THE SOURCES OF THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE IN THE RELIGIOUS TOURISM

Abstract

One of the concepts that were studied on a large scale since 1957 is Festinger’s cognitive dissonance. This concept consists on a discomfort or pain experienced by the individual when there is a contradiction between some of his beliefs, his values or his behavior. The generated discomfort might push the pilgrims to avoid the discomforting situation, by avoiding the being in the same situation.

This concept has been widely studied in the marketing field as it causes the customers to change their perception about the product or even to quit it. In the field of religious tourism the question of cognitive dissonance seems to be of interest. In fact, combining both a spiritual dimension and a touristic one the religious tourism comes with different expectations and criteria’s of judgment and face contradictious experiences and values resulting in the generation of the discomfort of the cognitive dissonance.

Therefore, this research interviews twenty pilgrims in order to discover the main sources of cognitive dissonances. That way, we find which measures can be taken by the hosts to face the cognitive dissonances or reinforce the mechanisms aiming to recreate consonance.