• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.806-821
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• 2018

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.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.97-114
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• 2012

Given the rapid growth of social network services (SNS) such as Facebook and Cyworld, it is important to understand SNS users' decision-making processes such as purchasing and continuance intention. Especially, as a number of SNS providers such as Cyworld and Habbo Hotel recognize the sales of digital items as the main source of their profits, it is critical to in-depth understand SNS users' purchasing behaviors. In this regard, this study explores continued usage behaviors and purchase behaviors of digital items in an SNS environment using a longitudinal research method. This paper develops a theoretical model to deeply understand the key drivers of purchase behavior of digital items through constructs prescribed by two established research streams on information systems, namely continuance usage and habitual usage. Moreover, this study examines the effects of actual and ideal self-image congruity on SNS continuance intention and habit. The research model was tested by using survey data collected from 307 users who have experience with Cyworld. The analysis results show that SNS actual usage directly influence purchase behavior of digital items. SNS users' continuance intention and habit are key drivers to enhance the level of actual usage of the SNS. Both actual and ideal self-image congruity play a key role in enhancing continuance usage and habitual usage. The implication of research and discussions provides reference for SNS providers in marketing and IT strategy.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.537-550
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• 2023

This study investigates the impact of Hallyu human brands on consumer behavior, given the increasing influence of Hallyu human brands due to their global spread and the limited academic discussions surrounding this topic. The research examines the role of self-congruity, human brand attachment, and brand equity factors. An online survey was conducted, targeting Chinese consumers who are highly engaged with the Korean Wave. Data from 403 respondents were analyzed. The results reveal that both ideal and actual self-congruity with the Hallyu human brand significantly affected attachment to the brand, while social self-congruity was found to be insignificant. Furthermore, attachment to Hallyu human brands positively influenced brand recognition, perceived quality, brand image, and brand loyalty.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.175-185
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• 2019

Despite the rapid growth and importance of social enterprises in recent years, most social enterprises have many limitations such as small business size, financial dependence on government, lack of professional management personnel and knowledge, and low consumer awareness. Therefore, empirical research in the field of marketing is needed for economic independence of social enterprises. This study is based on the following: First, the identity of the social enterprise and the self-image of the consumer, second, the functional correspondence between the consumer's expectation and actual performance of the social enterprise's product, and third, the social value of the social enterprise product, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of consumer value consistency on customer satisfaction and loyalty to social enterprises. Finally, this study aimed to suggest the moderating role of social enterprise clubs in this process to give implications for the long-term marketing of social enterprises. The results of this study are as follows. First, self-image consistency, functional correspondence, and value correspondence all have positive effects on the satisfaction of social enterprise and its products and form a loyalty. Secondly, whether or not the social enterprise club belonged to them is a moderating variable that raises sensitivity in the effects of self image consistency and functional consistency on customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction on loyalty. It was found to be.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.261-272
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of emotional bond in the effect of the congruence of self-image and the team's loyalty to professional baseball spectators, to enhance the effectiveness of emotional bond between the club and the spectator, and to suggest implications for establishing the club's brand marketing strategy. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 500 professional baseball spectators, and the results of correlation analysis, stepwise regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS 21.0 based on 450 collected data are as follows. First, among the professional baseball spectators and the team's self-image, the realistic self-image factor had a significant effect on the club's loyalty. Second, it was confirmed that the congruence of realistic self-image moderated the effect of congruence of realistic self-image on club loyalty. This result shows that the formation of emotional bond has no influence on the congruence of ideal self-image and is related to the realistic self-image that the club is showing at present. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a marketing strategy that can highlight this effect by considering these points.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.29-62
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• 2012

