International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818

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International Journal of Hospitality Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhosman

Understanding customer behavior in name-brand Korean coffee shops: The role

of self-congruity and functional congruity
Juhee Kang a,1 , Liang Tang b , Ju Yup Lee a,∗ , Robert H. Bosselman c
a
The Department of Apparel, Educational Studies and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University, 7 Mackay Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA
b
The Department of Apparel, Educational Studies and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University, 12 Mackay Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA
c
The Department of Apparel, Educational Studies and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University, 31 Mackay Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: During the past decade, an increasing number of coffee-shop customers in Korea prefer to patronize
Self-congruity name-brand coffee shops. This study applied image congruity theory to explain the Korean preference
Functional congruity phenomena. The authors investigated the impacts of image congruities (self-congruity and functional
Customer attitude
congruity) on customer attitude and repurchase intention, and identified the moderating effect of prior
Repurchase intention
visit experience. The survey sample is 401 customers who visited the 13 name-brand coffee shops in
Name-brand coffee shop
the city of Seoul’s Myeong-dong commercial district. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the
validity of the conceptual model. The results revealed that both self-congruity and functional congruity
are the antecedents of customer attitude and repurchase intention. Furthermore, functional congruity
has more impact on customer attitude among experienced customers than among those with less visit
experience. The marketers of name-brand coffee shops in Korea are advised to design the strategies of
brand positioning and marketing segmentation from a new angle. Further studies can be further con-
ducted among customers in boarder geographical areas, including small cities and rural areas in Korea.

© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The coffee business in Korea has been dramatically growing in
the past 10 years. Approximately 80 percent of the coffee consumed
in Korea was served by vending machines until 1999. At present, the
coffee market is dominated by coffee shops of Korean and interna-
tional coffee brands (Lee and Yeu, 2010). The Korean coffee brands
are locally owned and managed brands, such as Angel-In-Us, Hollys,
etc. The international coffee brands are foreign chain operators in
Korea, such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, etc. There were over 2000
name-brand coffee shops across the country in 2010 (Kim, 2010).
Among them, 1392 are operated by 11 of the biggest coffee chains
including Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Angel-In-Us, Holly’s, etc. (Kim,
2009). The sales of the name-brand coffee shops operated by these
coffee chains have increased dramatically over the past 10 years.
For example, the sales of Starbucks increased from 8.6 billion won
($7 million) in 1999 to 171 billion won ($15 million) in 2008 (Lee
and Yeu, 2010).
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 845 392 3549.
E-mail addresses: jkang0703@gmail.com (J. Kang), rebeccat@iastate.edu
(L. Tang), jaylee75@iastate.edu (J.Y. Lee), drbob@iastate.edu (R.H. Bosselman).
1
Tel.: +1 702 321 8471; fax: +1 515 294 6364.
The average price of one cup of coffee from vending machines
is 300 won ($.45), whereas a cup of coffee sold in a name-brand
coffee shop costs 5000 won ($5.19). The coffee price in these shops
is more than 10 times higher than that sold by vending machines
(Jung, 2009). However, more and more customers visit name-brand
coffee shops over vending machines. Coffee consumption trends
are explained by the collectivistic culture of Korea (Triandis, 2001).
Customers with the collectivistic culture tend to perceive them-
selves as a part of a social group, define their identity based on the
value of the social group, and integrate other group members’ per-
ceptions or attitudes into their self-concept (Markus and Kitayama,
1991).
Korean customers tend to value brands when they purchase
experiential products, which provide customers with pleasant con-
sumption experience (Lee and Hyman, 2008). Since name-brand
coffee shops are associated with western culture and fashion life
style (Opus, 2010), for many customers in Korea, especially younger
customers (e.g., college students), visiting such brand coffee shops
is perceived as a form of self-expression and to communicate their
self-identity. For example, drinking coffee at the name-brand shops
makes them feel special, as if they were New Yorkers in the Hol-
lywood movies (Keller, 1993). In addition, visiting name-brand
coffee shops is a symbol of success and wealth, considering the
high price of coffee in the name-brand shops (Opus, 2010). Cus-
tomers with collectivisitic culture visit name-brand coffee shops,

