Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
value and behavioral intention
J.M. Yusof, H.A. Manan, N.A.M. Kassim & N.A. Karim
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
ABSTRACT: This study is to test the effect of actual self-congruity and ideal self-congruity on experi-
ential value and behavioral intention and to compare which of the type of self-congruity has a stronger
effect on these two behavioral outcomes. Despite of much attention given to the concept, few, if any, have
reported its effect on experiential value and in the context of destination image. Data were collected from
tourists who visited island destination. The findings of the study provide evidence that, actual self-con-
gruity and ideal self-congruity has a significant relationship with experiential value, but has no significant
relationship with behavioral intention. Experiential value has an effect on behavioral intention and actual
self-congruity appears to have a stronger effect on experiential value. This study provides an empirical
support for the new framework on the importance of experiential value in the self-congruity framework
in destination image.
Keywords
:
Actual self-congruity, ideal self-congruity, experiential value, behavioral intention, destina-
tion image
1 INTRODUCTION
on factors that influence on consumer's decision
process such as awareness, choice intention, and
the like (Phau, Shanka & Dhayan, 2010). In par-
ticular, there has been little empirical evidence that
has been provided in the theory of self-congruity
that examines experiential value of the tourists. It
is important to recognize that tourists think about
the destination and how it matches their own
image. Therefore, research efforts on understand-
ing the self-congruity of tourists as well as their
experiential value are imperative.
Much of the self-congruity studies have been
in the product, brand, and store domain (e.g.,
Jamal & Goode, 2001; Sirgy & Samli, 1985; Sirgy &
Su, 2000). Results from these studies indicated that
image congruence affects consumer behavior both
directly and indirectly through functional aspects
of product, brand, or retail stores (Sirgy, Johar,
Samli & Claiborne, 1991; Sirgy & Samli, 1985).
Despite numerous self-congruity studies, there has
been a dearth of literature examining self-congruity
in tourist destination that particularly investigated
actual self-congruity and ideal self-congruity that
incorporate the concept of tourist' experience.
Hence, the present study proposed a model that
incorporates actual and ideal self-congruity, expe-
riential value and behavioral intention of tourists.
By proposing and subsequently testing the struc-
tural relationships among the four constructs, this
study is intended to achieve the following research
1.1
Tourism industry
Tourism industry in Malaysia is one of the impor-
tant industries, which has contributed significantly
to the nation's economic growth and employ-
ment. Total tourists arrival in Malaysia in 2011
has reached RM24.7 million, an increase of 10
percent from previous year (Musa, Muhammad
Kassim & Putit, 2012). The industry has been ear-
marked under the Economic Transformation Pro-
gram (ETP) as the National Key Economic Area
(NKEA) with the target set as “2020:36:168”. This
means that the industry has a target of 36 million
tourists visiting the country and with the contribu-
tion of RM168 billion generated from the indus-
try by year 2020. The attempts to draw in more
tourists to the country appear to be an important
agenda to the government. To address this issue,
the government continues to upgrade the tour-
ists' offerings and services in order to enhance the
country's image and at the same time to improve
tourists visiting experience.
In the marketing context, research supports
the importance of the product, brand or store
image. In tourism industry specifically, it has been
acknowledged by researchers that image is an
important factor of a consumer's destination proc-
ess (Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006). Much of the
image studies in destination process have focused
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