Symbolic Consumption and Brand Choice: China’s Youth Hostels for the International Travel Market

Abstract

With its expanding international tourism market, China is an increasingly attractive destination country for student travelers and backpackers. This study explores American university students’ perceptions of youth hostels in China as a brand and their intention to use youth hostels, based on brand personality and self-congruity theories. The use of brochures as a marketing tool for establishing an emotional link are also examined. Using an experimental design and a questionnaire survey, the study shows that congruity of self-image and brand personality correlate positively with intention to using a youth hostel, and that hostel brochures correlate positively with intentions for patronage. By understanding the self-and-brand linkage and its influences on the participants’ intention to use a youth hostel, this study provides insight into symbolic consumption in tourism. The results suggest that, for youth hostels and Other lodging facilities in China, increased business can come from developing a distinctive brand and relating the brand to the guests’ self-image, particularly among Western travelers for whom China is an increasingly popular destination.