0278-4319/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2011.09.017
810 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
because they desire to be perceived as a member of a stereotype
customer group with westernized, stylish, and socially successful
image (Babin et al., 2006). The image congruity theory can be used
to further explain the phenomena in Korea caused by the collec-
tivistic culture (Sirgy and Samli, 1985).
Image congruity is composed of self-congruity and functional
congruity (He and Mukherjee, 2007). Self-congruity is defined as a
comparison between customers’ own image and a symbolic store
image (Sirgy et al., 2000). Symbolic store image is a stereotypical
image of typical customers of a particular store (Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy
et al., 2000). In the case of name-brand coffee shops in Korea, the
symbolic store image is associated with western culture and fash-
ion life style, and is a symbol of success and wealth as described
above (Opus, 2010). In addition to evaluating a name-brand cof-
fee shop by focusing on its symbolic (person-like) attributes (as is
done in self-congruity), customers can also evaluate the coffee shop
based on its functional or utilitarian attributes. Examples of func-
tional or utilitarian attributes of the coffee shop include quality,
price, interior environment, etc. The matching between the coffee
shop’s level of a utilitarian attributes and the customer’s expecta-
tion of that attribute is referred to as functional congruity (Sirgy
et al., 2000).
Image congruity is a crucial area in marketing studies because
self-congruity and functional congruity show significant impacts
on customer attitude and purchase behavior (He and Mukherjee,
2007; Sirgy and Samli, 1985; Sirgy et al., 1991). Some hospitality
and tourism studies have investigated how self-congruity pre-
dicts customer retention for fine dining restaurants (Kwun and
Oh, 2006), brand loyalty toward hotels (Back, 2005; Han and Back,
2008), and destination choices (Chon and Olsen, 1991; Sirgy and Su,
2000). However, the studies on functional congruity is quite limited
in the hospitality context. Prendergast and Ho (2002) and Ryu et al.
(2008) investigated the impact of functional congruity on customer
behavior in quick service restaurants. The results revealed that
functional congruity is more important than self-congruity in pre-
dicting store loyalty and influencing customer satisfaction. Thus,
it is necessary to evaluate both self-congruity and functional con-
gruity in the context of name-brand coffee shops, since customers
are likely to pay the premium cost, not only for the symbolic value,
but also for the utilitarian value (e.g., high quality coffee). At issue
are the conditions under which customers may use self-congruity
versus functional congruity (or some combination thereof) to form
attitude and repurchase intention. Prior studies have suggested that
prior visit experience is a predictor of changing customer behavior
(Kimchi and Hadad, 2002). Thus, the current study also investigated
the moderating effect of prior experience between image congruity
(self-congruity, and functional congruity) and customer attitude
toward a name-brand coffee shop.
This is the first study that applied image congruity theory to
the understanding of the current trends of coffee consumption
in Asian countries with collectivistic culture, such as Korea. The
study also has significant implications for the coffee shop industry
sector. Self-congruity provides a new approach for marketers to
position name-brand coffee shop and segment customer markets.
Functional congruity suggests the strategies of improving utilitar-
ian values to satisfy the expectations of customers in name-brand
coffee shops.
This research established and tested a theoretical model
that represents the correlations between image congruity (self-
congruity, functional congruity), customer attitude, and repurchase
intention in the context of name-brand coffee shops in Korea. The
study also incorporates the moderator of prior experience in two
paths between image congruity (self-congruity and functional con-
gruity) and customer attitude. This study addressed the following
research questions: (1) Do self-congruity and functional congruity
influence customer attitude toward a name-brand coffee shop; (2)
Does customer attitude affect repurchase intention in a name-
brand coffee shop; (3) Does prior experience moderate the two
paths between image congruity (self-congruity and functional con-
gruity) and customer attitude?
2. Literature review
2.1. The impacts of culture on customer behavior in Korea
Individualism–collectivism is widely used to explain the dif-
ferences in customers’ decision making process across cultures,
especially Western versus Asian cultures (Hofstede, 1980; Park,
1998). Individualism represents a social pattern characterized by
individuals who are independent and value privacy and personal
goals; whereas, collectivism is a social configuration character-
ized by individuals’ interdependency within their groups such as
family and nation. In collectivist cultures individuals concentrates
more on group harmony, unity, and cooperation than the individ-
ual (Triandis, 2001). These cultural differences take into account the
impact of reference groups when customers make decisions (Park,
1998).
Korea is characterized as a Confucian collectivistic culture that
represents strong interdependence and conformity to group norms
(Hofstede, 1980). Due to the interdependence within groups, col-
lectivists give priority to the goals of their groups, which strongly
influence individuals’ behaviors (Triandis, 2001; Litvin and Kar,
2004). In addition, they tend to be flexible, quickly adapt to social
contexts, and preserve others’ reputation so as to create a har-
monious interpersonal atmosphere and keep social relationships
