Keep it real: Assessing destination image congruence and its impact on tourist experience evaluations
Tourism Management
; 97:104736, 2023.
Article
in English
| ScienceDirect | ID: covidwho-2221415
ABSTRACT
Inaccurate promotional information about tourist destinations may result in tourists' negative evaluations. This study proposes a new approach to measure the congruence between projected and received images of a destination's attractions. Based on online textual data, this study investigates how image congruence influences tourists' evaluations of their destination experiences. Using promotional messages and reviews of attractions in Hainan, China obtained from a leading Chinese online travel agency (Ctrip) and a three-way fixed-effects regression model, this study demonstrates that image congruence positively affects tourists' appraisal of their destination experiences. External crises (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic), the readability of promotional messages, and tourists' expertise moderate this relationship, reducing the positive impact of image congruence on tourist experience evaluation. This study bridges theoretical and empirical gaps in destination image (in)congruence research, informing tourism marketing agencies of effective promotional strategies in different contexts.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
ScienceDirect
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Language:
English
Journal:
Tourism Management
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS