Destination brand personality and destination brand attachment–the involvement of self-congruence

Zhuowei (Joy) Huang, Chaozhi Zhang, Jing Hu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Drawn upon the brand attachment theory, this study examines the role of destination brand personality (DBP) and self-congruence in developing destination brand attachment (DBA) from the perspective of tourists. In particular, the study investigates whether DBP tends to match tourists’ ideal self or conforms more to the actual self during the DBA development process. The conceptual model is empirically tested with a sample of Chinese independent tourists in Yangshuo, China, a popular destination for this market segment. In addition to identifying the four DBP dimensions relevant to Yangshuo, the most important findings of this study rest on the mediating role of self-congruence between DBP and DBA. These findings suggest that congruence between the actual self and the DBP dimensions of Excitement and Charming contribute to the development of DBA, while the ideal self-congruence does not.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1198-1210
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Travel and Tourism Marketing
Volume34
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 22 2017

Keywords

  • Chinese independent tourists
  • Destination brand personality
  • actual self-congruence
  • destination brand attachment
  • ideal self-congruence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Marketing

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