ISSN (Print: 2537-0154, online: 2537-0162) International Journal on: The Academic Research Community Publication http://www.ierek.com/press Sustainable Perceived Authenticity in Cultural Tourism: Modeling Alsace and Bali Prihartomo Andimarjoko1 1Laboratoire Humanis, EM Strasbourg Business School, Université de Strasbourg, France Keywords sustainable; dynamics; perceived authenticity; cultural tourism ; Abstract Cultural tourism roughly contributes to 40% of the international tourism arrivals. However, marketing for it is a dilemma between maximizing the economic return and nurturing the culture’s social functions because, in cultural tourism, a culture is a “product” to be “consumed”. Marketers need to attract the “correct” segments of cultural tourism, which have cultural motives as opposed to those of mass tourism. Research shows that attracting such segments can be done through a differentiation based on authenticity. However, in cultural tourism, authenticity is a relative and negotiable term. Perceived authenticity is more applicable than the traditional, objective authenticity. Previous research has been done to understand how authenticity is perceived by tourists but how it changes over a time remains elusive to researchers. This research focuses on the dynamics of perceived authenticity; how it changes over a time. A temporary, hypothetical model is proposed that is subject to a further seeking of variables and their relationships. The research is conducted in two stages: qualitative for building the model and quantitative for confirming it. Two cases will be built i.e. Alsace in France and Bali in Indonesia. The two regions will represent two different points on a spectrum. This research is a work in progress. 1. Introduction 1.1. Marketing of Cultural Sustainable Tourism In its recent annual report, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reported the contribution of tourism to the world GDP reached 9.8% (US$ 7.2 trillion) in 2015. The sector provides 284 million jobs worldwide or equally 1 in 11 jobs on the planet. The report also predicts the tourism sector to grow by 4% annually for the next ten years (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2016). Meanwhile, Richards (2014) states that cultural tourism has now been accounted for roughly 40% of the international tourist arrivals, which grew from 37% in 1997 (OECD, 2009). Back in the 1970s, an early awareness of the importance of cultural tourism was quoted by Wirth and Freestone (2003) from McCannell (1975): “Tourism is not just an aggregate of merely commercial activities; it is also an ideological framing of history, nature, and tradition; a framing that has the power to reshape culture and nature to its own needs (MacCannell, 1975: 1).” Meanwhile, Richards (ed.) in 2005 mentioned that in most European countries, subsidies to the arts and culture have grown considerably in the post-war period so that government was a major provider of financial support for culture. However, the trend has reversed. Failure to show clear benefits from subsidies, together with increasing pressure to reduce public expenditure seriously threatened the level of government support for arts and culture in Europe in the 1980s (Richards, ed., 2005). Pressures to earn more income and to reduce reliance on subsidies have been evident at many heritage attractions in recent years. Meanwhile, despite the growing demand (Chhabra, 2010), the trend of increasing competition enters the scene. (Timothy and Boyd, 2003, in Chhabra, 2010). DOI: 10.21625/archive.v2i2.246 Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 2 This competition forces tourism destinations to develop offers that are different from their peers. The importance of differentiation as a business strategy has been recognized since 1980 when Michael E. Porter mentioned it as one of the three generic strategies: (a) overall cost leadership; (b) differentiation – building customer perceptions of superior product quality, design, or service; (c) focus – avoiding direct confrontation with major competitors by focusing on a narrow market niche (Porter, 1980). From the marketing perspective, in cultural tourism, a destination place is a brand and the culture itself is a “product” to be “consumed”. Being consumed, a product is subject to commoditization (Maccarrone-Eaglen, 2009) (Wirth and Freestone, 2003). For that reason, tourism has often been condemned for spoiling the authenticity of heritage. Profit-driven objectives of organizers and promoters of heritage tourism activities are responsible for this cultural degradation to some extent (Chhabra, 2001). “It has been observed all around the world: massive tourism and an authentic and living indigenous culture simply cannot coexist.” (Lietaer and DeMeulenaere, 2003). The growing demand will continue to impose a drain on heritage resources and living cultures (Chhabra, 2010). As an example from Europe, by a qualitative research in Austria, Paschinger’s (2007) observation on authenticity in cultural heritage found the problem of the overwhelming impact of mass tourism. This problem does not allow a guide to continue focusing fully on the group. It also restricts the possibility of having different types of visits by different kinds of target groups (e.g. pupils, adults). There is not enough space or time to deal with all of them in full (Paschinger, 2007). The discussion above has brought cultural tourism into its dilemma: Shall we maximize the economic return or preserve the indigenous culture for its social function? 