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Symbolic Consumption and BrandChoice: China’s Youth Hostels for theInternational Travel MarketXiaolu Sun, Philip Wang, Andrew Lepp & Linda RobertsonPublished online: 10 Mar 2014.

To cite this article: Xiaolu Sun, Philip Wang, Andrew Lepp & Linda Robertson (2014) SymbolicConsumption and Brand Choice: China’s Youth Hostels for the International Travel Market, Journal ofChina Tourism Research, 10:1, 51-68, DOI: 10.1080/19388160.2013.870950

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Symbolic Consumption and Brand Choice: China’sYouth Hostels for the International Travel Market

象征性消费与品牌选择：面向入境游客的中国青年旅舍

XIAOLU SUNPHILIP WANGANDREW LEPPLINDA ROBERTSON

With its expanding international tourism market, China is an increasingly attractivedestination country for student travelers and backpackers. This study exploresAmerican university students’ perceptions of youth hostels in China as a brand andtheir intention to use youth hostels, based on brand personality and self-congruitytheories. The use of brochures as a marketing tool for establishing an emotional linkare also examined. Using an experimental design and a questionnaire survey, the studyshows that congruity of self-image and brand personality correlate positively withintention to using a youth hostel, and that hostel brochures correlate positively withintentions for patronage. By understanding the self-and-brand linkage and its influ-ences on the participants’ intention to use a youth hostel, this study provides insightinto symbolic consumption in tourism. The results suggest that, for youth hostels andOther lodging facilities in China, increased business can come from developing adistinctive brand and relating the brand to the guests’ self-image, particularly amongWestern travelers for whom China is an increasingly popular destination.

KEYWORDS. China, youth hostel, symbolic consumption, self-congruity, image,intention, student traveler

随着中国入境旅游市场的不断扩大，作为旅游目的地国家的中国越来越受学生旅行者和背包客青睐。以品牌个性维度及消费者自我一致性理论为基础，本文探讨了美国高校学生对中国青年旅舍这一品牌的看法，以及他们作为潜在旅行者选择使用中国青年旅舍的意愿。本文同时论证了中国青年旅舍利用宣传单页此营销手段在建立消费者与品牌之间情感关联方面的有效性。研究采用实验设计与问卷调查相结合的方法，结果显示，潜在游客自我意象与品牌个性的一致性程度与他选择使用青年旅舍的意愿成正比，宣传单页亦对潜在游客选择使用青年旅舍的意愿有积极影响。基于对自我意象－品牌形象一致性程度的深入探

Xiaolu Sun is a M.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management, a graduate of Kent StateUniversity, Kent, Ohio, USA (E-mail: xsun6@kent.edu).

Philip Wang is an Associate Professor in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management in theCollege of Education, Health, and Human Services at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA(E-mail: pwang@kent.edu).

Andrew Lepp is an Associate Professor in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management in theCollege of Education, Health, and Human Services at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA(E-mail: alepp1@kent.edu).

Linda Robertson is the Director of the Gerald H. Read Center for International and InterculturalEducation at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA (E-mail: lfrobert@kent.edu).

Journal of China Tourism Research, 10: 51–68, 2014Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1938-8160 print / 1938-8179 onlineDOI: 10.1080/19388160.2013.870950

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讨，以及对测试者选择使用青年旅舍的意愿受该一致性水平影响的讨论，本研究对旅游当中的象征性消费行为提出了独到见解。研究表明，对于中国的青年旅舍以及其他食宿服务经营者来说，通过建立独具风格的品牌形象，并使品牌形象与目标客户（特别是以中国为旅行目的地的西方游客）的自我意象相关联，可以帮助实现商业成功。

关键词: 中国,青年旅舍,象征性消费,自我一致性理论,形象,意愿,学生旅行者

Introduction

In recent years, China has seen a rapid development in its tourism industry. As China’seconomy and culture continue to draw worldwide attention, foreign travelers are increas-ingly seeking to gain a better understanding of the country. China’s history, culture, andscenic landscapes are particularly alluring to young travelers, such as university studentsand backpackers (Locker-Murphy, 1996; Locker-Murphy & Pearce, 1995; Nash, Thyne &Davies, 2006) who travel for learning and adventure. Many of these travelers will useyouth hostels for their accommodation.

Similar to most consumption behavior that takes place during a leisure trip, choosingto stay in a youth hostel has not only a utilitarian purpose, but also symbolic meaning,such as being among young travelers and sharing the energy of youth. Thus, to stay in ayouth hostel is a means to an end, and an end in itself.

According to Grubb and Grathwohl (1967), exploration of symbolic meanings hasadded to the understanding of consumptive activities. The symbolic meaning of consump-tion behavior makes “an unspoken statement that a purchase or consumptive activitypresumably conveys about the consumer” (Dimanche & Samdahl, 1994, p. 121).Symbolic values of a leisure pursuit may provide participants with identity affirmation(Dimanche & Samdahl, 1994; Haggard & Williams, 1992). For example, Haggard andWilliams (1992) indicated that chess players affirmed their identity of being concentrativeand analytical, whereas backpackers affirmed their identity to be adventurous and carefree.Staying in a five-star hotel suite symbolized social status, wealth, and probably “a goodtaste in lifestyle” (Dimanche & Samdahl, 1994, p. 120). However, choosing to stay in abed-and-breakfast carries the symbol of being more cost-conscious and approachable. Bystudying “what are the symbolic meanings of choosing to stay in a youth hostel” in thepresent study, we seek to provide marketing suggestions for China’s youth hostel man-agers and tourism marketers.

Because the act of purchase may be propelled by seeking some symbolic value, it isimportant to understand how symbolic meanings are personalized or, alternatively, howconsumers internalize a product’s/brand’s symbolic value.