(Park, 1998; Suh, 2002; Sung and Tinkham, 2005). For this reason,
Triandis (2001) stated that collectivists are less likely to concentrate
how well the brands describe the individual than people in individ-
ualistic culture. In most cases collectivists are likely to behave in a
communal way (Triandis, 2001).
Along this line, Park et al. (2008) investigated Korean consumers’
purchasing intentions toward luxury brands in relation to four
value dimensions (materialism, conformity, the need for unique-
ness, and social recognition). In collectivistic culture, materialism
represents a personality-like trait, expressing one’s identity or
social status through consuming conspicuous products; conformity
addresses group welfare and the public reputation of the group;
the need for uniqueness is a pattern of consumption that distin-
guishes individuals from their fellow customers; social recognition
represents the customers’ consumption disposition with regards to
creating and emphasizing ones’ social image and ideal social image
(Hui and Triandis, 1986; Tian et al., 2001). These dimensions explain
how purchase intentions are formed, especially related to Korean
customers’ desire to enhance their images and wealth through con-
suming symbolic meanings of publicly visible brand products (Park
et al., 2008).
The present study assumes that visiting name-brand coffee
shops is viewed by most Koreans as conspicuous consumption,
such as purchasing luxury brand products. Conspicuous consump-
tion represents one’s success and social status, emphasizing the
public reputation derived from consuming luxury brands (Park
et al., 2008). Customers in collectivistic cultures tend to pursue
conspicuous consumption, especially when they purchase public
products, not only because the products conform to their social
norm, but also because the products enhance the bond between
them and their social context (Sung and Choi, 2010). For these
reasons, consuming conspicuous products can be perceived by the
collectivists as a way to achieve ones’ desired self-image incorpo-
rating the images of themselves and their social group. This type
of purcahse behavior can be explained by Sirgy and Samli’s (1985)
study, which indicated that consumers tend to purchase products
 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
that represent the images of themselves or enhance their aspired
images. According to Park et al. (2008), Korean customers pur-
chase name-brand products for what they symbolize that matches
with their social related values such as conformity and the need
for uniqueness. Accordingly, the increased visits to name-brand
coffee shops in Korea can be driven by the nature of collectivis-
tic cultures that customer shows similar patterns of purchasing
behavior within their social group. Collectivistic culture described
above was not used as a variable or construct in our concep-
tual model. Instead, it serves as an important theoretical support
to explain the model in the section of discussion and implica-
tions.
2.2. Self-congruity
Image congruity refers to the degree of match/mismatch
between the store image and a customer’s self image (Sirgy et al.,
2000). Store image can be defined from two perspectives: symbolic
image and functional (attribute) image. Thus, image congruity is
composed of self-congruity and functional congruity. The details
of self-congruity and functional congruity are discussed in the fol-
lowing two Sections 2.2 and 2.3. In the present study, store image
only refers to symbolic store image. Store image is a customer’s
perception of a particular store (Levy and Weitz, 2004), which indi-
cates the stereotypical image of the store patrons. Since customers
tend to choose a store that has a personality similar to the cus-
tomer, the store image can be drawn from various adjectives that
usually describe stereotypical personal images such as traditional
versus modern, classy versus folksy, friendly versus formal, high
status versus low status, etc. (Babin et al., 2006). These symbolic
images may represent typical patrons of the store, which form the
stereotypical image of store patrons.
Customers’ self-image is usually explained from different
self-perspectives. The customer self-concept is diverse and mul-
tifaceted, including four different aspects of the self; actual
self-image, ideal self-image, social self-image, and ideal-social
image (Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al., 2005). In relation to these self-
concepts, self-related motives explain reasons for customers’ image
congruity based on self-consistency and self-esteem (Sirgy et al.,
1997; Kressmann et al., 2006). The self-consistency motive is a
tendency for people to maintain their behavior consistent with
their beliefs as to how they see themselves. This self-perception
involves actual and social self-image, which respectively indicates
“how people see themselves” and “how they think others see them”
(Beerli et al., 2007, p. 573). On the other hand, the self-esteem
motive is related to a tendency to enhance individuals’ self-image.
Ideal self-image and ideal social self-image fit into this category
(Sirgy, 1982; He and Mukherjee, 2007). Ideal self-image is “how
they would like to see themselves”. Ideal social self-image indi-
cates “how they would like others to see them” (Beerli et al., 2007,
p. 573). Customers who experience congruence between actual and
ideal self will reduce discrepancies and enhance their self-esteem
or self-consistency (Rosenberg, 1979; Sirgy et al., 2005).
Sirgy (1982) developed a self-image congruity model by match-
ing store image and each self-concept (Sirgy and Samli, 1985).
Four types of self-congruity were identified based on self-concept,
including actual self-congruity, social self-congruity, ideal self-
congruity, and ideal social self-congruity. In relation to store image,
He and Mukherjee (2007) conceptualized self congruity as a process