1.2. Perceived Authenticity in Cultural Tourism The brand (i.e., destination) and its product (i.e., the culture) must offer a differentiation in order to achieve the highest satisfaction of the visitors. “Whereas once the ‘heritage tourism product’ has been considered rather self- sufficient, today, no such product can stay on the market nor remain competitive without implementing strategies that focus attention on the customer” (Paschinger, 2007). The options are limitless, however, this research is carried out with sustainability as a core foundation. Thus, the best approach is the one that ensures sustainability since it will give the highest lifecycle value. This is confirmed by the “Triple bottom line” concept, which can be visualized as the following Figure 1. Figure 1. Triple bottom line (Planeta, 2005, in Böhm, 2009) In the tourism industry, the “People: Social Performance” part translates to social and cultural sustainability. The industry also pioneered the initiative of saving the planet by developing eco-tourism, which then expanded into sustainable tourism (Welford and Ytterhus, 1998). Therefore, the goal is not to have as many tourists as possible. The goal is to attract the “correct” segment and create a satisfaction for them. Correct segment means the segment with the “correct” motive, i.e. the cultural motive (Kolar and Zabkar, 2010) proposed authenticity as the differentiation. Chhabra (2010) also posits the trend of growing demand for authenticity. Consumer decisions today are “based on how real they perceive the product/service offering to be” (Yeoman et al 2007, in Chhabra, 2010). The above discussion brings forward a crucial element for a place branding, particularly in the context of cultural tourism marketing: authenticity as the sustainable differentiation. Meanwhile, authenticity is by no means a static term. In cultural tourism, authenticity is relative and negotiable, a concept pioneered by Cohen in 1988, detailed by Wang (1999) and elaborated by Steiner and Reisinger (2005). Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 3 Research has been done to explore perceived authenticity and how authenticity could be negotiated by cultural tourists in different parts of the world. Jones (2010) discussed the process of negotiating the authenticity by emphasizing the importance of networks connecting things, place, and people. Paschinger (2007) and Kuon (2011) observed this phenomenon in the fields. Wang and Wu (2013) measured the significant relationship between objective and existential authenticity. Afterward, Lin (2015) measured the positive effects of perceived authenticity to the willingness to pay (WTP). Some others tried to reveal a number of practical applications for enhancing the perception of authenticity. The works done by Chhabra et al (2003), Koontz (2010), Brida et al (2011), Xie (2011) and Rickly-Boyd (2012) can be considered to be this type. 1.3. The Dynamics of Perceived Authenticity Previously, Waitt (2000) found that the clientele itself (for example age, residence, gender) makes a significant difference in seeing the authenticity among tourists. Rickly-Boyd (2012) further raised a question about what has been missing: The understanding of the dynamics of perceived authenticity. In particular, work must be done to understand how tourists’ perceptions of authenticity are formed and changed over time. For example, how did tourists’ perceptions of authenticity change from the time they entered the destination to when they exited, as well as with repeat visits over time. Nevertheless, more research aims to examine the complexity and dynamics of this concept as it is used in a variety of contexts. While it is agreed perceived authenticity changes over time, little is understood about how that happens. Ironically, the key to a sustainable perceived authenticity is to understand its dynamics. The dynamics of perceived authenticity remains elusive to tourism researchers (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). Therefore, it is the focus of this research: to understand the dynamics of perceived authenticity. At the time of the writing of this paper, the research is a work in progress. Therefore, this paper covers the work partially. 