Consumer behavior has long been recognized as a reflection of the consumer’spersonality traits (Dimanche & Samdahl, 1994; Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967). Two of themost frequently used behavioral science theories in leisure studies are brand personalitytheory and self-congruity theory, which provide the theoretical support for the presentstudy.

Brand personality (BP) refers to “the set of human characteristics associated with abrand” (Aaker, 1997, p. 347). A key to establishing an outstanding brand is that consumersmake sense of the brand by relating it to personality traits, and choosing one brand overanOther enables the consumer to express his/her own self. In tourism studies, eachindividual destination is considered as a different brand with a particular brand personality

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(Ekinci & Hosany, 2006; Hosany, Ekinci & Uysal, 2006). In the present study, a youthhostel is taken as a brand and individual youth hostels are taken as destinations.

Self-congruity, also known as self-image/product-image congruity (Sirgy, 1982; Sirgyet al., 1997), refers to the congruence level between a consumer’s self-image (SI) and theimage of a specific product/brand (Sirgy, 1982). The higher the congruence level, the morelikely a purchase is to occur (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al.1997). That is, consumers tend to purchase those products/brands that correspond to theirown self-image. Additionally, product/brand images are reflected in the stereotypes of theusers (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al. 1997; Usaki & Baloglu,2011). That is, consumers make sense of a product/brand by the perceived image ofcustomers who usually consume it. In tourism studies, typical user image is also referredto as destination visitor image (VI), which is “the stereotypic image of the kind of peoplewho typically visit a given destination” (Sirgy & Su, 2000, p. 340).

In the present study, visitor image refers to the image of guests who visit specificyouth hostels (as destinations) and use youth hostels in general (as a brand). In practice,destinations need to focus on establishing a brand personality that creates a link to thetourist self-image (BP/SI) (Aaker, 1997; Ekinci, 2003). The emphasis in self-congruity, onthe Other hand, is on achieving a high congruence level between the tourist self-image andthe destination visitor image (SI/VI) as a way of grooming a favorable attitude towards thedestination.

It is reasonable to suggest that product personality and consumer attitudes are affectedby marketing media, such as hostel brochures. Their contents, including narratives andpictures, may deliver a message intended to portray a positive impact to the reader. Theaims of this study are to explore self-congruity related to intention to use a youth hostel,and to examine the role of brochures in both self-congruity and intention to use a youthhostel.

The results of the present study will contribute to increasing knowledge of youthhostels as a tourism brand and marketing of China’s youth hostels. Using a US universitystudent sample and looking at their perceptions of youth hostels in China, this study hasimplications for China’s development of its international tourism market, particularly withregard to Western travelers. China has become a major destination nation that attractedover 57 million international visitors in 2012 (UNWTO, 2013). Understanding the sym-bolic values of China’s youth hostels is important for sustaining market growth.

The results of the present study will contribute to developing knowledge regardingyouth hostels as a tourism brand. If brochures prove to significantly change intentions touse a youth hostel, recommendations can be made for marketing China’s youth hostels.

Literature Review

Destination Branding

Brands may provide various benefits to customers: brands differentiate products andrepresent a promise of value (Aaker, 1997; Morgan, Pritchard & Piggott, 2003), increaseusage and preferences (Sirgy, 1982), develop emotional ties between consumer and brand(Morgan et al., 2003), and enable a consumer to express self-identity (Aaker, 1997;Morgan et al., 2003). The idea of destination branding arose from destination imagestudies (Ekinci, 2003). Ekinci (2003) proposed a three-stage process for establishing asuccessful destination brand: establishing destination images, destination branding, andachieving a distinctive brand personality. In this process, Ekinci argued that branding was

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the second stage of building a favorable destination image because branding wouldestablish an emotional link with the customers. He also noted that, in a tourism area,such an emotional link only exists between visitors and those destinations that are“branded.”

Ekinci’s (2003) point on destination branding has been widely supported by Othertourism researchers. For example, Hankinson (2001) conducted research exploring therole branding played in the marketing of 12 cities in the UK, and concluded thatbranding of locations can be an effective tool in promoting local tourism. Morganet al.’s (2003) conducted similar research on the creation of the New Zealand brandand the roles of the stakeholders. They emphasized that successful branding of adestination (such as New Zealand) could bring “celebrity value and emotional appeal”(Morgan et al., 2003, p. 296).

Brand Personality

According to Ekinci (2003), the key determinant of destination branding is to establish abrand personality, the third step in his three-step process to develop a favorable destinationimage. In Ekinci’s words, brand personality “brings the destination image alive” (Ekinci,2003, p. 22).

Aaker (1997) developed a Brand Personality Scale (BPS) to measure brand person-ality. This BPS was developed on the basis of psychological personality scales, personalityscales used by marketers, and original qualitative research of personality traits associatedwith numerous famous brands. Although Sirgy et al. (1997) criticized the use of dimen-sion-based measures, such as the BPS, because they might lead to predetermined imagesof brand personality, the BPS developed by Aaker (1997) is recognized as a valid andreliable scale to measure brand personality (Usakli & Balogu, 2011).

The BPS provides a way to measure not only the brand personality but also the self-congruity of specific brands. In tourism studies, several researchers (e.g. Hosany, Ekinci &Uysal, 2006; Murphy, Benckendorff, & Moscardo, 2007; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011) haveused the BPS in examining the relationship between the quality of the brand personality/tourist’s self-image link and attitudes towards a destination. For example, Murphy et al.’s(2007) and Usakli and Baloglu’s (2011) studies supported a positive correlation betweentourists’ self-congruity level and attitudes towards destinations. Boksberger, Dolnicar,Laesser, & Randle (2011) ran an empirical study on a large sample of Swiss tourists,assessing their self-congruity in terms of different tourism destinations they had traveled toand concluded that more than half of the cases demonstrated self-congruity. Previousstudies have provided much insight into the relationships between tourists’ attitudestowards a destination (especially intention to visit a destination) and the self-image/brand personality link (SI/BP), as well as between tourists’ attitudes and the self-image/visitor-image link (SI/VI).

