Assessing Bed and Breakfast Customers' Behavioral Intention Based on Self-Congruity Theory

Abstract

Customers' self-congruity has been verified to be an important antecedent of their satisfaction or loyalty in terms of brand consumption. In the era of the experience economy, effects of customers' self-congruity as well as subject norm on their attitude and behavioral intention concerning the special form of accommodation, that is, B&Bs have been seldomly studied. Therefore, this study applied self-congruity theory with subjective norm to explain the phenomenon of increasing interests of B&Bs. As a result, first, self-image congruity was insignificantly associated with B&B customer attitude. Second, B&B customers' functional congruity positively impacts customers' attitude and subsequential their behavioral intention. Third, customers' behavioral intention was influenced by subjective norm, that is, others' recommendation or suggestion could affect customers' behavioral intention. Collectively, the business operators and investors could develop and establish relative marketing strategies from the angles of subjective norm and functional congruity between customers and B&Bs.