2. Research Problem and Questions Concluding previous discussions, the research was triggered by a problem: Although it is agreed that perceived authenticity may change over a time, little is understood about how that takes place. Meanwhile, understanding such dynamics is the key to a sustainable perceived authenticity. The dynamics of perceived authenticity remains elusive to tourism researchers. Therefore, this research is trying to answer the following questions: a. What are the variables that affect the change of perceived authenticity over a time? b. Having known all variables, what is the general mechanism of the change process of perceived authenticity? c. How do the changes in culture affect the perception of authenticity? d. How do the cases in Alsace and Bali contribute to building a better understanding of the dynamics? e. Having built a comprehensive model, what is the relative significance of each variable? How can the significances contribute to building a better model? 3. Methodology To achieve its objectives in answering research questions, the research is divided into two stages: a. Stage one: Qualitative research b. Stage two: Quantitative research. Therefore, it employs two consecutive approaches, i.e. qualitative and quantitative. Both approaches are applied to the scope of fields of this research, Alsace, and Bali. 3.1. Epistemological Paradigm The qualitative part (Stage one) of this research plays a crucial role in the overall directions of the research. And consequently, its validity must be ensured, by an adherence to a clear epistemological framework. To determine a proper approach, the author refers to the summary provided by Avenier and Thomas (2013). Considering the goal of this research is to generate knowledge by conceptualizing the understanding of the flux of experiences for thinking and acting, whose form is a pragmatic conception of the knowledge and actionable propositions, it was concluded Pragmatic Constructivism the most suitable paradigm for this research. In this paradigm, internal validity is approached by an abductive upward conceptual generalization of the flux of experiences. Meanwhile, external validity is justified by a pragmatic testing of knowledge’s functional fit (von Glaserfeld, 1984, 2001; Le Moigne, 1995, 2001, in Avenier and Thomas, 2013). Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 4 3.2. Research Strategy 3.2.1 Stage one (qualitative) The objective of the qualitative stage is to build a model that explains the dynamics of perceived authenticity. At this stage, based on the sources of collection, data consists of two different categories: a. Primary data: Obtained from direct observations in the fields by the researcher, focus group discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews with the informants; b. Secondary data: Obtained from indirect observations, i.e. from library search, records by the authorities (both published and unpublished), relevant books and publications (including tourist brochures), folklore and online observations by Netnography (Kozinets, 1997, in Ginga, 2013). To identify the categories of informants for the in-depth interviews, the research refers to the four stakeholders of cultural tourism, for example from Xie (2011): (1) government; (2) tourism business; (3) visitors; (4) ethnic groups. Direct observations are conducted by the researcher, by being present in the researched destinations, observing, participating, having informal talks with several parties (e.g., tourism offices, restaurant owners, other tourists) and taking relevant photographs. FGD is conducted for collecting data from tourists, by encouraging them to reveal their perceptions of authenticity. The main part of the research strategy, because the ultimate objective of this research is to construct a working model as a new theory. In this case, Grounded Theory has the capability to produce a new theory based on qualitative data (Richards and Munsters, 2010). In the analysis, data is reduced by grouping them into first-order categories. The categories are then grouped further as second-order themes and eventually extracted as theoretical dimensions (Glaser, 2004)(Charmaz, 2006). NVivo® (version 11) software is used for helping the content analyses (Kaefer et al, 2015). 3.2.2 Stage two (quantitative) The objective of this stage is to confirm the model and reveal the relative significance of each variable. Convenience sampling is used to determine the recipients of questionnaires. For field officers and tourism operators, questionnaires are handed to the respondents. While for visitors, field intercepts are done at tourism attractions. Questions are designed based on the results of qualitative research, aiming to verify the significance of the variables and their relationships. Special care is given to segregate between one-time and repeat visitors. When a visitor is identified as a repeat visitor, he/she is asked to answer more questions. In the analysis, such visitors are gathered as a separate population group. A special treatment is also given to tourists who have previously been respondents because their change in perceived authenticity will be recorded. Considering relationships