Promotion of brand-related sustainability initiatives (BSI) is a modern managerial issue, as BSI seems to impact not only sustainability but also consumer psychology toward a brand. In this regard, the author has extended self-congruity theory and suggested the concept of brand-sustainability-self-congruence (BSSC) as the image congruence of the triad comprising brand, BSI, and self-concept. Former surveys report predictive effects of BSSC on consumers’ brand evaluation, leading to increased brand equity (Kumagai, 2022, 2023).

Promotion of brand-related sustainability initiatives (BSI) is a modern managerial issue, as BSI seems to impact not only sustainability but also consumer psychology toward a brand. In this regard, the author has extended self-congruity theory and suggested the concept of brand-sustainability-self-congruence (BSSC) as the image congruence of the triad comprising brand, BSI, and self-concept. Former surveys report predictive effects of BSSC on consumers’ brand evaluation, leading to increased brand equity (Kumagai, 2022, 2023).

The purpose of this study was to investigate brand slognas that are effective in explaining how brand identity affects consumers. The effect of congruity between brand slogan and self-image (low and high) on attitude to slogans and brands were anaylzed. The moderating effect of self-monitoring (low and high) was also investigated. Survey data from 177 people in their 20s-30s were analyzed through descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and two-way ANOVA. First, congruity between slogan and self-image had a positive effect on both slogan and brand attitude. In other words, the higher the congruity between slogan and self-image, the more positive the attitude toward the slogan and brand. Second, no interactive effect was found in congruity between slogan and self-image and self-monitoring on slogan attitude; however it was identified for brand attitude. Again, in a group with high congruity between slogan and self-image, attitude toward the brand was more positive when self-monitoring was higher than when it was low. In conclusion, brand slogans that can represent the self-image of highly self-monitoring consumers are effective. In particular, this is meaningful as it has revealed its relationship with the impact of identity self-image congruity and self-monitoring on brand attitudes in fashion brands. These results offer meaningful guidance in determining brand slogans according to consumers’ personal characteristics.

Live-streaming commerce business is growing as the consumption of video content and Smartphone shopping increases. This study examines the following three aspects: whether para-social interaction influences perceived interactivity; whether seller trust affects satisfaction with the experience; whether relationships are controlled by a moderated mediator of self-image congruity. An online survey was conducted with 203 women aged 20-30 years. They were asked to respond to the survey after watching a beauty category live-streaming commerce broadcast. The results revealed that the para-social interaction had a significant effect on perceived interactivity, seller trust and satisfaction with the experience. The findings also indicated that the perceived interactivity and seller trust mediated the relationship between para-social interaction and satisfaction with the experience. Regarding the mediated moderation effect of self-image congruity, it was statistically significant between para-social interaction and perceived interactivity through seller trust. A higher level of consumer’s self-image congruity influenced the greater effect of para-social interaction on live commerce experience. This study makes important theoretical contributions to the para-social interaction in mobile commerce industry by emphasizing the mediating role of perceived interactivity and seller trust. This is achieved by examining the moderating effects of self-congruity on satisfaction with the experience. The results also verify the seller’s crucial role in live-streaming commerce market which leads to the consumers greater fulfillment.

This study defines Korean wave stars as Korean wave human brands and examines the influence of the characteristics, attachment, and self-congruity of the Korean wave human brand on brand equity. For this, this study surveyed Chinese female consumers in their 20s and 30s who consume many Korean wave products from May 2018 to June 2018. First, human brand characteristics, attachment, self-congruity, Korean wave aspiration level, and brand equity according to demographic characteristics were identified. Second, characteristics, attachment, self-congruity, and the aspiration level of the Korean wave human brand showed correlations with brand equity. However, brand awareness, a sub-factor of brand equity, does not show correlations with self-congruity. Third, characteristics, attachment, self-congruity, and Korean wave aspiration level had a positively influenced brand equity. Fourth, when looking into the mediated effect of attachment on brand equity, both human brand characteristics and self-congruity showed a partially mediated effect. Fifth, when analyzing the adjustment effect in the Korean wave aspiration level, a group with higher Korean wave aspiration level showed more correlations with attachment and brand equity. This study found that attachment and self congruity are important elements in forming human brand and brand equity. This study is significant in that it verified the influence of Korean wave brand power that has been on the rise recently on brand equity and provided a theoretical basis that has allowed researchers to determine that the characteristics, attachment, and self-congruity of Korean wave human brand significantly influence brand equity.

