Recently, tourism has become one of the most potential industries in the world. According to preliminary results presented by the United Nations specialized agency, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) the number of international tourist arrivals recorded worldwide grew by 5.5% and exceeded 800 million for the first time ever. However, under the competitive environment, the best way to keep competitiveness is to make customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study focuses on the relationships among self-congruity, functional congruity, customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, different from past researches which collect data only after actual travel without considering other possible factors, present study incorporated the concept of ¡§ex-ante¡¨ and ¡§ex-post¡¨ self-image congruity and probed their effects on tourism satisfaction. Ex-ante self-image congruity are formed before actual travel; and after travel, tourist¡¦s perception will become ex-post self-image congruity. The author applied a two-stage research design collecting relevant data before and after travel. The empirical results showed that both ex-post self-image congruity and functional congruity have direct positive effect on satisfaction, and functional congruity also partially mediated self-image congruity¡¦s effect. The author also found multiple roles of ex-ante self-image congruity on satisfaction. As a kind of expectation, ex-ante self-image congruity has negative relationship with satisfaction; and possesses moderating effect as a possible motivation driver. Theoretical discussion and managerial implications are supplied.

Our experiment is aimed at understanding how employee reactions to negative feedback are received by the feedback provider and how employee gender may play a role in the process. We focus specifically on the act of crying and, based on role congruity theory, argue that a male employee crying in response to negative performance feedback will be seen as atypical behavior by the feedback provider, which will bias evaluations of the employee on a number of different outcome variables, including performance evaluations, assessments of leadership capability, and written recommendations. That is, we expect an interactive effect between gender and crying on our outcomes, an effect that will be mediated by perceived typicality. We find support for our moderated mediation model in a sample of 169 adults, indicating that men who cry in response to negative performance feedback will experience biased evaluations from the feedback provider. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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The problem of this study was to determine if the principle of congruity can be used as a reliable predictor of undergraduate students' attitude change toward a required speech course and toward the course instructor between the outset and the end of a semester.

Since the U.S. presidential election of 1800, candidates have selected campaign songs to underscore their political platforms. The literature on politics and music suggests that in modern campaigns, the significance of music rests not in the song itself but in the artist behind the song and the image associated with that particular artist. This analysis sought to convey how the very process of selecting a campaign song is a profound rhetorical act, and that songs chosen even in modern elections have a specific meaning and purpose tied to the political contexts in which they are embedded. Using an adaptation of Sellnow and Sellnow's "Illusion of Life" rhetorical perspective, which analyzes whether the musical score and lyrics of a single song form a congruent or incongruent relationship, this study analyzed the official campaign songs for both Republican and Democratic candidates for the 1972-2016 elections. The adaptation provided the opportunity to examine the intersection of music, rhetoric and politics, and explore evolving patterns and trends in campaign music.The primary findings of this research indicated that both Republican and Democratic candidates have predominantly made use of congruity in their campaign songs, with that congruity only increasing over time — a surprising result considering congruity can often diminish listener appeal. The song analyses also indicated that in general, Republican candidates tend to utilize songs that are positive and patriotic in nature, while their Democratic opponents incorporate songs that offer a critique of the nation. Additionally, findings also revealed a transition that began taking place in the 1970s to hit full stride in the 21st century, as campaign songs shifted from being a direct endorsement of candidates to focusing on universal themes that could appeal to both sides of the political spectrum.

As companies become ever more globalised, manufacture firms choose to outsource production to lower labour cost countries. However, as studies have shown, such a relocation of production may lead to undesirably decreased quality perceptions by consumers as the brand origin and country of production are de-coupled. This quality perception linked to congruity between brand origin and country of production has been studied for various products and product classes, but little has been written about how a luxury bed manufacturer may be affected by this phenomenon known as the country of origin effect. Thus in theory quality perceptions are higher if the brand origin and country of production are congruent and are further amplified if that country is already regarded highly in terms of production competence. In our study, we set out to verify this theory through a consumer-based questionnaire. Our results give strong evidence in support of this theory which is why we ultimately claim, from a theoretical standpoint, that the company we focus on should maintain its production location in Sweden.