Self-concept and Self-congruity Theory

Choice in tourism destination is not determined solely by the destination image perceivedby the tourist, but is also influenced by how the perceived destination image agrees withthe tourist’s perception of him/herself (Sirgy & Su, 2000). In earlier studies, self-conceptwas a unidimensional idea that considered solely how one actually perceived oneself(Malhotra, 1988). However, later studies conceptualized self-concept as having multiplecomponents: actual self-concept, ideal self-concept, and social self-concept (Malhotra,

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1988; Sirgy, 1982). Sirgy (1982) identified four major types of self-concept: actual self-concept (how a person actually perceives him/herself), ideal self-concept (how a personwould like to perceive him/herself), social self-concept (how a person thinks Othersperceive him/herself), and ideal social self-concept (how a person would like Others toperceive him/herself).

On the basis of these four types of self-concept, Sirgy (1982) also developed fourtypes of self-congruity in which each of the self-concepts related to the perceived product/brand image: actual self-congruity (the actual image of oneself), ideal self-congruity (theimage of oneself as one would like to be), social self-congruity (the image of oneself heldby significant Others), and ideal social self-congruity (the image of oneself one would likesignificant Others to hold). Among the four congruence relationships, actual self-congruityand ideal self-congruity were reported to have the strongest influence on consumerbehaviors (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982).

In previous research, self-congruity theory has been used to predict consumer beha-viors in numerous areas, such as in regard to the automobile market (Branaghan &Hildebrand, 2011; Hughes & Guerrero, 1971), soft drinks (Branaghan & Hildebrand,2011), sponsored promotional events (Close, Krishen, & Latour, 2009), fashion andlifestyle brands (Khan, 2010), retail markets (He & Mukherjee, 2007), and gift-givingdecisions (Liu, Lu, Liang, & Wei, 2010). It is generally supported that self-congruity hasan effect over consumer attitudes/behaviors towards products/brands. Brand personalityanalysis has been used in many destination self-congruity studies (Boksberger et al. 2011;Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Kastenholz, 2003; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011). For example,continuing Sirgy and Su’s (2000) interest in destination self-congruity, Kastenholz (2003)attempted to explore the measurement of destination self-congruity (DSC) and its influ-ence on tourist behavior, addressing DSC as a dimension of destination image. Kastenholz(2003) considered DSC to be the result of a direct comparison between actual self-imageand affective destination image, or the “holistic personality of the destination”, andmeasured both self-image and destination image on 16 semantic differential scales thatreflected personality traits. On the basis of an exploratory study, Kastenholz (2003)concluded that, as suggested by Sirgy and Su (2000), it appeared that a scale-by-scalecomparison was valid only if it was based on a comparison between personality traits ofself and of Other tourists.

Consistent with Sirgy and Su (2000), Kastenholz (2003) and Helgeson andSupphellen (2004) reported important differences in measurements of self-congruity andof brand personality. The results were from an examination of self-congruity and brandpersonality measures and measurement procedures suggested by Aaker (1997) and Sirgyet al. (1997). Among many of the differences identified was a high level of self-awarenessin self-congruity measurements, compared with that in brand personality measurements.Self-awareness, as introduced by Helgeson and Supphellen (2004), refers to the fact thatmeasures focus highly on oneself when comparing oneself and typical brand users.Considering the results of a two-stage study, the researchers concluded that self-congruityand brand personality each had independent effects on brand attitude. However, theresearchers also suggested that brand personality be used to define the specific personalitycharacteristics that form the basis for self-congruity.

The present study had two purposes: to examine self-congruity theory regarding youthhostels as a brand and youth hostels in China as destinations, and to examine the functionof brochures as marketing tools for youth hostel in establishing an emotional link withguests. It seems reasonable that the congruence level of a tourist’s self-image/brandpersonality (SI/BP) of a youth hostel would be correlated positively with intention to

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use a youth hostel, and that the congruence level of a tourist’s self-image/visitor-image (SI/VI) of youth hostels would be correlated positively with intention to use a youth hostel.Furthermore, youth hostel brochures, as a marketing tool, are supposed to have positiveinfluences on tourists’ intentions to use a youth hostel. Given this background, thefollowing hypotheses are developed:

Hypothesis 1: The greater the congruence between a tourist’s self-image (SI)and the brand personality (BP) of a youth hostel, the higher is the tourist’sin-tention to use a youth hostel.

Hypothesis 2: The greater the congruence between a tourist’s self-image (SI)and destination visitor image (VI) of youth hostel guests, the higher isthetourist’s intention to use a youth hostel.

Hypothesis 3: The intervention of brochures has a positive influence ontour-ists’ intentions in using a youth hostel.

Hypothesis 4: The intervention of brochures has a positive influence onthetourists’ self-image/brand personality (SI/BP) congruity of youth hostels.

Hypothesis 5: The intervention of brochures has a positive influence onthetourists’ self-image/visitor-image (SI/VI) congruity of youth hostels.

Research Methodology

In this study, we explored relationships between tourists’ congruity levels (SI/BP con-gruity and SI/VI congruity) and their intentions to use a youth hostel, as well as youthhostel brochures’ impacts on tourists’ perceptions and decisions. To study the impact ofbrochures as a marketing tool, a classic two-group experimental design was used, andseveral youth hostel brochures collected from youth hostels in China were used as theintervention. A pre-test was conducted in both the experimental group and the controlgroup. A post-test was performed on the experimental group after displaying the inter-vention, and on the control group without the intervention. The following sectionsdescribe the measurements and sampling.