As distribution environment is changing rapidly and competition is more intensive in the channel of distribution, the importance of retailer image and retailer equity is increasing as a different competitive advantages. Also, consumers are not functionally oriented and that their behavior is significantly affected by the symbols such as retailer image which identify retailer in the market place. That is, consumers do not choose products or retailers for their material utilities but consume the symbolic meaning of those products or retailers as expressed in their self images. The concept of self-image congruence has been utilized by marketers and researchers as an aid in better understanding how consumers identify themselves with the brands they buy and the retailer they patronize. Although self-image congruity theory has been tested across many product categories, the theory has not been tested extensively in the retailing. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of self image congruence between retailer image and self image of consumer on retailer equity such as retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty. The purpose of this study is to find out whether retailer-self image congruence can be a new antecedent of retailer equity. In addition, this study tries to examine how four-dimensional retailer equity constructs (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) affect customers' repatronage intention. For this study, data were gathered by survey and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study was 254. The reliability of the all seven dimensions was estimated with Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability values and average variance extracted values. We determined whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity and discriminant validity by Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted values exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the AMOS 18.0. As expected, the image congruence hypotheses were supported. The greater the degree of congruence between retailer image and self-image, the more favorable were consumers' retailer evaluations. The all two retailer-self image congruence (actual self-image congruence and ideal self-image congruence) affected customer based retailer equity. This result means that retailer-self image congruence is important cue for customers to estimate retailer equity. In other words, consumers are often more likely to prefer products and retail stores that have images similar to their own self-image. Especially, it appeared that effect for the ideal self-image congruence was consistently larger than the actual self-image congruence on the retailer equity. The results mean that consumers prefer or search for stores that have images compatible with consumer's perception of ideal-self. In addition, this study revealed that customers' estimations toward customer based retailer equity affected the repatronage intention. The results showed that all four dimensions (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) had positive effect on the repatronage intention. That is, management and investment to improve image congruence between retailer and consumers' self make customers' positive evaluation of retailer equity, and then the positive customer based retailer equity can enhance the repatonage intention. And to conclude, retailer's image management is an important part of successful retailer performance management, and the retailer-self image congruence is an important antecedent of retailer equity. Therefore, it is more important to develop and improve retailer's image similar to consumers' image. Given the pressure to provide increased image congruence, it is not surprising that retailers have made significant investments in enhancing the fit between retailer image and self image of consumer. The enhancing such self-image congruence may allow marketers to target customers who may be influenced by image appeals in advertising.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.113-126
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• 2020

This study suggested implications by dividing the concept of brand origin into national image and manufacturing capacity image, verifying the direct impact of these variables on brand trust and brand loyalty, and verifying the difference between products with the effect on brand trust of brand origin, which is the result of verification. The specific implications of this paper are as follows. First, brand origin does not directly affect brand loyalty, but it can have a direct impact on the preceding variable, brand loyalty. This study may conclude that it is desirable to define the factors that affect the purchase selection indirectly through the assessment of product properties or positive effects on brand image rather than having a direct impact on product purchase or selection. Second, the difference in brand origin influence by product characteristics was very evident. Past studies were limited to a few products, so pan-product testing was not conducted, and the empirical power was judged to be limited, so this study included a variety of products and tried to detect differences between products through actual empirical research. Involvement and self-congruity have been presented with results that can be judged as important variables for brand origin to affect brand performance and variables. Looking at the role of the brand origin for each product characteristic by distinguishing between product characteristics and whether or not products related to quality, history, authenticity, etc., the product recognized as high quality and the product recognized as having high integrity showed higher effect of the brand origin, but history was a product characteristic that did not show the effect of the brand origin.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.117-149
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• 2007

It can be explained by congruity theory as a process that consumers engage in a matching process to identify personal community that is congruent with their self-images to find the identification between the self and the personal community. Personal community cues that evoke certain images are viewed as activating similar beliefs about the self (e.g., high status). Individuals prompt a comparison process to determine whether the personal community and self-image are congruent and imagine prototypical users of the personal community and select ones that maximize similarity to their actual or desired self-concept. Identity is devided into personal identity and social identity. Consumers are likely to be influenced by both personal identity and social identity. In this article the influencing factors of the commitment to on-line personal community are explored by the sources of both personal identification and social identification. The results are as follows. The maintenance expression and enhancement expression of personal self influence the level of personal identification positively and the maintenance expression and enhancement expression of social self influence the level of social identification positively. The level of both social and personal identification positively influence the commitment to on-line personal community which gives positive responses to the source enterprise that allows the cyberspace and the other benefits to be used.