从人-品牌关系到人-地关系:自我目的地联结

From“People-Brand”Relationship to“People-Destination”Relationship:The Effects of Self-destination Connection

消费者与品牌的关系与人际关系存在许多相似之处,人际关系理论可以运用在人与品牌的关系中。目前,学者们对"人-品牌"关系作用机制已经进行了大量的研究,并已取得较为丰富的成果。文章借鉴已有的目的地品牌化研究成果,从目的地品牌化的角度对人地关系进行研究。文章在系统回顾现有文献的基础上,提出了自我目的地联结的概念,并勾画了关于人地关系的概念模型,通过真实游客的实证研究,对研究模型进行检验。实证研究结果发现:(1)自我目的地一致性感知对游客的目的地形象感知有显著的正向影响作用,自我目的地一致性越高,目的地形象感知越高;(2)自我目的地一致性通过自我目的地联结的中介作用而影响游客的目的地形象感知,即自我目的地一致性程度越高,游客感知的自我目的地联结越高,进而目的地形象感知越高;(3)自我目的地一致性对自我目的地联结的作用受到自我动机的调节,在自我确认动机条件下,自我目的地一致性能够显著提升游客的自我目的地联结程度;在自我提升动机条件下,这种促进作用并不显著。最后,文章为目的地企业和管理部门提出了针对性的意见和建议。

Owing to numerous similarities between consumer-brand relationships and human relationships, human relationship theories are especially suitedto explaining the consumer-brand relationship. The people-brand relationship has received considerable attention and marketing scholars have made numerous achievements in this area. The present study follows the paradigm of destination branding research and uses marketing theory relating to consumer-brand relationship to explore the people- destination relationship. After a systematic literature review, this paper proposes a new concept, self- destination connection, and establishes a research framework that incorporates self-destination congruence, self-destination connection, destination image and personalmotivation. Within this research framework, thispaper presents three hypotheses, namely： （1） self-destination congruence significantly and positively influences destination image as perceived by tourists, and this positive influence increases when self-destination congruence increases; （2） the effect of self-destination congruence on destination image as perceived by tourists is mediated by self-destination connection. Higher self-destination congruence increases self-destination connection, and ultimately enhances perceived destination image; （3） the effect of self-destination congruence on tourist self-destination connectionis moderated by personal motivation. In the self-verification condition, self-destination congruence significantly and positively influences tourist self-destination connection, an effect that is missing from the self-enhancement condition. We examined the framework through an empirical study. The author distributed 500 questionnaires in Guangdong Province from December, 2013 to February, 2014, and subsequently gathered 305 valid completed questionnaires. The measurement of all of the variables comes from the tested scales from first tier journals. Regarding sex, 32% of participants weremale while 68% werefemale. Over 90% of participants were between 21 and 40 years old. In terms of educational level, 40% of participants received a high school or lower education, and 57% received a college or university degree. The Harman＇ s single factor test and the variance inflation factor test show that the common method bias and multicoUinearity are not significant problems in the study. The validity and reliability tests, including confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach＇ s ~t test, composite construct reliability test, average variance extracted test, correlation test, and fit index test, indicate both the scale and the research model have high reliability and validity. The paper uses the PROCESS developed by Hayes to conduct the mediation test through the bootstrapping method and uses a hierarchical regression analysis to conduct the moderation test. The findings show that all three hypotheses are supported. Self-destination congruence significantly and positively influences tourist perceived destination image. Meanwhile, the effect of self-destination congruence on tourist perceived destination image is mediated by self-destination connection. Moreover, the effect of self-destination congruence on tourist self-destination connection is moderated by personal motive. The self-destination congruence significantly and positively influences tourist self-destination connectionin the self- verification condition,while no such effect exists in the self-enhancement condition.Finally, managerial suggestions and political recommendations are provided for the government responsible for managing the destination,as well as for related companies. These suggestions and recommendations can help build a strong and attractive image of adestination and transform a country such as China that covers a large territory into one that also has a strong image.