of matching between symbolic image of a store and customer self-
image. For instance, a store illuminated by soft light may create a
luxurious image of the store and provide customers with the image
of affluence (Sirgy et al., 2000). In other words, customers intend to
create meaningful and personal bonds with the store by matching
the images of the store and oneself. The congruence between store
image and customer self-image is defined as self-congruity.
811
Self-congruity was proved to be an antecedent of customer atti-
tude toward products and a predictor of their shopping behavior
(Lee and Hyman, 2008). According to functional attitude theory, one
of the important motives for customers in their purchase behavior
is to solidify and express those values which are important to them
(Sirgy and Samli, 1985; Sirgy et al., 1991, 2000). When customers
identify that the store image is congruent with their self-image,
they agree that the store can represent their identity, and thus,
favorable attitudes will be formed (Sirgy, 1982). Based on the dis-
cussion above, a hypothesis is proposed as follows:
H1. Self-congruity has positive influence on attitude toward a
name-brand coffee shop.
2.3. Functional congruity and relationship with self-congruity
An operational definition of functional congruity is a discrep-
ancy between customer perception toward product attributes
before the purchase and their evaluation after the purchase (Sirgy
et al., 1997; Kressmann et al., 2006). The functional attributes mea-
sured in the image congruity studies have different approaches
depending on the target study areas. In the retail setting, Sirgy
et al. (2000) included quality, price, atmosphere, and performance
as measures of functional attributes. In the fast-food industry sec-
tor, Prendergast and Ho (2002) added an additional set of functional
attributes to those in the retailing context described above, includ-
ing merchandising selection, waiting time for completing an order,
and store location.
Functional congruity has often been examined together with
self-congruity in prior marketing studies (Hung and Petrick, 2011;
Sirgy et al., 2005). Sirgy and Samli (1985) and Sirgy et al. (1991)
found a causal relationship between self-congruity, functional con-
gruity, and customer behavior. The results of both studies indicate
that self-congruity and functional congruity have a direct effect
on customer behavior. Self-congruity also has biasing effect on
functional effect. The biasing effect means that functional con-
gruity has more impact on customer behavior, when it is primarily
influenced by self-congruity, compared to its direct effect (Sirgy et
al., 1991). In other words, when customers perceive high degrees
of self-congruity, the self-congruity is likely to bias their evalu-
ation of functional attributes (Han and Back, 2008; Sirgy et al.,
1991). Customers’ affective responses often occur before their cog-
nitive evaluations of a store’s functional attributes (Phillips and
Baumgartner, 2002). Self-congruity, as a form of affective responses
is generated prior to customers’ visits to the stores or during
the consumption process (Kressmann et al., 2006; Sirgy et al.,
2005). Therefore, many marketing studies have supported that
self-congruity affects the cognitive evaluations of a store’s func-
tional attributions, specifically, functional congruity (Han, 2006;
Hohenstein et al., 2007; Massicotte et al., 2011).
Many hospitality researchers seem to agree that functional
congruity has important benefits for customer attitude, and con-
sequently influences purchase behavior. Customers’ perceptions
of restaurant attributes have significant impact on their attitudes
toward the restaurant, restaurant choices, and further purchase
behaviors (Eliwa, 2006; Ryu et al., 2008). In line with the functional
congruity definition, favorable attitude is initiated in customers
when their evaluation of functional attributes of the restaurant
after purchase are equal to or higher than their perception prior to
the visit (Prendergast and Ho, 2002; Ryu et al., 2008). As explained
above, two hypotheses are proposed as follows:
H2. Self-congruity has a positive influence on functional congruity
toward a name-brand coffee shop.
H3. Functional congruity has a positive influence on brand atti-
tude toward a name-brand coffee shop.
812 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
2.4. Attitude and repurchase intention
Attitude is “a person’s consistently favorable or unfavorable
evaluation, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea”
(Chang and Liu, 2009, p. 1689). Dabholkar and Bagozzi (2002)
defined attitude as the evaluation of customers’ experience of a
product or store reflecting their feelings, such as favorable or unfa-
vorable, good or bad, as well as pleasant or unpleasant. Repurchase
intention refers to customers’ willingness to maintain the relation-
ship with a store or a brand and repurchase the products in the
future (Zeithaml et al., 1996). Ajzen and Fishbein (2005) found
two components of attitude that include attitude toward physi-
cal objects (e.g., product) and attitude toward particular behavior.
When customers have positive emotions toward the object, they
are more likely to have behavioral intention (Ranjbarian et al.,
2010). Many prior marketing studies have proven that attitude is an
antecedent to repurchase intention (Bobbitt and Dabholkar, 2001;
Lu et al., 2003). Based on the discussion of the relationship between
attitude and repurchase intention, one hypothesis is proposed as
follows:
H4. Customer attitude has positive influence on repurchase inten-
tion in a name-brand coffee shop.
2.5. Moderator effect of prior experience
Customers’ prior experience is operationally defined as their
visit frequencies to a name-brand coffee shop per week. Customers
who visit a name-brand coffee shop for one or less time per week