Focus Group

As suggested by Hosany, Ekinci, and Uysal (2006), the Brand Personality Scale (BPS),developed by Aaker (1997), is the most comprehensive instrument for brand personalitymeasurement. However, some of the items in BPS are redundant in the context of tourismdestinations (Hosany, Ekinci & Uysal, 2006; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011). The BPS measure-ment used in the present study adapts the global measurement suggested by Sirgy et al.(1997) and follows the two-stage procedure carried out by Usakli and Baloglu (2011):unique personality trait generation and BPS content validity.

A focus group study was used in the development of BP and VI scales and measure-ments. A group of 12 tourism management major professors (two) and graduate students(ten) at a US university were treated as the focus group because of their professionalknowledge in tourism studies. Specific demographic information of the focus group wasnot recorded; however, the students were of the same age range as typical youth hostelusers and the group consisted of both American and Chinese persons and both males andfemales. First, the focus group was asked to think of a youth hostel as if it were a person

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and to write down the personality traits that first came to mind. The top five mostfrequently identified personality traits raised by the focus group were included in thepersonality traits pool. Next, the same group of subjects was used in the BPS contentvalidity stage. The 42 personality traits in the BPS developed by Aaker (1997) were testedfor content validity. The focus group of professors and students was asked to think of ayouth hostel as if it was a person, and to select the most descriptive personality traits fromthe 42-item list in describing the personality of a youth hostel, through discussion.AnOther five frequently acknowledged personality traits from the BPS scale in the contentvalidity test were included in the brand personality measurement. In total, ten personalitytraits (five from the unique personality generation step and five from the BPS contentvalidity step) were used in the youth hostel BP measurement. Likewise, the same focusgroup was asked to visualize and describe an image of typical visitors who use youthhostels. Ten visitor images identified in this stage were used in the youth hostel VImeasurement.

Pre-test, Brochure Intervention, and Post-test

Youth hostel brochures, as a marketing tool, were hypothesized to have an impact ontourists’ perceptions on youth hostels and on guests, as well as their intention to use ayouth hostel. Thus, the following three parts were included in both the pre-test and post-test: (1) measurement of youth hostel BP and participants’ SI/BP congruity; (2) measure-ment of VI of youth hostels and participants’ SI/VI congruity; and (3) intention to useyouth hostels in the future. In the first and second parts of the pre-test, youth hostel BP andVI were measured on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) Not descriptive at all to(7) Extremely descriptive. SI/BP congruities and SI/VI congruities were measured on aseven-point Likert scale ranging from (1) Strongly disagree to (7) Strongly agree.

In addition to the participants’ perceptions of youth hostel BP and VI, their congruitylevels, and their intention to use a youth hostel, the pre-test also included: (4) participants’tourist type, (5) their information sources, and (6) demographic information.

According to many previous researchers (Hecht & Martin, 2006; Nash, Thyne, &Davies, 2006; Thyne, Davies, & Nash, 2004), backpackers, as a distinctive tourist groupwho use youth hostels, belong to the category of non-institutional tourists (drifters andexplorers), as defined by Cohen (1972). Thus, it is reasonable to examine the relationshipbetween tourist type and tourists’ intention to use a youth hostel. Four statements, eachdescribing behaviors of one of Cohen’s (1972) four tourist types (organized mass tourists,individual mass tourists, explorers, and drifters), were presented to the participants in thepre-test. Participants were asked to choose the one statement that describes their travelcharacteristics best. The results were used to determine the participants’ tourist type.

A selection of youth hostel brochures was used in this study as the intervention. Intotal, 187 youth hostels were part of the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) of China at thetime of the present study. Each youth hostel has a collection of brochures used by its frontdesk for cross-advertising purposes. The collection at each youth hostel included bro-chures from Other hostels located around the country. The present study took advantage oftwo individual youth hostels’ collections of brochures from their “friend” youth hostels.The intervention of youth hostel brochures was selected in two steps. First, youth hostelbrochures were collected from two youth hostels in China (Shanghai Captain Youth Hosteland Chengdu Dragon Town International Youth Hostel). One copy of each brochure wascollected from the collections of the two youth hostels. The two youth hostels were chosenfor convenience reason. Brochures were collected when one of the authors stayed in the

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youth hostels. More importantly, the two hostels were far from each Other. They wereowned by different individuals, and not members of a “friend hostel” group. The twoyouth hostels were relatively large and popular facilities in well-known destination cities.They were frequented by both domestic and international travelers. In total, 64 youthhostel brochures were collected in the first step. Second, 10 brochures were selected fromthe 64 brochures collected in the first step. The 10 brochures used in the intervention werefrom hostels in Beijing, Chengdu, and Kunming (two hostels each), and Guilin,Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Yangzhou (one each). Color print copies of the ten brochureswere presented to the experimental group as the intervention.

Pilot Study and Data Collection. Students (n = 43) in two classes at a university in northeastOhio were invited to participate in a pilot study. This university was chosen because theauthors worked/studied there. With approximately 30,000 students on the campus, it was apublic comprehensive university similar to many higher education institutions across the US.According to their seating (left and right sides of the room), participants were assigned to theexperimental group (n = 22) and the control group (n = 21). Each group was asked tocomplete the survey (pre-test, intervention, and post-test) and to make comments on theclarity of questions and scale measurements. Appropriate recommendations from partici-pants were incorporated into the final version of the survey.

Data were collected in the spring semester at the same university in the United Statesin March and April 2012. A convenience sample was used in the present study.Participants were approached at four classes (three undergraduate classes and one gradu-ate-level class). Participants voluntarily completed the pre-test the first time the researchervisited the classes, and participated in the intervention and post-test in the class one weekafter the pre-test. Half of each class was randomly assigned to the experimental group andthe Other half to the control group. The pre-test was conducted on both the experimentaland control groups. The post-test was conducted on the experimental group after theintervention (the youth hostel brochures) was displayed, and on the control group withoutthe intervention of youth hostel brochures. Both pre-test and post-test were pen-and-pencilquestionnaires.