The study aims to investigate the effects of media and self-image congruity of ideal body image on the dieting and exercising behaviors of Korean and U.S. female college students. This study focuses on the concept of self-image congruity in order to examine how respondents perceive actual and desired self-images compared to an ideal female body image selected by respondents. A self-administered survey was conducted, resulting in 331 total responses (194 from Korean students and 137 from U.S. students). The data were analyzed through descriptive analysis, t-test, exploratory factor analysis, and regression analysis using SPSS 23.0. The findings revealed significant differences between Korean and U.S. female college students. U.S. students were more exposed to body image ideals in the media than Korean students; however, Korean female students valued the information regarding ideal body image conveyed by the media more than U.S. respondents. Among Korean female students, exposure to media messages regarding ideal body image and media importance had significant effects on desired self-image congruity, while these factors were not significant among U.S. students. However, there was a negative effect of media exposure on actual self-image congruity among U.S. respondents only. Additionally, the study uncovered that Korean students manage their body image through dieting behaviors while U.S. respondents manage body image through exercise behaviors (weight training as well as cardiovascular exercise). The study provides further support for self-image congruity, which extends its applications to the body image field.

Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) are facing the dilemma: on one hand, communicating branding messages effectively to target markets all over the world requires abundant resources, while stakeholders within the destination have different (sometimes even conflicting) interests in destination branding on the other. Specifically, residents of a tourism destination have great potential in helping the place by being involved in tourism development and destination branding, due to the development of information technology. To investigate how self-congruity influences residents’ evaluation on the place, as well as their voluntary WOM behaviours, this article proposes self-congruity as a key construct affecting residents’ place satisfaction and expectation, and further influencing residents’ place related behaviours, such as word-of-mouth (WOM). An empirical study was conducted in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with 309 questionnaire collected. Via a structural equation modelling analysis, this study finds that variation of self-congruity in the impacts on place satisfaction and expectation, as well as two types of WOM behaviours, namely one-to-one WOM and one-to-many WOM. This provides evidence to support the standpoint that different WOM are motivated by different factors via different psychological mechanisms. Specifically, (1) actual self-congruity and place satisfaction (reflecting an evaluation of past of current performance of the place) only affect one-to-one WOM, suggesting that this type of WOM is mainly motivated by one’s current state; (2) ideal self-congruity was found to affect place expectation, suggesting a consistency in the expectation of one’s self image and the place; (3) one-to-many WOM has two indicators of ideal self-congruity and place expectation, implying publishing one’s opinions and thoughts is driven by expectation rather than current state. In general, the results add detailed and in-depth findings on distinguishing the motivations of different types of WOM in WOM literature.

Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) are facing the dilemma: on one hand, communicating branding messages effectively to target markets all over the world requires abundant resources, while stakeholders within the destination have different (sometimes even conflicting) interests in destination branding on the other. Specifically, residents of a tourism destination have great potential in helping the place by being involved in tourism development and destination branding, due to the development of information technology. To investigate how self-congruity influences residents’ evaluation on the place, as well as their voluntary WOM behaviours, this article proposes self-congruity as a key construct affecting residents’ place satisfaction and expectation, and further influencing residents’ place related behaviours, such as word-of-mouth (WOM). An empirical study was conducted in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with 309 questionnaire collected. Via a structural equation modelling analysis, this study finds that variation of self-congruity in the impacts on place satisfaction and expectation, as well as two types of WOM behaviours, namely one-to-one WOM and one-to-many WOM. This provides evidence to support the standpoint that different WOM are motivated by different factors via different psychological mechanisms. Specifically, (1) actual selfcongruity and place satisfaction (reflecting an evaluation of past of current performance of the place) only affect one-to-one WOM, suggesting that this type of WOM is mainly motivated by one’s current state; (2) ideal self-congruity was found to affect place expectation, suggesting a consistency in the expectation of one’s self image and the place; (3) one-to-many WOM has two indicators of ideal self-congruity and place expectation, implying publishing one’s opinions and thoughts is driven by expectation rather than current state. In general, the results add detailed and in-depth findings on distinguishing the motivations of different types of WOM in WOM literature.

