LAUSR

Purpose This study examined the effects of self-image congruities (i.e., the match between the image of a product or brand and a customer’s image of themselves) as an affective psychological process in the context of a restaurant setting. The study proposed that a customer’s perception of congruity between his or her self-image and a restaurant could be a salient antecedent for eliciting positive affects toward restaurants, which may influences customers’ evaluations of the functional attributes of a restaurant. The relative effects of actual versus ideal self-image congruity on positive affects along with the moderating effect of the type of restaurant, were also investigated. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the United States and a total, 376 responses were used for the data analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationships among five constructs: actual self-image congruity, ideal self-image co...