among multiple constructs need to be regressed simultaneously, with a relatively small sample size (less than 200), a variance-based Structured Equation Model (SEM) approach will be taken (Hair et al, 2006, Haenlein and Kaplan, 2004, in Andimarjoko and Wiharto, 2014). The statistical computation uses SmartPLS® software. Only relationships that are statistically significant will be retained in the model. The overall workflow of the research is displayed in the following Figure 2. Figure 2. Overall research workflow Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 5 4. Literature Reviews and Preliminary Observations This chapter mainly summarizes the literature reviews and preliminary observations that had been done up to the date this paper was written. 4.1. Constructivism Approach to Authenticity A Dictionary in Philosophy (Mautner, ed., 1997) defines constructivism as the theory that knowledge is not something that we acquire but something that we produce. It posits that the objects in an area of inquiry are not there to be discovered, but are invented or constructed. Being a foundation of knowledge building, constructivism has been embraced by education in classrooms since the mid-1980s (Applefield et al, 2001). A more philosophical approach has also been discussed by scholars, for example by Lenman and Shemmer. They suggested a link of the constructivist approach with the moral philosophy, tracing back to the writings of Hobbes and Rousseau, influenced by Kant's moral philosophy (Lenman and Shemmer, ed., 2012). The constructivism's practical interpretation in the authenticity of hospitality industry was exposed for example by Jang and Park (2012) and Jang and Namkung (2011), which elaborate the negotiable nature in the perception of authenticity as suggested by a classic paper by Cohen (1988, in Jang and Park, 2012). They suggest that authenticity from constructivist approach is a product of social interactions. This reference to social interactions is also supported by Ebster and Guist (2004, in Jang and Park, 2012) Wang (1999) and Wood and Munoz (2007). In 2015, Lin tested the concepts of authenticity suggested by Wang (1999) by measuring their effects to the tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP). The different concepts suggested by Wang (1999, in Lin, 2015) can be summarized in below paragraphs. Object-related authenticity focuses mainly on tourists’ opinions of toured objects, which can include local art, handicrafts, cultural relics, souvenirs, historical events, and cultural activities (Lin, 2015). This can be subdivided into objective authenticity and constructive authenticity. The first subdivision, objective authenticity, requires objective views that are object-based (Wang, 1999), this is in agreement with the ‘objective’ or ‘material definitions’ of authenticity. By deciding whether these activities conform to stipulated criteria, one can determine whether they are authentic (Lin, 2015). On the other hand, constructive authenticity is the result of social constructs. The authenticity of an object does not pertain to its nature or essence per se but derives from people’s beliefs and opinions. Tourists define authenticity in their own ways (Oh, 2005, in Lin, 2015). Existential authenticity is a form of constructive authenticity in cultural tourism. It is constructed by activities. Thus, a tourist’s experience of existential authenticity is stimulated by participating in tourism activities. Correspondingly, authentic experiences in tourism are to achieve this activated existential state of being within the liminal process of tourism. The concept was introduced by Wang (1999) and elaborated further by Steiner and Reisinger in 2005. It is a sense of enjoyment and escape, the experience of true self in the context of foreign place, time, and culture (Kolar and Zabkar, 2010). Existential authenticity encompasses intra-personal and inter-personal authenticity (Wang, 1999)(Lin, 2015). Intra-personal authenticity is constructed by the individuals. When people feel freer and more real than usual, it is not solely due to the authenticity of the toured object. Instead, this state of mind is achieved by escaping the restrictions of daily life (Brown, 1996, p. 37, in Lin, 2015). Finally, inter-personal authenticity is constructed within a group. During touring and tourism activities, the environment may be just a medium through which a group of tourists comes together to experience inter-personal authenticity (Wang, 1999). Just as the family becomes the main private sphere in which individuals experience their true selves (Berger, 1973, in Lin, 2015), when tourists travel with their families, close emotional ties allow them to reveal their true selves more freely (Wang, 1999). Perceived authenticity is complex by nature because tourists define their authenticity in various ways (Jones, 2010)(Cohen, 1988)(Wang, 1999). Waitt (2000) also observed that important differences in the level of perceived authenticity exist within the clientele, for example, according to gender, place of residence, and stage of the lifecycle. From a heritage destination of The Rocks in Australia, female overseas tourists are significantly more highly motivated to experience history and have a far greater propensity to critique the historical authenticity. In contrast, male domestic tourists with previous visitations to The Rocks uncritically accepted what they saw as being historically authentic (Waitt, 2000). Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 6 4.2. Constructing Perceived Authenticity A number of research has tried to reveal how authenticity be constructed by heritage tourists. From a case study of a heritage excavation at Hilton of Cadboll, Scotland, Jones (2010) used the term negotiating the authenticity. She posits that objective authenticity keeps playing a key role. Then tourists negotiate their perceptions on authenticity, knowing that not everything can be objectively authentic. Figure 3. Relationship network of constructing the authenticity (Author’s elaboration from Jones, 2010) Jones accepted the distinction between objective and constructive authenticities but criticized the dichotomy of the two perspectives. “Neither explains why people find the issue of authenticity so compelling, nor how it is experienced and negotiated in practice.” The conclusion was the networks of relationships between people, places and things (objects) that appeared to be central in constructing the authenticity, not the things (objects) in themselves (Jones, 2010). Jones’ (2010) result can be put on a diagram as above. Figure 4. Conceptual Model of Perceived Authenticity (Source: Wang and Wu, 2013) Afterward, Wang and Wu in 2013 explored further the process of perceiving authenticity in cultural heritage tourism, in Yangzhou, China. To examine the relationships between objective authenticity and existential authenticity, they added performative authenticity as a mediating construct between the two. Performative authenticity refers to the perception of the body at play, at risk, etc., and especially focuses on the relationship between body and place, which is vitalized through performative practices and mediations on and off places (Knudsen and Waade, 2010, in Wang and Wu, 2013). Above was the model they examined. Wang and Wu (2013) proposed H1, H2, and H3 as the hypotheses, with all having positive relationships. The results supported all hypotheses accordingly, with H2 obtaining the highest standardized path coefficient of 0.54. Hypothesis H3 follows with 0.37, and H1 with 0.36. The model enables an empirical examination of the relationship of three types of authentic experiences. It especially indicates the inner and outer interaction through the whole perception process (Wang and Wu, 2013). Two years later, Lin (2015) took a step further by assessing the economic impacts. The research measured the relationships between the tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) and different concepts of authenticity suggested by Wang (1999): object-related, intra-personal and inter-personal. The quantitative survey was done in Pingxi, Taiwan. Although it found the three concepts were significantly related to WTP, intra-personal authenticity shows the strongest impact on the economic value. Inter-personal comes the second and object-related the third, Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 7 respectively. It shows that the desire to escape from everyday life (Wang, 1999) is more important in perceiving the authenticity than the object itself. Exploring a phenomenon of staged authenticity, Rickly-Boyd in 2012 studied a case on the reproduction of Spring Mill Pioneer Village in Indiana, the United States. The village sits on the original location of the former village; however, as a heritage landscape, it is composed of restorations, reproductions, and replicas of nineteenth-century structures. The village provides a spectrum of objective and constructive authenticities, from the natural landscape and log structures to live actors and objects of everyday life from a bygone era, that trigger the imaginative. In the village, the most common question asked by the tourists was “Did they really live like this?” (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). Although authenticity as originality received 83% agreement from the tourist population, there exist certain degrees of “negotiating” the authenticity. For example, “genuineness”, defined as reconstruction using historically accurate methods, received 87% agreement. As DeLyser (1999, in Rickly-Boyd, 2012) argues, “the concept of authenticity enables visitors to experience the past as they imagine it” (p. 624), findings at Spring Mill Pioneer Village support this claim. While authenticity and originality do correlate in the minds of tourists, what matters is their imagination of what the “original” village may have been like (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). Because they