Car decals as a new data source for self-drive tourists

Abstract

This study looks at the practice of displaying customized commercially made decals on car windows, titled "My Family", with cartoon representations of family members equipped for their preferred recreational activities. It considers these car decals a source of data on self-drive domestic tourism. For this study, 180 vehicles bearing the "My Family" decals, recorded at two main highways of the Gold Coast region of southern Queensland, were analysed. The results indicate that these decals do indeed provide a new valuable source of data on people's self perception and self representations of leisure and recreational activities for the self-drive tourist market. They are displayed by families of all sizes, including single individuals. If car value is an indicator of socio-economic status, they cross every stratum of Australian society.