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 investigated how the image congruity of social commerce and fashion brand types affects purchase intention and how trust and price sensitivity moderate this relationship. National brands, private brands, and non-brands were used as brand types in the present study. The online survey method was used to gather the data, and 232 data samples were analyzed. The results of the research were as follows. Consumers perceived greater image congruity between social commerce and nonbrands, followed by private brands and national brands. The significant perception differences were examined by comparing the mean values. There was a significant positive effect of image congruity of social commerce and non-brands on purchase intention. However, insignificant effects were found for image congruity between social commerce and private brands and national brands. In addition, trust and price sensitivity positively predicted social commerce purchase intention. A significant moderating effect of trust was found on the relationship between purchase intention and image congruity of social commerce and non-brands. A moderating effect of price sensitivity was found on the relationship between purchase intention and image congruity of social commerce and private brands. The findings of the present study offer valuable insights into social commerce concerning implementing diverse fashion brands as well as academic and practical implications.

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.

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.

Advertising is important for tourism and past research has demonstrated its cognitive, affective and behavioural effects on consumers (e.g., Vakratsas & Ambler, 1999). These effects are largely dependent on how well viewers process advertisements that contains different elements, such as image, description and slogan. Images are particularly important to tourism advertisements and most tourism advertisements include images of the advertised destination. This paper proposes a conceptual model which explores the influences of image vividness and image congruity on the effectiveness of ecotourism advertisements. The Meaning Transfer Model (e.g., McCracken, 1989) suggests an object’s meaning can be transferred through images. This model has been widely adopted in advertising because most advertisements contain images. Images are believed to help transfer the intended advertising meaning and intention of the advertiser (Shimp & Andrews 2013). Most previous advertising research has focused on meaning transfer through the use of celebrity endorsers (e.g., Campbell & Warren, 2012; Hanrahan & Liu, 2013) whilst limited studies have examined key factors that influence the success of a meaning transfer from an advertising image to the advertised brand . Image vividness is believed to be one of the important factors that can influence the success of a meaning transfer (Nisbett & Ross, 1980). However, findings from previous research on image vividness are far from consistent. Some findings suggest that image vividness facilitate imagery processing and subsequently increase advertisement and brand favourability (Fennis et al., 2012) whilst other findings suggest that image vividness has no direct impact on attitude formation or persuasion (Taylor & Thompson, 1982). Recent research suggests that, advertising elements, in particular image vividness, may play an important role in forming the attitude towards the advertisement as well as the travel intention towards the advertised destination (Pelsmacker et al., 2002; Rasty et al., 2013). Besides image vividness, image congruity may be another important factor in determining the success of a meaning transfer through advertising images (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). Congruity has been widely studied in the field of consumer behaviour (Sirgy, 1990; Wang et al., 2009). McLaughlin (2009) categorised advertising congruity into four types (advertisement and context congruity, advertisement and product congruity, advertisement and advertiser congruity, and advertisement and other commercial component(s) congruity). Image congruity with the advertised product category has been identified as one of the most important advertising congruities (Chandon et al., 2000). Congruent advertisements are better than incongruent advertisements in generating positive attitudes or feelings towards an advertisement. For example, Kamins et al. (1991) found a viewer’s perceived congruity between the emotions reflected in a tourism advertisement and the media invoke more positive attitude towards the advertisement. Further, Rifon et al. (2004) found congruity between the description of an advertisement (ad description) and an advertising website used to display the advertisement resulted in more positive attitude towards the brand. Congruent advertisements can also generate a better purchasing intention. Kamins et al. (1991) found congruent advertisements were better at invoking an intention to use an advertised service. Conversely, incongruent advertisements lead to frustration or other negative feelings or a less favourable attitude towards an advertisement (Mandler, 1981). Australian ecotourism advertisements are selected as the context of the current study. Ecotourism is a nature-based tourism that focuses on preserving the environment, benefiting local economies and educating travellers (Weaver, 2008). Although ecotourism is rapidly developing in the last decade, the effectiveness of ecotourism advertising has been rarely researched, perhaps because ecotourism is still a relatively new area of tourism (Hughes et al., 2005). Reiser & Simmons’s (2005) study is among a handful of studies which have investigated the effectiveness of ecotourism advertisements. Their study found that ecotourism labels helped develop a positive attitude towards an advertisement and the advertised destination. Additionally, Chang et al. (2005) found that the use of a celebrity aboriginal endorser was more effective in achieving a favourable attitude towards an advertisement than was the use of a non-celebrity aboriginal endorser. Ecotourism advertisements often use three major types of images (scenery, animal and people) (Morgan & Pritchard, 2001). However, no empirical studies have examined the meaning transfer between image and advertising responses within the ecotourism context. People’s Republic of China is a critical market for Australian tourism and it is Australia’s second largest tourist source country (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Chinese tourists ranked first in terms of total trip expenditures (a total of $5.7 billion in 2014) (Tourism Research Australia, 2015). By 2020, China is expected to become Australia’s largest source country (Tourism Australia, 2011).The ecotourism market in China has risen in the past decade since its introduction in the 1990s (Cheng et al., 2013; Zhong et al., 2007). There were 1.9 billion domestic trips in China in 2009, of which 333 million were ecotourism trips. Around 80% of China’s nature reserves now have some form of ecotourism feature (Chappell, 2012). Chinese ecotourists are increasingly interested in taking overseas ecotourism trips. However, no previous study has empirically examined Chinese ecotourists’ attitude towards foreign ecotourism advertisements, which provides the opportunity for the current study. Based on the above discussion, the paper proposes positive relationships among image vividness, image congruity, attitude towards the advertisement and travel intention towards the ecotourism destination. Empirical research will be carried out in the future to test the proposed relationships. The theoretical framework can also be extended by including other advertising effectiveness measures such as comprehension or emotion (MacKay & Fesenmaier, 1997) so as to develop a better understanding of Chinese ecotourists’ responses to ecotourism advertisements.