The Effects of Destination Image, Destination Personality, and Self-Congruity on Tourists’ Intention

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of destination image, destination personality, and self-congruity on tourists’ intention, and the mediating effect of self-congruity on the relationship between destination personality and tourists’ intention. The samples were selected from 802 foreign tourists who visited Thailand by using purposive sampling technique. Those samples were divided into four groups of tourists: Asia, Europe, The Americas, and others. Data analysis used included descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results revealed that destination image had positive effects on destination personality, self-congruity, and tourists’ intention. Second, destination personality had a positive effect on self-congruity. However, it had no direct effect on tourists’ intention. Lastly, self-congruity had a strong positive effect on tourists’ intention. In addition, the results revealed that destination image and destination personality could together explain self-congruity of 55.6 percent (R-square= 0.556). Besides, destination image, destination personality, and self-congruity could refine tourists’ intention of 68 percent (R-square= 0.680). Consequently, destination image and destination personality had the effects on tourists’ intention through self-congruity as the mediator of the model at a significance level 0.05.