The Application of Self-Congruity Theory in Tourism: a Review of Literature

ABSTRACT
This article will attempt to provide a theoretical framework of the development of the self-congruent theory utilized in tourism by reviewing relevant literatures, highlighting landmark opinions and comparing the constructive models regarding pertinent issues, including destination image, destination branding, tourist destination choice, consumer needs, motivation, tourist segmentation etc. This article attempts to build a comprehensive model focusing on the vital role of self-congruity in the process of destination choice in a broad societal and cultural context.

KEYWORDS. Self-congruity, destination image, destination branding, tourist destination choice, self-image, self-concept

1. Introduction
Tourism, as the business of attracting visitors and catering to their needs, has rapidly grown into the world’s largest industry, surpassing autos, steel, electronics, and agriculture (McIntosh, Goeldner, and Ritchie 1995). In current society, there exists fierce competition in the tourism industry. To be more specific, excessive destinations attempt to attract more tourists by adopting various marketing methods. In that case, the study of tourist behavior during the destination choosing process is becoming increasingly important. This article mainly conducts a research in consumer from the perspective of self-concept in order to help to explain the psychological underpinnings of travel behavior. Indeed, consumer research has had a long tradition of addressing how self-concept is used as a cognitive referent in evaluating symbolic cues. In today 's highly competitive market, consumers are not only surrounded by numerous brands but also exposed to many different marketing practices that are developed to differentiate these brands from their competitors. The concept of branding has been extensively applied to products and services in the generic marketing field (Blain, Levy, &

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