Keep it real: Assessing destination image congruence and its impact on tourist experience evaluations
基于中国海南旅游景点的在线文本数据，研究发现目的地宣传形象与游客实际感知形象的一致性越高，游客对体验的评价越好，但外部危机、宣传可读性和游客经验会削弱这种正向影响。
Inaccurate promotional information about tourist destinations may result in tourists' negative evaluations. This study proposes a new approach to measure the congruence between projected and received images of a destination's attractions. Based on online textual data, this study investigates how image congruence influences tourists' evaluations of their destination experiences. Using promotional messages and reviews of attractions in Hainan, China obtained from a leading Chinese online travel agency (Ctrip) and a three-way fixed-effects regression model, this study demonstrates that image congruence positively affects tourists' appraisal of their destination experiences. External crises (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic), the readability of promotional messages, and tourists' expertise moderate this relationship, reducing the positive impact of image congruence on tourist experience evaluation. This study bridges theoretical and empirical gaps in destination image (in)congruence research, informing tourism marketing agencies of effective promotional strategies in different contexts.