This paper selects Xi'an and Suzhou as the research objects, uses the methods of questionnaire and situational simulated method to discuss the impact of tourists' perceived destination image and self-concept congruity on intention to visit, and the moderating effect of self-construal (independent / interdependent). The Study I found the following results: the tourists' perceived destination image and self-concept congruity as well as the self-concept congruity dimensions (actual self-concept congruity, ideal self-concept congruity, social self-concept congruity, ideal social self-concept congruity) have a significant positive effect on intention to visit; the impact of ideal self-concept congruity is greater than that of actual self-concept congruity; the impact of ideal social self-concept congruity is greater than that of social self-concept congruity; and the ideal self-concept congruity has strongest impact on intention to visit. The Study II found out that: self-construal has moderating effect on this impact; the higher the actual self-concept congruity perceived by the tourists of independent self-construal, the greater the intention to visit; the higher the social self-concept congruity perceived by the tourists of interdependent self-construal, the greater the intention to visit. The research conclusion has certain reference value for building of tourism destination image, understanding of the tourism decision-making of the tourists and formulation and implementation of marketing strategies of relevant departments and enterprises.

Research offers conflicting evidence with regard to the potential effectiveness of using authentic (focused on the actual self) versus aspirational branding (focused on the ideal self) strategies. This study extends previous research by modelling how four individual characteristics of value for cross-cultural market segmentation (an individual’s level of independence, interdependence, cosmopolitan orientation and local orientation) influence the actual and ideal self-congruity effects. The model is tested by using survey data from US (n=828) and Indian non-student consumers (n=824). Findings show that the actual self-congruity effect on brand attitude is stronger than the ideal self-congruity effect for interdependents and locals. Conversely, the ideal self-congruity effect on brand attitude is stronger than the actual self-congruity effect for independents and cosmopolitans. The study offers practitioners suggestions on the use of authentic versus aspirational branding strategies in their brand communications in order to elicit most positive brand attitude among consumers depending on their individual characteristics.

This study investigated the differences between gender for effectiveness of career competencies training and integrative life planning on career aspirations, self-identity and congruity between the real and ideal self of adolescents in Lokoja, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 227 adolescents who scored low on Ego-identity scales and were found exhibiting low self-identity, which affected their career aspirations. They were made up of 114 males and 113 females. Quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test and control group design was used with the sample, which was randomly assigned to three groups. Career Competencies Training (CCT), Integrative Life Planning (ILP) and the control. A Self-Identity Questionnaire (SIQ), Congruity Questionnaire (CQ) and Career Aspiration Questionnaire (CAQ) were administered to the three groups before and after the experimental programmes. CCT and ILP groups were the training groups while the control was the waiting group. The statistical tools used were Means, Standard Deviation and ANCOVA. A null hypothesis was formulated to guide the study and was tested at 0.05 level of significance. There is no significant difference in the post-test scores on the self-identity, career aspiration, and congruity of real and ideal self of adolescents exposed to career competencies training, integrative life planning and the control group due to gender. The use of both training is therefore recommended. Parents should be encouraged to take cognizance of the congruity between the real self and the ideal self of their adolescents so that they can be properly guided on their career aspirations.

