Exploring the Role of the Media in Shaping Motivations Behind Frontier Travel Experiences

Abstract

This article explores the role of the media in shaping frontier travel motivations and experiences, using examples drawn from a qualitative study of frontier travelers—individuals who travel to places that currently lie at the fringes or extremes of our world or experiences, both geographically and socially/culturally. Long interviews were conducted to uncover motivations behind these experiences and the data analyzed using a grounded theory approach and interpretative paradigm. The interviews were supplemented by a content analysis of autobiographies and diaries. Interviewees referred to seminal experiences, often occurring during childhood, which were the genesis of their future frontier travel experiences. These seminal experiences involved image formation agents such as literature (both fiction and nonfiction), cinema, television, and pictures or photographs. The findings suggest that the anticipation stage of travel for frontier travelers incorporates a period well before they actively plan a journey, and their future plans are inspired or shaped, even at a subconscious level, by this early imagery and narrative. It would also appear that the association of frontier destinations and frontier travel experiences with the media, particularly that based on or reinforcing adventure or exploration narratives, may help to shape and personalize the creation of travel mythology, which then influences motivations. While a variety of image formation agents appeared to influence frontier travel motivations, literature had a particularly powerful impact in shaping fantasies or myths connected with the frontier. These findings may have implications for the future development or marketing of frontier travel experiences, including media selection.