believe the village to be authentic, they can take the next steps, which include “insightfulness” toward engaging with its heritage narrative. The defines as “unique psychological outcomes or benefits gained from visitors’ subjective experiences of the heritage context provided and resulting from their actions, or ‘mindful’ questioning of the environment, with the visitors’ own personal meanings and perceptions imbued” (McIntosh, p. 58, in Rickly-Boyd, 2012). Thus, “insightfulness” is an effective, reflective, and cognitive process (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). However, Rickly-Boyd (2012) admits the research does raise further questions. In particular, work must be done to understand how tourists’ perceptions of authenticity are formed and change over time. For example, how did tourists’ perceptions of authenticity change from the time they entered the village to when they exited, as well as with repeat visits over time? Nevertheless, more research aimed at examining the complexity and dynamics of this concept, as it is used in a variety of contexts, is necessary. The dynamics of authenticity remain elusive to tourism researchers (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). 4.3. Cultural Exchange between Tourists and Hosts Wang (1999) already suggested inter-personal authenticity as a component of existential authenticity. This concept implies the construction of perceived authenticity through the interactions among tourists. On the other hand, one should never neglect the interaction between tourists and the host, for example as reported by Robinson and Picard (2006) and Böhm (2009). Due to the nature of tourism, they are continuously in contact. While Böhm (2009) focuses on assessing the social and cultural impacts of tourism, Robinson and Picard point out that today’s contact can be indirect. The role of other media in the cultural changes can be inevitable (Robinson and Picard, 2006). Among other forms of cultural changes such as diffusion and assimilation, the interaction between visitors and host is similar to acculturation or "culture contact" as described by anthropologists. The anthropological studies of acculturations started to be popular in 1910 - 1920 (Koentjaraningrat, 2016). Further, it also states that before 1920, anthropology exposed only customs/behaviors that were already effectively in place in a certain society. The anomalies shown by certain individuals were not subjects of interest to anthropologists. This approach changed in 1920. Anthropologists realized these "outliers" sometimes become a root of changes in a culture. Upon such anomaly, the society will first "punish" it through its control mechanism. But when the anomaly persists, it is subject to happen again (recurrence). After several recurrences, the society finally must give its concession (Koentjaraningrat, 2016, pp. 250-251). Robinson and Picard (2006) further emphasize the role of media in the indirect interactions. With the advent of new media such as the internet, the impact can become even more severe. These exchanges have long been realized and many governments have applied policies to "protect" the culture (Robinson and Picard, 2006). However, such cultural exchange is not always negative. In fact, it can enrich and strengthen the culture, while maintaining the perceived authenticity. For example, in the case of Balinese paintings, which used to be simple ones. Through the interactions with visitors and foreign artists, sophistication process took place. And the result is the sophisticated paintings seen today, while they are still strongly perceived as authentic Balinese (Picard, 2010). Therefore, it just confirms that we need to understand how this change in perceived authenticity works over a time. Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 8 To model the above cultural exchange, Böhm (2009) elaborates the cultural interactions in tourism by incorporating some findings by Bodley (1997, in Böhm, 2009). The model is explained in Figure 5. Figure 5. Intercultural Exchange between Host and Visitors (Source: Böhm, 2009) It describes the exchange as happening in the three forms of a culture system: material, behavioral and ideological or value system. The elaboration can be visualized as the above diagram. Changes and adaptations are most frequent at the outer level (1), as local people are willing to modify their offers to satisfy the tourists’ needs. Exchange occurring at this level is based on economics (Böhm, 2009). Changes in behavior, language and other issues in the behavioral culture (2) occur less easily and requires more time. And the modifications on the ideological level only occur over long periods. Constant and long-lasting influences of tourism lead to a longer term, gradual change in a society’s values, beliefs and cultural practices (3) (Boyne, 2003, in Hall, 2003, in Böhm, 2009). If interactions between visitors and the host culture result in changes in any of the five fundamental