in order to carry it as a travel companion, joining the Inca Trail walk. He took photos on it, presenting a story in which Ekeko was traveling the Inca Trail. The inspiration came from the film “Amelie”. When he looked at the puppet, he recalled the travel experiences during the four-day Inca Trail walk. “The memories pop out, just like playing photos.” he said. The encounters brought by a souvenir are evoked by it. This kind of situation is usually beyond expectation. Something would not happen if the souvenir did not exist. For the informant mentioned above, the puppet of Ekeko brought much fun in their journey. The local people talked about the puppet with him and the travel companions he met there played game with the puppet as well.. 28.

(39) Figure 8 A puppet of Ekeko -- the God of wealth in Peru. Process of making a souvenir can be evoked by the finished souvenir when people get chance to create souvenirs on their own in the journey. This kind of “doing it yourself” experience seems to be attractive to tourists. Informant B “Textile pattern printed in V&A Museum” This is an exhibition about textile. Equipment was provided for you to design the textile by yourself and print it out. It was cool that we played this inside then bring stuff like this to leave. The stuff is what I felt in the museum. It offered me amazing experience.. Figure 9 Textile pattern printed in V&A Museum from United Kingdom. How the thing was used by others can be evoked by the same item. The thing may be different pieces but the same item. One of the informants went to a synagogue and needed to put a piece of paper cap on the head for entry. He recalled that a foreigner put the sunglasses on the cap to fix it when looking at the paper cap he brought back.. 29.

(40) 4.3.4 Person-related: Personal Feelings By contemplating the souvenir, people may recall the deep impression, special experience or some changes on themselves. One of the informants looked at the stones she picked up from the desert and the starry sky came to her mind. She said, the starry sky in the desert is unforgettable. It’s like all the stars in my life had been seen. Another informant recalled her first experience of holding a koala. Sometimes people were changed for some reasons in the journey. The changes can be evoked by the souvenirs. One of the informants got a new interest of collecting stamps in a trip. The stamps represent the origin of her interest. Another informant had a significant change on her philosophy in a travel. Every time she glances at the souvenir, it reminds the faith she acquired. Informant E “Stockholm poster” I had a significant change on my philosophy after that travel. It was snowing everyday. If I had fallen down when walking, I would have covered by the snow after few minutes and froze out, even if I was in the city center. I realized that the life is valuable and I gotta be tougher.. 4.3.5 Person-related: Interpersonal Interaction Some souvenirs remind people of stories about their travel companions. The souvenir is therefore being cherished. When the tourists shared the experience with their friends who did not join the travel directly from the locality, they thought of their friends as the places came to their mind. Informant G “Postcard from Portugal” I was touched by the scenery there and bought three identical postcards. I sent two of them to my friends, who are the most important persons since I went to work. The interaction between tourists and local residents can also be evoked by souvenirs. For instance, a person who helped the tourist can be recalled by the memorandum he wrote.. 4.4 Existence of Souvenir in Daily Life The states that souvenirs exist in people’s daily life are integrated to three main aspects: display, storage and usage, which may overlap. For instance, a mug with decorative 30.