Can agrifood products generate tourist desire to visit a place? An empirical study of image transfer and self-congruity

Tourism relates to many other industries, such as hospitality, transport, and agriculture. In practice, a tourism destination or place has often been promoted together with local products, especially agrifood products. The co-marketing practice between tourism and agrifood products has faced challenges and one of them is consumer acceptance. Although the importance of local agrifood products in promoting a tourism place has been acknowledged in prior literature, little research has empirically examined the establishment of a strong product-place relationship. Using experimental designs, this study empirically investigated how image transfer and self-congruity influence tourists' evaluations of a co-marketing initiative between the tourism (place) and the agrifood (products) sectors. The study collected a sample of 662 potential tourists from China and data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. Results showed that an agrifood product's symbolic images can be directly transferred to a tourism place and subsequently generate stronger tourist desire to visit the place than any other product images. Functional images of an agrifood product can also be transferred to a place, but only indirectly through the process of self-congruity. Experiential images were unable to be transferred in a product-place context. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed with limitations and future research outlined.