Data Analysis. Correlations (Pearson’s r) were used to determine relationships betweentourists’ self-image/brand personality (SI/BP) congruity and intention to use a youthhostel, and self-image/visitor-image (SI/VI) congruity and intention to use a hostel.Dependent t-tests were performed to investigate the influence of the intervention ofbrochures on tourists’ intentions to stay in youth hostels, as well as on tourists’ congruitylevels. Frequencies and descriptives were used to investigate the relationships betweentourist types and participants’ intention to use youth hostels, and participants’ informationsources through which they learned about youth hostels. Finally, one-way analysis ofvariance (ANOVA) was performed to investigate the significance of the relationshipsbetween tourist types and participants’ intentions to use youth hostels.

Results

Description of the Sample

In total, 112 students at a university in the United States participated in the survey, and 93valid samples were used in the study (n = 93). Of the 93 samples, 46 were randomlyassigned to the experimental group (n = 46), and the Other 47 were assigned to the control

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group (n = 47). The average age of the participants was 21.98 (SD = 5.25). The samplegroup included 61 (65.6%) females and 32 (34.4%) males, which is comparable to thegender ratio at the university generally: 59% female, 41% male. The sample included bothundergraduate (n = 79; 84.9%) and graduate students (n = 14; 15.1%). Of the sample, 15participants (16.1%) had experience staying in a youth hostel prior to the study.

Brand Personality and Visitor Image of Youth Hostels

Youth hostel brand personality (BP) traits were measured on a seven-point Likert scale(1 = Not descriptive at all, 7 = Extremely descriptive). In total, 10 personality traits wereexamined in all participants (n = 93; see Table 1). Average scores were used to indicate thedescriptiveness of each brand personality trait. Results showed that the most commonlyperceived youth hostel brand personality characteristics of the participants in this samplegroup were young (mean = 5.29, SD = 1.67, 71.5% descriptive), easy-going and friendly(mean = 5.08, SD = 1.59, 68.0% descriptive), and real (mean = 5.04, SD = 1.39, 67.3%descriptive).

Ten images of visitors (VI) who stay at youth hostels were measured on a seven-pointLikert scale (1 = Not descriptive at all, 7 = Extremely descriptive; see Table 2). Average

Table 1. Brand Personality of Youth Hostel.

Personality traits Mean Standard deviation Descriptive level

Young 5.29 1.67 71.5%Easy-going/friendly 5.08 1.59 68%Real 5.04 1.39 67.3%Simple 4.98 1.45 66.3%Brave/daring 4.91 1.38 65.2%Low-maintenance 4.86 1.65 64.3%Energetic 4.74 1.51 62.3%Outdoorsy 4.74 1.56 62.3%Original 4.71 1.52 61.8%Honest 4.49 1.61 58.2%

Table 2. Visitor Image of Youth Hostel.

Personality traits Mean Standard deviation Descriptive level

Student/young 5.89 1.43 81.5%Limit-budgeted 5.83 1.26 80.5%Adaptable 5.83 1.26 80.5%Open-minded 5.78 1.22 79.7%Low-maintenance 5.37 1.50 72.8%Friendly 5.26 1.24 71.0%Single 5.20 1.46 70.0%Patient 5.04 1.34 67.3%Hippies 4.71 1.63 61.8%Long-term travelers 4.34 1.63 55.7%

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scores were used to indicate the descriptiveness of youth hostel visitor images. Analysesshowed that the most commonly perceived youth hostel VI by the participants in thissample group could be described as student and young (mean = 5.89, SD = 1.43, 81.5%descriptive), limited-budget (mean = 5.83, SD = 1.26, 80.5% descriptive), adaptable(mean = 5.83, SD = 1.26, 80.5% descriptive), and open-minded (mean = 5.78,SD = 1.22, 79.7% descriptive).

Correlations between Congruities and Intention

Correlations were used to determine relationships between tourists’ self-image/brandpersonality (SI/BP) congruity and intention to use a youth hostel, and self-image/visitor-image (SI/VI) congruity and intention to use a hostel. As suggested by previous research-ers (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982, 1985), actual self-congruity and ideal self-congruity have the strongest influence on consumer behavior. Thus, actual and ideal SI/BPcongruities, together with actual and ideal SI/VI congruities, were measured in the presentstudy on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) Strongly disagree to (7) Stronglyagree. The single-item statement of actual SI/BP congruity is: “I see myself as quitesimilar to the personality of the youth hostel,” while the statement of ideal SI/BP congruitystatement is: “I would like to see myself as similar to the personality of the youth hostel.”For SI/VI congruity, the single-item statement of actual congruity is: “I see myself as quitesimilar to those people who choose to stay at a youth hostel,” and the ideal congruitystatement is: “I would like to see myself as similar to those people who choose to stay at ayouth hostel.” Correlation analyses were based on congruity levels and intention to use ayouth hostel, as reflected in both the pre-test and the post-test (see Table 3).

In the pre-test, analyses showed four weak-to-moderate (Pearson r) but significantcorrelations between SI/BP and SI/VI congruities and intention to use a youth hostel. Inthe post-test, analyses showed four moderate-to-strong (Pearson r), and significant corre-lations between SI/BP and SI/VI congruities and intention to use a youth hostel. In the pre-test, weak but significant correlations were seen between tourists’ actual SI/BP congruityand tourists’ intention to use a youth hostel (r = 0.431, p < 0.001) as well as between idealSI/BP congruity and intention to stay in a youth hostel (r = 0.429, p < 0.001). In the post-test, moderate but significant correlations were reflected between tourists’ actual SI/BPcongruity and tourists’ intention to use a youth hostel (r = 0.633, p < 0.001) as well asbetween ideal SI/BP congruity and intention to stay in a youth hostel (r = 0.613,

Table 3. Correlations between Congruities and Intention to Use a Youth Hostel.

