IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/anture/v116y2026ics0160738325001707.html

Reframed image congruence: Insights from attractions

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Eunji
  • Koo, Chulmo

Abstract

While prior studies on destination image congruence have mainly focused on the tourist–supplier perspective and assumed linear effects, this study extends the scope by incorporating inter-tourist alignment and examining its asymmetric influence on tourists' emotional evaluations. Tourist reviews and promotional messages from TripAdvisor were analyzed using a pretrained transformer model to compute semantic similarity across diverse tourist attractions. Regression models tested the nonlinear effects of both congruence types. The results show an inverted U-shaped relationship for tourist–supplier congruence and a consistently positive convex relationship for inter-tourist congruence. The effect of inter-tourist congruence is further strengthened by review recency. The study provides practical implications for strategically managing user-generated content and optimizing destination marketing strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Eunji & Koo, Chulmo, 2026. "Reframed image congruence: Insights from attractions," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s0160738325001707
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.104064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738325001707
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.annals.2025.104064?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuangao Chen & Wangyan Jin & Yajie Hu & Shasha Zhou & Shuiqing Yang, 2022. "Does managerial response moderate the relationship between online review characteristics and review helpfulness?," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(16), pages 2679-2694, August.
    2. Haugtvedt, Curtis P & Wegener, Duane T, 1994. "Message Order Effects in Persuasion: An Attitude Strength Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 205-218, June.
    3. Lovell, Jane & Thurgill, James, 2021. "Extending hot authentication: Imagining fantasy space," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Aquino, Richard S. & Cabalquinto, Earvin Charles B., 2025. "Travel vlogging as an integrated practice: Foreign travel vloggers' practices in the Philippines," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Howard, Daniel J & Gengler, Charles, 2001. "Emotional Contagion Effects on Product Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 189-201, September.
    6. Ying Qu & Guopeng Xiang & Yinyin Dong, 2023. "Network mechanism contrast: a new perspective of the ‘projection-perception’ contrast of the destination image," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(9), pages 1482-1498, May.
    7. Stylidis, Dimitrios & Shani, Amir & Belhassen, Yaniv, 2017. "Testing an integrated destination image model across residents and tourists," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 184-195.
    8. Meyers-Levy, Joan & Tybout, Alice M, 1989. "Schema Congruity as a Basis for Product Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(1), pages 39-54, June.
    9. Park, Sangwon & Nicolau, Juan L., 2019. "Image effect on customer-centric measures of performance," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 226-238.
    10. Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "A Memory-Based Model of Bounded Rationality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 735-774.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sławomir Czarniewski, 2014. "Communicating Customer Value Based on Modern Technologies," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(2), pages 36-43.
    2. Andrés Perea & Elias Tsakas, 2019. "Limited focus in dynamic games," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 48(2), pages 571-607, June.
    3. Funk, Daniel C. & Haugtvedt, Curtis P. & Howard, Dennis R., 2000. "Contemporary Attitude Theory in Sport: Theoretical Considerations and Implications," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 125-144, November.
    4. Deng, Qian (Claire) & Messinger, Paul R., 2022. "Dimensions of brand-extension fit," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 764-787.
    5. Laurent Bouton & Paola Conconi & Francisco Pino & Maurizio Zanardi, 2018. "Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians' Decisions," Working Papers gueconwpa~18-18-15, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    6. De Keyser, Arne & Antonetti, Paolo & Rouziou, Maria & Béal, Mathieu & Wang, Zih-Hsiang & Grégoire, Yany & Lussier, Bruno, 2025. "Understanding the B2B customer experience and journey: A convergence-based lens," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    7. David S. Koo & Isabel Yanyan Wang & Shuting Wu, 2026. "Memory, Retrieved Context, and Bias in Management Earnings Forecasts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(3), pages 2451-2476, March.
    8. Marie Claire Villeval, 2019. "Comportements (non) éthiques et stratégies morales," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 70(6), pages 1021-1046.
    9. Aylin Cakanlar & Megan Hunter & Gergana Y. Nenkov, 2025. "Recycle right: How to decrease recycling contamination with informational point-of-disposal signage," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 781-803, May.
    10. Yağmur, Yenal & Aksu, Akın, 2022. "Investigation of destination image mediating effect on tourists’ risk assessment, behavioural intentions and satisfaction," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 27-37.
    11. Rik Pieters & Michel Wedel, 2012. "Ad Gist: Ad Communication in a Single Eye Fixation," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 59-73, January.
    12. Elizabeth G. Pontikes & William P. Barnett, 2015. "The Persistence of Lenient Market Categories," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(5), pages 1415-1431, October.
    13. Alejandro N√∫nez Arroyo, 2018. "Information seeking with selective memory," Documentos CEDE 17131, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    14. Freudenreich, Hanna & Musshoff, Oliver & Wiercinski, Ben, "undated". "The Relationship between Farmers' Shock Experiences and their Uncertainty Preferences - Experimental Evidence from Mexico," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 256212, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    15. Igor Kopylov & Joshua Miller, 2018. "Subjective beliefs and confidence when facts are forgotten," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 281-299, December.
    16. Bong-Goon Seo & Do-Hyung Park, 2020. "The Effective Type of Information Categorization in Online Curation Service Depending on Psychological Ownership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, April.
    17. Zhang, Kai & Luo, Biao & Yan, Juanjuan & Weng, Xiuzhen, 2025. "The art and impact of narrative: How streamer narrative styles shape consumers’ purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    18. Kaushik, Kapil & Mishra, Rajhans & Rana, Nripendra P. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2018. "Exploring reviews and review sequences on e-commerce platform: A study of helpful reviews on Amazon.in," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 21-32.
    19. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:4:y:2005:i:14:p:1-10 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Kim, Hee Jin & Song, Hayeon, 2020. "Effort justification for fun activities?: The effect of location-based mobile coupons using games," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    21. Garaus, Marion & Wagner, Udo & Manzinger, Sandra, 2017. "Happy grocery shopper: The creation of positive emotions through affective digital signage content," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 295-305.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s0160738325001707. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.