¡§Brand¡¨ is not only the most valuable asset, but also a powerful marketing tool for the enterprises. As progressing of marketing management, co-branding strategy which combines two brand partners can bring profits and sustainable competitive advantages to the corporate enterprises. Between-partner congruity (BPC) has been identified as an influential factor in the success of a co-branding strategy, and there are two mainstreams of research in co-branding strategy exist: (1) linear relationship between BPC and co-brand evaluation or (2) reverse-U curve relationship between BPC and co-brand evaluation. Based on such inconsistent findings, this study explores how hedonic shopping motivation and ad focus affect consumers¡¦ evaluation toward the co-branded product through different levels of BPC. The present study employs an experimental design to investigate the effects of BPC (high vs. moderate vs. low), ad focus(product vs. brand), and hedonic shopping motivation (high vs. low) on consumers¡¦ evaluation of co-branded product. A 3x2x2 factorial design is conducted. Six different scenarios are established through virtual co-branded cell phone advertisement. Median split is used to distinguish consumers into high and low hedonic shopping motivation. Consumers¡¦ evaluation is measured by purchase intention, attitude toward the co-branded product, and perceived quality. The results indicated that when the ad focus is product, there is a linear relationship between BPC and consumers¡¦ evaluation. However, when the ad focus is brand, the aforementioned relationship becomes weaker. The linear relationship is robust for those consumers with low hedonic shopping motivation. On the other hand, when the ad focus is brand, moderate BPC would lead to higher purchase intention and quality perception for consumers with high hedonic shopping motivation. Based on the above findings, influences of ad focus should be considered when different levels of BPC are determined. Marketers should choose the right focus for higher evaluation toward co-branded products.

Powerful people perform observable agentic behaviors (e.g., directing tasks), and people expect powerful people to act in these agentic ways. Furthermore, Role Congruity Theory predicts that people are disliked when their behavior contradicts such expectations. To this end, we examined perceivers’ romantic liking for opposite-sex targets depending on whether or not the targets conformed to a powerful role. Participants interacted with two opposite-sex partners in brief, recorded sessions. We manipulated (a) which of the opposite-sex partners was actually given power and (b) participants’ perceptions of which opposite-sex partners was given power. Participants reported the most romantic liking for partners who actually were given power, but only when this reality matched participants’ perceptions of who had power. This interaction effect on liking was mediated by the time the opposite-sex partner directed the conversation; that is, when perceptions of power were shared, the powerful partner behaved more agentically and was better liked.

This research was initiated from two questions: what personality San Antonio has as a tourist destination despite its being an inanimate object and what relationships there are among destination personality, self-congruity, and visitors’ intentions. A conceptual framework was employed based on these questions, and this research focused on the generation of the destination personality of San Antonio and how destination personality and self-destination congruity influence visitors’ intentions. Data were collected from students (n=143) at Texas A&M University in consideration of Texas residents who have visited San Antonio as the focal population for this research. A personality scale consisting of 31 items for San Antonio was first developed from a preliminary survey (n=19), which were then included in a main survey for the measurement of destination personality. Using an exploratory factor analysis, destination personality dimensions were generated with the 31 personality traits. Finally, five personality dimensions were extracted with 25 traits. The five personality dimensions were: competence, sincerity, culture, excitement, and vibrancy. Three of five dimensions were found in Aaker’s (1997) scale: competence, sincerity, and excitement. The dimension of culture was specific to San Antonio, while the dimension of vibrancy was found in another destination personality study. In this research, six hypotheses regarding the relationships among destination personality, self-congruity, and visitors’ intentions were tested using a multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that: (1) hypotheses 1 and 2, destination personality will have a positive impact on visitors’ intentions to return and to recommend, were supported in part; (2) hypotheses 3 and 4, four types of self-congruity (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social self-congruity) will have a positive effect on visitors’ intentions to return and to recommend, were not supported, but self-congruity as a single dimension was significant; (3) hypotheses 5 and 6, four types of congruity will mediate the relationship between destination personality and intentions to return and to recommend, were not supported, while destination personality as a single dimension was significant in terms of visitors’ intentions. The results offered practical implications. First, destination marketers need to focus on the personality of a destination from a marketing perspective. Specifically, destination marketers for San Antonio should place emphasis on sincerity regarding intention to return and sincerity and excitement regarding intention to recommend in order to attract potential visitors to San Antonio. Second, destination marketers should know that there is a connection between destination personality and visitors’ personalities. They should make their efforts to market to potential visitors who have personalities that are consistent with the destination’s personality.

Könsfördelningen är ojämn i ledarpositioner då endast fyra av tio chefer är en kvinna. Det beror på bland annat att könsstereotyper bidrar till att män och kvinnor anses olika lämpade för en chefsroll. Studiens syfte var att undersöka universitetsstudenters upplevelse av olika ledarstilar och vilka karaktärsdrag som föredras i chefsrollen. 151 studenter läste en vinjett där en manlig, kvinnlig eller könsneutral chef hade communal eller agentic ledarstil. En trevägs-ANOVA visade att communal ledarstil upplevdes bättre än agentic ledarstil oavsett chefskön. Ett chi-två test för oberoende visade att oavsett ledarstil uppfattades könsneutrala chefen oftare som man än kvinna. Resultaten tyder på att det skett förändring i synen på en typisk ledarskapsstil, samtidigt som den stereotypa bilden av ett manligt chefskön fortfarande kan antas existera. Resultaten gick delvis i linje med tidigare forskning som visade på könsklyftan men att det har skett förändringar i moderna organisationer där kvinnligt ledarskap är oftare förekommande.