Living the Luxury Lie: How Luxury Tourism Triggers Imposter Syndrome and Drives Negative Emotions and Authenticity-Seeking
研究发现豪华旅游会引发游客的冒充者综合征（担心他人高估自己地位），导致焦虑、沮丧和更强烈的真实性寻求，尤其对缺乏经验或感觉优待不配得的游客影响更大。
Luxury tourism is known for projecting status and prestige, largely considered a positive outcome for tourists. However, a dark side may emerge in the form of imposter syndrome, especially for aspiring luxury tourists. This research is the first tourism study examining status-related imposter thoughts (beliefs that others overestimate one’s status) and their emotional and behavioural consequences. Through four experiments across different luxury tourism settings, we find that luxury experiences trigger imposter thoughts, which link to increased authenticity-seeking, anxiety, and dejection. Effects diminish when tourists possess prior similar experiences or perceive preferential treatment as deserved. Additionally, the absence of other tourists reduces imposter-driven anxiety, while their presence amplifies it. Our contributions lie in establishing imposter thoughts as an overlooked but consequential cognition in luxury tourism for tourists, and in guiding managers toward tackling their effects through authenticity provision and practices that ensure luxury is perceived as deserved.