The impact of self-concept on destination preference.

This study takes a multidimensional perspective in enhancing the understanding of how Destination-Self-Congruity (DSC) determines Singaporean tourists’ preferences to visit Japan and Australia. The application of self-concept has received little attention from tourism researchers, especially in the Asian context. For a more holistic explanation of factors affecting Singaporeans’ destination preferences, we considered not only DSC, but also the utilitarian attributes of a destination and the demographics of tourists to that destination. We used a survey instrument to collect data for our study. We conducted a pilot test and a pre-test to develop our survey questionnaire, then conducted the self-administered survey among Singaporean respondents, from which we obtained 128 usable responses. We used various multiple regression models to analyze how the relationship between DSC and preference is moderated by other determinants such as physical attributes and demographics. Our findings show that ideal self-congruity is the most important determinant of preference among the four self-concept dimensions, whereas, actual self-congruity comes in more strongly when the utilitarian determinants of the destination and demographics are considered. Destination-Self-Congruity also impacts preference to Japan and Australia to different extents, suggesting that the application of DSC in its marketing efforts may be more effective for Australia. Among all the determinants considered, Singaporeans see the attractiveness of a destination as the most important factor affecting their preferences. The application of our model will benefit marketers of the tourism industry in strategizing communications, promotion and destination branding, and possibly using self-concept as an alternative base for segmenting the market.BUSINES