are identified as less experienced, which are distinguished from
experienced customers with the visits of two or more times per
week. Customers’ prior experience was proved to be a modera-
tor in the self-image congruity model (Echtner and Ritchie, 1993;
Sirgy and Su, 2000; Beerli et al., 2007; Hung and Petrick, 2011).
For example, Mangleburg et al. (1998) found that symbolic indi-
cators have greater influence on brand attitude in a group of less
experienced customers; whereas, functional attributes have more
impact on brand attitude in the group of more experienced cus-
tomers. Wood and Kallgren (1988) examined the moderating effect
of experience on customers’ evaluations of a persuasive message on
brands. Their results showed that experienced customers are more
likely to evaluate attitude-relevant information and focus on utili-
tarian cues (i.e., functional congruity). Less experienced customers
are likely to evaluate symbolic cues (i.e., self-congruity) (Sirgy et al.,
2000).
Depending on the frequencies of visiting a name brand
coffee shop, customers engage in different image congruities:
Self Image
Congruity
H1
H5a
Moderator:
H2 Frequency
H5b
H3
Functional
Congruity
Fig. 1. Conceptual model.
less experienced customers focus on self-congruity, whereas expe-
rienced customers focus on functional congruity (Mangleburg et al.,
1998). This study argues that less experienced customers may rely
on either symbolic or simple cues that do not require a complex
evaluation process (Sirgy et al., 2005). These customers are likely
to evaluate symbolic cues, related to store image and self concept
(i.e., self-congruity) (Sirgy et al., 2005). On the other hand, experi-
enced customers of a coffee shop may evaluate functional attributes
since they are knowledgeable enough about the stores’ functional
attributes and can use a thorough cognitive process of evaluation
(Sirgy and Su, 2000). Based on the argument above, this study pro-
posed customers’ prior experience as a moderator that may affect
the relationship between self-congruity, functional congruity, and
attitude toward a name-brand coffee shop (Johar and Sirgy, 1991).
Therefore, we developed the two hypotheses as follows:
H5a. Self-congruity shows more influence on attitude in the cus-
tomer group with less prior experience.
H5b. Functional congruity shows more influence on attitude in
the customer group with more prior experience.
The study investigated the relationships between self congruity,
functional congruity, attitude, and repurchase intention. The cus-
tomer’s prior experience serves as a moderator in the two paths
between self-image congruity and attitude, and functional con-
gruity and attitude. The conceptual model is represented in Fig. 1.
3. Methodology
3.1. Data collection
The data collection in this study was conducted between July
1st and July 15th, 2010 in Korea, in the city of Seoul’s Myeong-
dong commercial district, the most popular commercial area in the
city. Myeong-dong is famous as a trendy shopping area with many
department stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. These shops are
crowded primarily with young people. The floating population in
this area averages to more than 1 million per day (Myeong-dong,
n.d) which made it very suitable for this study.
Surveys were conducted at a total of 13 coffee shops: 4 Star-
bucks, 3 Coffee Bean, 4 Angel-In-Us, and 2 Hollys. The 4 Starbucks
were randomly selected out of 8 stores in the neighborhood, and
the other name-brand coffee shops were chosen without random
selection due to their small numbers in the neighborhood. Among
the four brands, Angel-In-Us and Hollys are locally owned and
managed coffee shops, while Starbucks and Coffee Bean are inter-
national chain operators in Korea. Therefore, the survey sample
Attitude Repurchase
Intention
H4
 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
covered both Korean and international name-brand coffee shops.
Moreover, the four coffee brands are well recognized among the
customers, which are representative of name-brand coffee shops
in Korea. All of these brands aim to create unique brand images
by offering distinct symbolic value. Meanwhile, these name-brand
coffee shops are also perceived different in functional attributes
including specialty drink menus, food choices, and atmosphere,
etc.
The surveyors randomly approached individual customers at
the designated name-brand coffee shops. The customer was first
kindly asked whether he/she was above 18. The surveyors con-
tinued to distribute the survey if the customer responded yes.
Otherwise, the surveyor thanked the customer and terminated the
interview. It took averagely 15 min for a respondent to finish the
survey. A total of 401 questionnaires were collected. After deleting
12 incomplete questionnaires, 389 valid responses remained for
use in the study.
3.2. Survey instrument
A questionnaire was developed based on a thorough literature
review. The questionnaire consisted of four parts. First, the respon-
dents were asked to participate in a scenario to measure self-image
congruity. The scenario was based on a tourism context in Sirgy and
Su (2000) and modified to the coffee shop setting. The scenario read
as follows:
Take a moment to think about this coffee shop. Think about the
kind of person who typically visits this coffee shop. Imagine this
person in your mind and then describe this person using one or
more personal adjectives such as, traditional versus modern, classy
versus folksy, friendly versus formal, high status versus low status
or whatever personal adjectives you can use to describe the typical
user of this coffee shop.
After reading this scenario, respondents were asked to rate the
extent of agreement with the four self-image statements on a 5-
point Likert-type scale (Sirgy and Su, 2000), which included (1)
Drinking coffee at this coffee shop is consistent with how I see