Past research has shown that the self-congruity effect (Sirgy, 1982) is an important key predictor for consumers’ responses (e.g., attitude, purchase intention, choice, satisfaction, and loyalty) toward various marketing stimuli such as brand, store, and product (Barone, Shimp, and Sprott, 1999; Sirgy, Grewal, & Mangleburg, 2000). The self-congruity effect refers to the match between consumers’ actual self-concept and the image of objects compared, such as brand image, product image, store image, and advertising materials (Choi & Rifon, 2012; Sirgy, Grewal, & Mangleburg, 2000). These relationships, however, have not been tested in the context of luxury brand products (Sirgy, 1982). Our purpose is to address this knowledge gap by investigating the relevancy of self-congruity theory to the purchase of luxury brands. In contrast to the long-standing self-congruity effect, we propose that actual self-incongruity and ideal self-congruity effects will work when consumers evaluate luxury fashion brands. A survey method was used to gather data. Data were collected through an online panel provided by E-rewards, a marketing research company located in the United States. A stratified sampling method was employed to obtain an evenly distributed number of participants from different income classes. The strata was identified by income. Three strata were developed: (1) more than $100,000; (2) $55,000 to less than $100,000; and (3) less than $55,000. The sample (n = 502, average age = 41) represented most demographic categories. We tested the influence of actual self-incongruity and ideal self-congruity on brand attitude, purchase intention, and perceived quality for 3 brands. Actual self-incongruity had a significant positive effect on brand attitude, whereas ideal self-congruity had a significant positive effect on brand attitude, purchase intention, perceived quality. Overall, the results supported our main hypothesis. We conducted an additional analysis to examine the moderating role of income. Specifically, for brand attitude, the influence of actual self-incongruity was significantly positive only for the low-income group. The influence of ideal self-congruity was significantly positive only for the low- and middle-income groups. For purchase intention, the influence of ideal self-incongruity was significantly negative only for the low-income group, whereas the influence of ideal self-congruity was not significant for the middle- or high-income groups. Finally, for perceived quality, the influence of actual self- and ideal self-incongruity was significant only for the middle-income group, whereas that influence was not significant for the high-income group. This research contributes to the self-congruity effect in the context of luxury brands. Our results show the positive influence of ideal self-congruity and actual self-incongruity on the evaluation of luxury brand products. This is the first study identifying that actual self-congruity has a negative influence on the evaluation of brands in a luxury market context, as opposed to previous findings. Our results provide important implications to practitioners in planning their marketing communication strategies or consumer relationship management for luxury brand consumers.

The aim of this paper is to assess the mediating effect of self-congruity on the relationship between susceptibility to interpersonal influence and status consumption. The findings of this paper are based on 222 sample. The paper utilises Baron and Kenny procedure and Sobel test to examine the mediation effects of self-congruity on the relationship between susceptibility to interpersonal influence and status consumption. Results indicate that self-congruity played a mediating role in the effect of susceptibility to interpersonal influence on status consumption. A partial type of mediation was established. Possible areas for further research are indicated at the end of the paper.

This study empirically investigates how four individual-level characteristics impact the effect of the four self-congruity types on brand attitude. A widely used practice among marketers focuses on communicating that using their brands will bring consumers closer to how they would like to see themselves, their ideal self-concept (e.g. being a slim person like the models in the ads), instead of how they actually see themselves, their actual self-concept. However, recent research shows that there is no “universality” of a superior self-congruity effect. Specifically, individual-level characteristics (e.g. self-esteem levels, product involvement levels) determine if actual or ideal self-congruity impact brand perceptions more strongly (Malär, Krohmer, Hoyer & Nyffenegger, 2011). This study extends that research by (a) considering all four self-congruity types (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social) and (b) four additional individual-level characteristics, which are valuable for segmenting consumer markets within and across countries. The four individual-level characteristics are a dominant independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan orientation and local orientation. Considering these individual-level characteristics offers marketers insights on which of the four self-concept types they should try to match with their brand communications when targeting these specific consumer groups. Survey data from a non-student sample was collected in the US. After performing data cleaning procedures, 800+ usable responses were analysed with the use of PLS-SEM (Lohmöller, 1989). The measurement models demonstrate satisfactory reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Furthermore, the results suggest that the data is not compromised by non-response bias and common method variance. The structural models display satisfactory predictive capabilities of the four self-congruity types on brand attitude. The findings show that as expected an individual’s dominant independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation impact which of the four self-congruity types has the strongest effect on brand attitude. For individuals with a dominant local orientation or interdependent self-construal, actual self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. For individuals with a dominant cosmopolitan orientation or independent self-construal, ideal self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. The findings of this study extend self-congruity theory by considering the effect of these four individual-level characteristics. Managerial implications are also presented.