Test Correlations Pearson r p

Pre-test Actual SI/BP congruity & intention 0.431** 0.000Ideal SI/BP congruity & intention 0.429** 0.000Actual SI/VI congruity & intention 0.569** 0.000Ideal SI/VI congruity & intention 0.499** 0.000

Post-test Actual SI/BP congruity & intention 0.633** 0.000Ideal SI/BP congruity & intention 0.613** 0.000Actual SI/VI congruity & intention 0.718** 0.000Ideal SI/VI congruity & intention 0.729** 0.000

Note. **p < 0.001

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p < 0.001). These results support Hypothesis 1: the higher the SI/BP congruity, the highera tourist’s intention to use a youth hostel.

In the pre-test, moderate but significant correlations existed between tourists’ actual SI/VI congruity and tourists’ intention to use youth hostels (r = 0.569, p < 0.001) as well asbetween ideal SI/VI congruity and intention to stay in youth hostels (r = 0.499, p < 0.001).In the post-test, strong and significant correlations existed between tourists’ actual SI/VIcongruity and tourists’ intention to use youth hostels (r = 0.718, p < 0.001) as well asbetween ideal SI/VI congruity and intention to stay in youth hostels (r = 0.729, p < 0.001).Thus, Hypothesis 2 is supported: the higher the SI/VI congruity, the higher a tourist’sintention to use a youth hostel.

Generally, the results show that both SI/BP and SI/VI congruities are significantpredictors of a tourist’s intention to visit a youth hostel. The strongest correlation existsbetween actual SI/VI congruity and intention to use a youth hostel (r = 0.569, p < 0.001)in the pre-test, and between ideal SI/VI congruity and intention to stay in a youth hostel(r = 0.729, p < 0.001) in the post-test. These results indicate that among the fourcongruities, the congruity level between a tourist’s perception of youth hostel visitorimage and his/her self-image may be the stronger predictor of his/her intention to stayin a youth hostel. That is, among the four congruities, when a tourist perceives how he/sheactually does or would like to look at him/herself is similar to how he/she feels about thosetourists who stay in youth hostels, then he/she is most likely to choose to use youthhostels. Thus, the self-congruity theory is supported by the results of the present study onpotential tourists’ intentions to use youth hostels.

Influences of Intervention

A dependent t-test was conducted to determine the influence of the youth hostel brochureintervention on tourists’ intention to use a youth hostel (see Table 4). Participants’intentions to stay in a youth hostel were measured on a seven-point Likert scale. In theexperimental group (n = 46), after the intervention of the youth hostel brochures, partici-pants’ intentions to visit a youth hostel (mean = 3.57, SD = 1.94) differed from that beforethe intervention (mean = 2.41, SD = 1.89). There is a statistically significant difference(t = 4.811, df = 45, p < 0.001). However, in the control group (n = 47), without theintervention of the youth hostel brochures, participants’ intentions to stay in a youth hostelin the post-test (mean = 3.81, SD = 2.04) are almost the same as those in the pre-test(mean = 3.64, SD = 2.03). There is no statistically significant difference between theresults of the post-test and the pre-test (t = 0.709, df = 46, p = 0.482). These resultsindicate that the intervention of the youth hostel brochures, as an informational source,

Table 4. The Influence of Youth Hostel Brochure Intervention on Tourists’ Intention toUse a Youth Hostel.

Group Test n MeanStandarddeviation t df

Sig. (two-tailed)

Experimentalgroup

Pre-test 46 2.41 1.89 -4.811 45 0.000Post-test 46 3.57 1.94

Control group Pre-test 47 3.64 2.03 –0.709 46 0.482Post-test 47 3.81 2.04

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significantly increase potential tourists’ intention to use youth hostels. Thus, Hypothesis 3is supported.

Dependent t-tests were used to investigate the influence of the youth hostel brochureintervention on tourists’ self-image/brand personality (SI/BP) congruities and self-image/visitor-image (SI/VI) congruities. In the control group, no significant changes are found inactual SI/BP congruity (t = 0.198, df = 46, p = 0.844), ideal SI/BP congruity (t = 0.350, df = 46,p = 0.728), actual SI/VI congruity (t = 0.313, df = 46, p = 0.756), or ideal SI/VI congruity(t = 0.275, df = 46, p = 0.785). However, in the experimental group, after the intervention of theyouth hostel brochures, actual SI/BP congruity (t = 0.455, df = 45, p = 0.651) and ideal SI/BPcongruity (t = 1.446, df = 45, p = 0.155) barely change, whereas actual SI/VI congruity(t = 1.826, df = 45, p = 0.075) and ideal SI/VI congruity (t = 2.446, df = 45, p = 0.018) dochange. The change in actual SI/VI congruity is significant at the 0.1 level, and that in ideal SI/VI congruity is significant at the 0.05 level (see Table 5). The change in ideal SI/VI congruityafter the intervention of the youth hostel brochures is statistically significant. Generally, theanalyses show that the youth hostel brochure intervention has an influence on tourists’ self-image/perceived-image (SI/BP and SI/VI) congruities, and a significant change is observed inideal SI/VI congruity. Thus, these findings support Hypotheses 4 and 5.

Tourist Type and Youth Hostel

The analyses of tourist types were conducted to determine tourists’ intention to stay in a youthhostel with regard to their travel style. Of the sample, 11 participants (11.8%) said they are oforganized mass tourists, 26 participants (28.0%) are individual mass tourists, 49 (52.7%) areexplorers, and seven (7.5%) are drifters. Participants’ intention to visit a youth hostel increases

Table 5. The Influence of Youth Hostel Brochure Intervention on Tourists’ Self-image/Perceived-image Congruities of Youth Hostel.