myself (actual self); (2) this coffee shop is consistent with how I
would like to see myself being at this coffee shop (ideal self); (3) this
coffee shop is consistent with how I believe others see me (social
self); and (4) this coffee shop is consistent with how I would like
others to see me (ideal social self).
The second part of the survey asked respondents to rate their
expectations and experiences in regard to the functional attributes
by using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = very poor to 5 = very good).
In order to measure functional congruity, the authors employed
eight functional attributes of the coffee shop from Ryu et al.
(2008), which were used to identify quick-casual restaurant image.
The eight functional attributes include menu variety, professional
appearance of staff, interior design and décor, reasonable price, less
waiting time for a seat, quality of coffee, cleanliness, store location.
The respondents were asked to evaluate each of the 8 functional
attributes in regards to their expectations before the visit and the
experience after the visit, respectively.
The third part of the survey asked about customers’ attitudes
toward the coffee shop and their repurchase intentions. Attitude
was measured using 3 bipolar items, which included good-bad,
pleasant-unpleasant, favorable-unfavorable with a 7-point seman-
tic differential scale (Dabholkar and Bagozzi, 2002). Four 7-point
scale items were used to measure repurchase intention (He and
Mukherjee, 2007). The four items were: (1) I plan to maintain my
general drinking habits at this coffee shop; (2) I plan to increase
my frequency of visits to this coffee shop in the future; (3) I plan
to purchase more drinks from this coffee shop in the future; and
(4) I intend to maintain my purchasing at this coffee shop. The
last part of the survey checked customers’ experience in the coffee
813
shop (average visit times to the coffee shop per week and pri-
mary purpose to visit the coffee shop; to meet friends, to study
or work alone, just have a drink, to have a business meeting, and to
relax) and demographic information (gender, age, education, and
income).
Since data collection was planned to be conducted in Korea,
the questionnaire written in English was translated into Korean in
consideration of the Korean respondents. This study used a double
translation rule. The English version of the final questionnaire was
translated to Korean by a professional translator bilingual in English
and Korean from the department of linguistics at the same uni-
versity mentioned above. Then, the Korean version was translated
back into English by another professional bilingual Korean–English
translator. As a final step, the researchers and both translators
checked the Korean version prepared for the Korean cultural con-
text. At the same time, they also verified whether the Korean
version preserved intact the same meaning of the concepts and
the validity of the constructs (Kivela et al., 1999).
The preliminary questionnaire was reviewed by three faculty
members in the hospitality program of a main US Midwestern uni-
versity to ensure content validity. Minor revisions were made based
on their comments. When the questionnaire was completed, a pilot
test was conducted to ensure the reliability of the constructs. The
survey was administered to a convenience sample of 32 graduate
students at the same university mentioned above. The reliabilities
of the measurements were all above the cutoff of .70, which sug-
gested acceptable internal consistency (Nunnally, 1978). Wording
was further modified based on the feedback of the respondents.
3.3. Data analysis
In order to obtain the construct of functional congruity,
the authors calculated the absolute difference score between
expectation and experience of each functional attribute on the
questionnaire. The absolute difference score was further reversed
to a 7-point scale for functional congruity (Kressmann et al., 2006).
Thus, a lower value presents low functional congruity, which
explains mismatches between expectation and experience on each
functional attribute of the coffee shop, and a high value indicates
high functional congruity.
In order to obtain the moderator of prior experience, a median
was used to classify subjects as either high or low in frequencies
based on the results from descriptive analysis (Mangleburg et al.,
1998). The median value was 2 (n = 389). Responses recorded as 1
(i.e., 1 or less visits per week) were included in the customer group
with less prior experience; whereas those which either equaled or
were higher than 2 were identified as the group with more prior
experience.
The study employed the two-step approach suggested by
Anderson and Gerbing (1988): The first step involves confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA), used to validate scales for the measurement
of specific constructs proposed in a research model (Hair et al.,
1998). The second step involves structural equation modeling anal-
ysis, utilized to evaluate the validity of the proposed model and
hypotheses. The Amos 6.0 structural equation analysis package was
used to conduct the analysis. The maximum likelihood procedure
was employed to estimate the measurement model and structural
model.
This study used several model fit indexes to see if the empirical
data were adequately fitted to the proposed model, including 2
statistic, TLI, CFI, NFI, GFI, and RMSEA (Bentler and Bonett, 1980;
Joreskog and Sorbom, 1984; Yuan and Jang, 2008). A significant 2
statistic indicated a poor fit. The cutoff point of 2 /df was set at 3:1
(Joreskog and Sorbom, 1988). The values for TLI, CFI, NFI, and GFI
greater than .90 indicated satisfactory model fit (Hair et al., 2006;
Yuan and Jang, 2008; He and Song, 2009). RMSEA with a value below
814 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818

