The influence of tourism experience self-congruity on the use of virtual social networks

Abstract

Based on previous research in the literature of symbolic consumption and social media, the present study analyses the relationship between tourism experience self-congruity, perceived social value and tourists’ use of virtual social networks. The study presents a series of hypotheses and an empirical model, which establishes the relationship between these constructs. In order to contrast the hypotheses, a quantitative research was carried out in the city of Valencia (Spain), using a structured survey and personal interviews. During the analysis of the results, the reliability and the validity of the scales used to measure the constructs were verified by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Subsequently, the methodology of the structural equation models (SEM) was used to estimate the relation between the constructs.The results show that tourists perceive higher social value when they live a tourism experience that is congruent with their self-concepts and, when tourists perceive higher social value, the revisit intention increases. When it comes to virtual social networks, experience self-congruity and perceived social value influence their use. Finally, the use of social networks also increases the perceived social value of the experience.