Group Congruity Test n MeanStandarddeviation t df

Sig. (two-tailed)

ExperimentalGroup

Actual SI/BP Pre 46 3.50 1.55 0.455 45 0.651Post 46 3.59 1.73

Ideal SI/BP Pre 46 3.63 1.74 1.446 45 0.155Post 46 3.93 1.83

Actual SI/VI Pre 46 3.39 1.67 1.826 45 0.075Post 46 3.84 1.79

Ideal SI/VI Pre 46 3.46 1.77 2.446 45 0.018Post 46 4.04 1.69

ControlGroup

Actual SI/BP Pre 47 4.00 1.59 0.198 46 0.844Post 47 3.98 1.58

Ideal SI/BP Pre 47 3.81 1.62 0.350 46 0.728Post 47 3.85 1.52

Actual SI/VI Pre 47 4.09 1.74 0.313 46 0.756Post 47 4.04 1.78

Ideal SI/VI Pre 47 4.21 1.78 0.275 46 0.785Post 47 4.17 1.58

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from institutionalized tourists (organized mass tourists: mean = 2.36, SD = 1.96; individualtourists: mean = 2.54, SD = 1.88) to non-institutionalized tourists (explorers: mean = 3.24,SD = 2.03; drifters: mean = 4.57, SD = 2.23; see Table 6).

A one-way ANOVA was used to investigate the significance of the relationshipbetween tourist type and participants’ intention to use youth hostels. The analysis showsthat the relationship between tourist types (institutionalized and non-institutionalizedtourists) and participants’ intention to use a youth hostel is statistically significant at the0.05 level (F = 4.747, p = 0.032). That is, youth hostels are more attractive to non-institutionalized tourists (explorers and drifters) than to institutionalized tourists (massorganized tourists and individual organized tourists; see Table 7).

Discussion

The findings of the present study indicate that potential tourists perceive certain brandpersonalities of youth hostels, as well as images of youth hostel guests. The Chinese youthhostel brand personality is young, easy-going, friendly, and real. Travelers who stay inyouth hostels are perceived to be young students who are on a limited budget, and aregenerally adaptable and open-minded. Positive correlations are discovered between self-image/brand personality congruity and intention to use a youth hostel, and between self-image/hostel guest image congruity and intention to use a youth hostel. In addition,brochures have an impact on three variables: intention to use a youth hostel, the perceptionof oneself being similar to the youth hostel brand personality, and the perception of oneselfbeing similar to Other hostel guests.

It is important to explore youth hostel brand personality and youth hostel visitorimages because, as Ekinci (2003) noted, an appealing and distinctive brand image estab-lishes an emotional linkage with potential tourists, which was the key to “positioning” atourism destination. Youth hostels, as a global tourism brand with over 100 years ofhistory, may achieve sustainable development by successful branding. As youth hostelmanagers in China are exploring how to attract inbound tourists to stay in their hostels, an

Table 6. Tourist Type and Intention to Use a Youth Hostel.

Tourist type n Mean Standard deviation

Organized mass tourist 11 2.36 1.96Individual mass tourist 26 2.54 1.88Explorer 49 3.24 2.03Drifter 7 4.57 2.23

Table 7. Significance of the Relationship between Tourist Types and Participants’Intention to Use Youth Hostels. Intention to use youth hostels.

Sum of squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 19.031 1 19.031 4.747 0.032Within Groups 364.797 91 4.009Total 383.828 92

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in-depth understanding of youth hostels and their perceived brand images may contributeto their branding strategies.

In addition, as noted by Aaker (1997), perceived brand personality is largely influ-enced by a brand’s user imagery. In this regard, the perceived youth hostel brandpersonality is closely related to youth hostel visitor image. For example, young isperceived to be both a youth hostel brand personality characteristics and a youth hostelvisitor image. The perceived brand personality characteristics of easy-going and friendlyare similar to the perceived youth hostel visitor images of adaptability and open-mindedattitude.

The fundamental premise of self-congruity theory (i.e. a high congruence levelbetween self-image (SI) and perceived brand/product image indicates high consumptionintention) is supported by the present study in terms of brand personality (BP) and youthhostel visitor image (VI). Weak-to-moderate but significant correlations exist betweenactual SI/BP, ideal SI/BP, and intention to use a youth hostel. Moderate-to-strong andsignificant correlations exist between actual SI/VI, ideal SI/VI congruities, and partici-pants’ intentions to use youth hostels. The results indicate that the higher the congruencelevel between how a tourist looks at his/her own self and how the tourist perceives theyouth hostel and its guests, the more likely the individual is to use youth hostels in futuretrips.

In the comparison between youth hostel brand personality (BP) and youth hostelvisitor image (VI), stronger correlations are found between SI/VI and intention to stay in ayouth hostel than between SI/BP and intention to use a youth hostel. That is, SI/VIcongruities are stronger in predicting consumption intentions than are SI/BP congruitiesin the case of youth hostels. A reason for the difference could be that the perceived youthhostel visitor image is clearer and more distinctive than the perceived youth hostel brandpersonality, perhaps because the sample group consist of university students. We suggestthat the participants in the study, in their minds’ eyes, could better project themselves asyouth hostel guests than visualizing a youth hostel’s personality. It can be argued thatyouth hostel brand personalities and visitor images may be perceived differently amongdifferent sample groups. As noted by Aaker (1997), the creation of user imagery couldcontribute to the establishment of a unique brand, and that creating a unique user imageryis one of a brand advertiser’s essential marketing strategies. The perceived youth hostelvisitor images of young, adaptable, and open-minded people could contribute to theestablishment of a unique youth hostel brand. On the Other hand, youth hostel managersalso need to pay attention to those visitor images that could be negative, such as those ofhippies (mean = 4.71, SD = 1.63, 61.83% descriptive).

Some interesting patterns exist in the relationship between tourist type and tourists’attitudes towards youth hostels. As noted by Cohen (1972), explorers and drifters are moreattracted to novelty seeking, whereas organized mass tourists and individual mass touristsare more familiarity oriented. In the case of youth hostel use, as indicated by manyresearchers (Hecht & Martin, 2006; Nash, Thyne, & Davies, 2006; Thyne, Davies, &Nash, 2004), non-institutionalized tourists are more attracted to use youth hostels thaninstitutionalized tourists. In the present study, explorers and drifters are not only reportedto have more experience staying in youth hostels, but also indicate more interested inusing one in future trips.