Table 1
Scale/item measurement properties.

Construct Standardized factor loadings Composite reliabilities Cronbach’s alphas

Self image congruity .937 .799

Self-image .632
Ideal-image .775
Social-image .680
Ideal social-image .740
Functional congruity .794 .678
Location .440
Clean .689
Quality .580
Seat .447
Menu .293
Staff .315
Interior .394
Price .464
Attitude .901 .847
Good .865
Pleasure .752
Favorable .821
Repurchase intention .912 .914
Maintaining drinking .759
Increasing frequency .907
Planning future purchase .954
Maintaining purchase .790

.08 is recommended (Byrne, 1998; Diamantopoulos and Siguaw,
2000).
4. Results
4.1. Sample profile
The percentages of female and male respondents were 67.5%
and 32.5%, respectively. The majority of customers were between
20 and 34 (96.1%). The survey also investigated the education back-
ground of the respondents. The largest groups indicated that their
highest level of education was either a high school diploma or a
bachelor’s degree, 54.9% and 30.7%, respectively. The respondents
also reported their income before taxes. The majority of respon-
dents earned less than $20,000 (74.9%), followed by those who
earned $20,000–39,999 (18.9%). The sample was classified into two
groups based on prior experience to the coffee shop, which included
customers with more experience (54.5%, n = 213) and customers
with less experience (45.5%, n = 176). In regard to the primary pur-
poses to visit the coffee shops, 55.5% of the respondents responded
that the primary purpose of visiting a name-brand coffee shop is
“to meet friends”, followed by “to relax (19.5%)”, “to study or work
alone (11.6%)”, “just have a drink (8.5%)”, and “to have a business
meeting (1.0%)”.
4.2. Measurement model
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate
the overall fit of the conceptual model. Based on the CFA
result, the model fit was acceptable at 2 = 421.194 [df = 183,
p < .001], GFI = .903, NFI = .870, TLI = .910, CFI = .921, RMSEA = .058.
The scale/item measurement properties are illustrated in Table 1.
Cronbach’s alpha estimate for functional congruity (.678) was also
acceptable, which was above .6 (Moss et al., 1998). The data showed
an acceptable level of inter-item reliability (.799–.914) and com-
posite reliability (.794–.937), which were above the cutoff value
of .7 (Hair et al., 1998; Nunnally, 1978). The results indicated that
multiple items of each construct were highly reliable and internally
consistent (Hair et al., 1998). Convergent validity was satisfac-
tory because all factor loadings were significant at the .001 level
(Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).
Average variance extracted (AVE) and latent construct intercor-
relations are reported in Table 2. The AVEs of all four constructs
ranged from .67 to .92, exceeding the recommended minimum level
of .5 (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). This indicated that a large portion of
variance was explained by the constructs (Hair et al., 1998). Dis-
criminant validity was evaluated by comparing the AVE values with
the squared correlations between constructs (Fornell and Larcker,
1981). The results showed that the squared correlations between
pairs of constructs were all less than the AVEs, which indicated
acceptable discriminant validity. Both convergent and discriminant
validity proved acceptable construct validity (Shuttleworth, 2009).
4.3. Structural model
Structural equation modeling was conducted to assure the valid-
ity of the proposed model and the hypotheses. The SEM results
validated the proposed model with Chi-square (2 ) = 317.201
[df = 148, p < .001], GFI = .920, NFI = .893, TLI = .930, CFI = .940,
RMSEA = .054. Fig. 2 showed theoretical hypotheses with each stan-
dardized coefficient. The empirical tests of the SEM model showed
that both self-congruity (ˇ = .405, t = 6.403***) and functional

Table 2
Latent variable correlation matrix.

Self image congruity Functional congruity Attitude Repurchase intention

Self image congruity .84

Functional congruity .38 .67
Attitude .64 .42 .9
Repurchase intention .62 .13 .74 .92