factors of cultural value in Table 2.2 (Kluckhohn and Kluckhohn, 1962, in Koentjaraningrat, 2016), a penetration to the value system has taken place. In many cases, tourism is an unbalance process of intercultural exchange. In general, the greater the cultural difference between the host and the visitor, the more severe the socio-cultural impacts will be. On the other hand, the bigger the contrast, the more exotic and attractive the host culture is perceived by the potential visitors (Böhm, 2009). The study above by Böhm (2009) was done in an exploration of the social and cultural impacts of tourism, without an explicit focus on perceived authenticity. However, it is worth to bring the model across to study authenticity, to understand how it evolves over a time. Most importantly, it is useful to know in which forms of the cultural authenticity is impacted and how. 4.4. Initial Observations in Alsace Observations in Alsace (in progress) are conducted by participation, Netnography and unstructured interviews with informants representing different stakeholders. The focus of this research is on the Route des Vins or Wine Route of Alsace, a 170-kilometer route of wine estates, starting from Thann in the south to Marlenheim in the north. The region has a unique subculture because, in a significant part of its history, Alsace was a part of German Imperium. In order to reveal some aspects of the perception of authenticity in Alsace, the researcher conducted unstructured interviews with tourists and local tourism authorities. Samples ware based on convenience, and further interviews are yet to take place. The following three elements in material culture are the most frequently appeared as “authentic Alsace”: semi-timbered houses (often decorated with flowers); vineyards and wineries; and white wines contained in slender-shaped bottles. An illustration of the Alsace semi-timbered house is given in Figure 6. Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 9 Figure 6. A semi-timbered house with flower decorations in Barr, northern Alsace (Courtesy of Alsace-wine-tour.com) Although the Route des Vins d’Alsace was officially inaugurated in 1953, the wine tradition in Alsace has started since the Gallo-Roman era (Alsace Wine Tour, 2017). From several visits to wine estates around Colmar so far, the family ranges from the 8th generation families (for instance Domaine François Baur in Turckheim) to the 14th generations (such as Emile Beyer in Eguisheim). Alsace has seven types of grape varieties: pinot blanc, pinot gris, pinot noir, riesling, muscat, gewurtztraminer and sylvaner (Alsace-wine-tour, 2017). Among the seven, a number of informants in Eguisheim mentioned the darkest variety, pinot noir, has a unique situation in Alsace. Alsace wines have been widely perceived as “white” than “red”, causing red wine contained in a slender-shaped Alsace bottle has a low visibility to the customers. Because of this reason, a number of domaines have started to change the bottles of their pinot noir from Alsace to Bourgogne (Figure 7). Because Bourgogne wines are perceived as “red”, Bourgogne-shaped bottles enable Alsace pinot noir to gain more visibility This is an example change in the material culture due to economic relations. Figure 7. The shapes of a traditional wine bottle from Alsace (left) and Bourgogne (right) Mass tourism seems to have created some impacts to Alsace. According to some informants in Eguisheim, there had been some changes since the village was awarded “The Most Preferred Village in France” in 2013 (Alsace- wine-tour.com, 2017). The number of tourists increased significantly since then, and most visitors to the wineries preferred to buy low-priced, low-quality wines, instead of the higher graded wines produced from grand cru or premier cru terroirs. This has driven wine producers to focus on low-class wines, gaining profit from higher volumes, or shifting the strategy from differentiation to cost leadership. Although this phenomenon needs to be verified by a wider group of informants, it implies a deeper change in the host’s culture, touching the behavioral culture. In 2017, Kaysersberg, another village of Alsace, won the “The Most Preferred Village in France - 2017” (Buron, 2017). It is worth to observe the impacts of this award to the village. 4.5. Initial Observations in Bali Observations in Bali (in progress) is also conducted by participation, Netnography and unstructured interviews with informants representing different stakeholders. Initial interviews with conveniently chosen informants resulted in the top three elements of material culture perceived as “authentic Bali”: statues, building ornaments and religious ceremonies. The buildings cover pura or a Balinese Hindu temple in the villages, and traditional Balinese houses. Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 10 Figure 8. A typical village pura in Selumbung village, eastern Bali (Courtesy of Selumbung.com) Some interviews to host informants have also revealed some changes in material culture. This was to find if there have been similar phenomena to the sophistication process of Balinese paintings due to the interactions with foreigners (Picard, 2010). A wood carving artist from Selumbung village, Karangasem regency, explained the influence from French wood carvings to a traditional Patra Punggel pattern of Bali. The difference between a native Patra Punggel and the one with a French influence is displayed as a sketch in Figure 9. Figure 9. An artist’s sketch of a native Patra Punggel carving (left) and with the French influence (right) The impact of mass tourism in Bali has long been recognized and warned by many researchers. An alarm has been raised by Picard since 2003, as cited by Hitchcock (ed., 2008). It questioned whether the recent trend to develop mega-projects can be reversed and that with the Indonesian Law on Regional Autonomy implemented in 2001, “district heads are more than ever eager to attract big-scale investments to their region” (Hitchcock, ed., 2008:56). However, it has also been observed that Balinese have certain kind of resilience to protect their culture from mass tourism: “The Balinese have found a perfect way to blend culture with tourism and their ability to keep their culture alive is often underestimated by many anthropologists” (Siadis, 2014). The researcher has observed mass tourism has been happening mostly in the south of the island. The second most dense is the north, while the western and eastern parts of the island have a relatively low density of tourists. But some informants from the east have mentioned the number of tourists in their areas is increasing. 5. Proposed Models 5.1. A Hypothetical Model for the Dynamics of Perceived Authenticity Research has been conducted to understand to measure perceived authenticity and its effects, and how perceived authenticity is constructed, for instance, a concept of the network among place-things-people emphasized by Jones (2010). For this research, the studied references are summarized to propose a temporary, hypothetical model that tries to describe the dynamics of perceived authenticity, shown in Figure 10. Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 11 Figure 10. A hypothetical model for the dynamics of authenticity The concept being studied is the dynamics of perceived authenticity. In the diagram, it is shown as a final, dependent, construct. Based on the description from Rickly-Boyd (2012), the dynamics can be measured as becoming higher or lower. An existential authenticity is proposed to be a mediating construct that explains the effects of two independent constructs: timeframe (for example: enter vs. exit, visiting once vs. repeat, etc.) and the variation in clientele itself (differences in residence, stage in the lifecycle, gender, etc.) (Waitt, 2000). The intra- personal and inter-personal authenticities are represented by existential authenticity (Wang, 1999). The upper left part, shaded grey, tries to explain how the changes in culture affect the dynamics of perceived authenticity. The cultural change is proposed to be a mediating construct, which explains how the intercultural exchange between the host and tourists (Böhm, 2009; Koentjaraningrat, 2016) and other media (Robinson and Picard, 2006) affect the dynamics of perceived authenticity. The intercultural exchange may be measured by the depth of the interaction, while the construct of other media may be measured by the levels of exposure. The model on Figure 10 is a hypothetical, temporary model. The primary objective of this research is to rebuild the model by means of a qualitative research. 5.2. An Elaborated Model for the Cultural Change The second model is a more detailed view of the grey-shaded area in Figure 10. It takes a form as a process diagram (cause and effects) of the intercultural exchange process, which normally starts from a change by an individual (Koentjaraningrat, 2016; Robinson and Picard, 2006), shown in Figure 11. Figure 11. Process Diagram of Cultural Change (Author’s elaboration from Koentjaraningrat, 2016, Robinson and Picard, 2006 and Böhm, 2009) Prihartomo Andimarjoko / The Academic Research Community Publication pg. 12 An individual exposure will induce an individual change, which has to endure the resistance from the culture's control mechanism. When it fails, the change will stop and die. Otherwise, recurrence of changes will happen, forcing the society in general to accept change. When the societal change occurs, it induces a change in culture in general. Intercultural exchange mostly takes place on the outer layer of the culture due to economic relations but can affect the deeper layers if extensive exchange occurs over a long time (Böhm, 2009). 6. Conclusions and Recommendations This research is a work in progress, and therefore a number of temporary conclusions can be drawn: a. The dynamics of perceived authenticity remains elusive to tourism researchers; b. 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