As for the youth hostel’s target market, backpacking tourists are one of the essentialgroups, not only for the images of backpackers marching and youth hostel visitors, butalso for what a youth hostel has to offer (e.g. economical lodging, opportunities to meetfellow travelers) and backpackers’ needs. In terms of tourist type, explorers and drifters are

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most likely to use a youth hostel, as in backpacking tourism research. However, the resultsof the present study also show that some individual mass tourists have previous experiencestaying in youth hostels, and are likely to choose a youth hostel in future trips. Individualmass tourists can also be considered as a potential market group to be explored by youthhostel managers.

Youth hostel brochures, even though they have a significant influence on potentialtourists’ intentions to stay in youth hostels, are one of the least common informationsources among the research sample. Of the 93 participants in the survey, only five (5.4%)have learned about youth hostels through brochures. In addition, given that youth hostelbrochures can only be found at individual youth hostels, youth hostel brochures may be auseful marketing tool to reach tourists who have already stayed in youth hostels onprevious trips. It is reasonable to question youth hostel marketing media use in terms ofreaching different market groups. For example, the Internet is shown to be the mostcommon source among the sample. However, travel guidebooks (such as Lonely Planet)can also be an effective information source among backpacker communities (Elsrud, 2001,p. 608).

Implications

The present study focuses on the youth hostel as a tourism brand and explored itsperceived images (brand personality and visitor images). The concepts could be appliedto Other tourism services and visitor destinations in China, such as the Great Wall, theForbidden City, and the Terracotta Warriors. Clear understanding of the perceived brandpersonality and visitor image of a tourism destination is essential to “position” destinationmarketing (Ekinci, 2003, p. 21). As travelers’ choices of tourism destinations increase,competition among similar tourism destinations will become fierce. Unique tourism brandsenjoy a greater possibility of surviving such competition, and the establishment of aunique tourism brand is a way to achieve “positioning.”

This study also contributes to the literature on symbolic consumption in tourism. Tochoose to use a youth hostel is not only consumption of utilitarian services that youthhostels provide (e.g. lodging, ticket services), but also a choice of symbolic value (e.g.perceived BP and VI of youth hostels) carried out through the activity. The findings of thisstudy pertaining to youth hostels as a destination suggest that as tourism destinations carryperceived images, different means of travel (e.g. airplane, automobile, motorcycle) anddifferent tourism activities (e.g. sightseeing, wine-tasting, backpacking) may also beperceived differently. For example, cruise ship tourism, as a unique tourism activity,may carry perceived images by the public, and the perceived images may influence theirchoice of tourism activities. Furthermore, a good understanding of perceived images ofcertain travel and leisure activities can aid in the creative pairing of program design andmarketing. For instance, perceived images of cigar smoking could be combined well withwine tasting; thus, a trip featuring both cigar and wine activities may attract a specificgroup of tourists. However, wine tasting and heavy metal rock concerts may not be such agood combination because of possible conflicts in the perceived images of the twoactivities.

Limitations

One limitation of the present study is that it uses a limited sample in the United States.Students in the United States are studied as a target market for youth hostels in China;

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however, they are actually not the only target. Further studies should be conducted inOther countries on perceived brand personality and visitor image, because as noted byHunt (1975), perceived images of specific destinations tend to be homogeneous within thesame group, but would vary among groups. Youth hostels are a global business, and theremay be cultural differences among youth hostel guests. The idea of the current research isto examine perceived images of youth hostels, and to better understand the influences ofthe perceived images in tourists’ attitudes towards the tourism brand. A cross-culturalinvestigation of these issues could add insights to new phenomena, such as youth culture,or backpacking as a third culture.

The choice of youth hostel brochures also has limitations. The youth hostel brochuresused in this study were made by branch hostels in China to attract not only domestictourists in the country but also international tourists; thus, the intervention could poten-tially influence US travelers’ intention to choose to use a youth hostel. However, theinfluence could also have been reduced due to possible misreadings of the messages in thebrochures (e.g. a lack of knowledge on currency rates and youth hostel locations).

Future Research

As mentioned before, youth hostel brochures, as a type of induced information source,have a significant influence on travelers’ intentions to use a youth hostel. Brochure contentanalyses may be useful for understanding how youth hostel brand personalities and visitorimages are reflected in youth hostel brochures. In the present study, participants in theexperimental group indicate that the more attractive brochures are those that well reflectthe environment of each youth hostel (e.g. pictures of facilities, pictures of youth hostelguests enjoying a party, and natural colors). A quantitative investigation may be applied tothe attributes of youth hostel brand personalities and the visitor images reflected in youthhostel advertising media.

This study also shows that the Internet is a more commonly used information sourcethan youth hostel brochures. Future research could repeat this study with the Internet as theintervention and investigate differences in youth hostels’ advertising methods, and theirinfluences on travelers’ perceptions of youth hostel brand personalities and visitor images.

Hunt (1975) noted that a destination might be perceived differently among differentgroups. One suggestion is that future researchers can examine and compare perceivedyouth hostel brand personalities and visitor images in different countries and regions (e.g.Europe, Australia, China). Using the same intervention (e.g. youth hostel brochures madeby youth hostels in China), the influences on different groups (i.e. domestic travelers andinternational travelers) could be studied.

The present study could also be repeated for Other lodging brands, tourism destina-tions, and services. A better understanding of perceived brand images and symbolicmeanings of different tourism destinations and travel activities might contribute to thepositioning of tourism marketing. Future studies could also replicate this study usingtheme travel (e.g. adventure travel, culinary tourism, eco-tourism), which has distinctivetarget markets.

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