Entries under the diagonals are the latent construct correlations. Entries on the diagonal is AVE.
 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
Self Image
Congruity
.405***
.161*
.131*
Functional
Congruity
Fig. 2. Analysis results of structual model. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
congruity have significant impacts on attitude toward the coffee
shop (ˇ = .131, t = 2.082*). However, self-congruity has more signifi-
cant impact than functional congruity on attitude toward the coffee
shop. Self-congruity was also found to have a significant impact on
functional congruity (ˇ = .161, t = 2.311*). Attitude was verified to
be an antecedent of repurchase intention (ˇ = .561, t = 10.770***).
Therefore, all proposed hypotheses were accepted.
4.4. The moderating effect of prior experience
The structural model examined the moderating effect of prior
experience on the path between self congruity and attitude and the
path between functional congruity and attitude. To test the moder-
ating effect on each path, chi-square difference with one degree of
freedom was used to compare the constrained model against the
unconstrained model (Namkung and Jang, 2007). Table 3 shows
the moderating effect of prior experience. From the result of
chi-square difference test, prior experience was found to be a sig-
nificant moderator between functional congruity and customer
attitude (2 (df=1) = 4.281, P < .05). The result indicated that func-
tional congruity has more impact on attitude among experienced
customers (ˇ = .196) than that among customers with less prior
experience (ˇ = .139).
5. Discussion and implications
This study indicated that both self-congruity and functional
congruity have significant impacts on customer attitude toward a
name-brand coffee shop (accepted by H1 and H3), which in turn,
influences repurchase intention (accepted by H4). Self-congruity
was also found to influence functional congruity (accepted by H2).
The moderating effect of prior experience between functional con-
gruity and customer attitude was also confirmed (accepted by H5b).
However, the results showed no significant difference in the path
Table 3
Moderating effects of prior experience.
Hypothesized path Unconstrained2 (df = 296)
H5a: Store image congruity → attitude 512.064
H5b: Functional congruity → attitude 512.064
Standardized path coefficient: functional congruity → attitude
*
p < .05.
815
.561***
Attitude Repurchase
Intention
from self-congruity to customer attitude between the two groups
of customers with more and less prior visit experience (rejected by
H5a).
As a theoretical framework, image congruity theory has been
applied to understand individuals’ attitude and behavior in var-
ious fields, including psychology (Nolan and Harold, 2010; Sung
and Choi, 2010), education (Devos et al., 2007, 2008), marketing
(Quester et al., 2000; O’Cass and Grace, 2008), etc. This study was
the first to apply image congruity theory to the context of cof-
fee shops. This application in a new context contributes to the
body of knowledge on image congruity and further verifies the
soundness of the theoretical framework. This study applied Korean
collectivistic culture to explain customers’ consumption behavior
in name-brand coffee shops, which provides a foundation or exam-
ple for future research investigating conspicuous consumption in
conjunction with Asian culture.
This study suggests some significant strategies for brand poi-
soning and marketing segmentation in Korea with collectivistic
culture. Customers’ purchase behavior is influenced by their per-
ceived image of a store (Swinyard, 1993; Yim et al., 2007). In
the past, consumption in name-brand coffee shops in Korea has
been deemed as ostentatious behavior (Park et al., 2008). This
consumption behavior can be interpreted as the need for unique-
ness in collectivistic culture. Customers are inclined to pursue
distinct self-recognition, such as stylish and westernized (Babin
et al., 2006; Park et al., 2008). However, in recent years name-brand
coffee shops have become a place where Korean customers enjoy
a new environment and ambience of relaxation. Customers, espe-
cially young-generation people, show their identity or belonging
to the group of trend leaders or people who enjoy western cul-
ture through visiting name-brand coffee shops (Babin et al., 2006;
Opus, 2010). The phenomena are explained by the conformity fea-
ture of collectivistic culture in Korea (Hofstede, 1980; Litvin and
Kar, 2004).
Constrained2 (df = 297) 2 (df = 1)
512.107 .043
516.345 4.281*
Prior experience
Low High
.139 .196
816 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
Overall, the symbolic image of the store is a determinant of cus-
tomer attitude and behavior. The marketers of name-brand coffee
shops are advised to evaluate the extent to which their target cus-
tomers desire to express or enhance their self-image based on their
experience in the coffee shops. It can be expected that an increase
in positive customer attitude will result in increased future repur-
chase through an effort to match customers’ self image with the
store image (Puccinelli et al., 2007). Since inividuals in collectivis-
tic culture view themselves as a member of a group or as an entitiy
relying on others (conformity), customer decision making tends to
be determined by the reference group or the social context (Sung
and Choi, 2010). For example, individuals with no preference on
name-brand coffee products (or with preference on other coffee
products) may still be pressured by their social group to visit a
name-brand coffee shop, because the group prefers the coffee shop.
Along with this, customers in Korea consider more about the social
image of consuming a name-brand coffee or pursue the ideal-social
image. Consuming the same brand coffee as their social reference
group can be percieved as the conformity to their social context.
Marketers are further advised to identify the primary social groups
that their target customers belong to, and design the symbolic
image of name-brand coffee shops based on the values that these
social groups pursue. If necessary, marketers can also deliver dis-
tinct symbolic image to the customers belonging to different social
groups (Park et al., 2008).
Functional congruity has been found to be an antecedent of
customer attitude and future purchase behavior (Eliwa, 2006;
Prendergast and Ho, 2002). The current study identified the major
functional attributes of name-brand coffee shops (i.e., quality of
coffee, employee service, menu, price, etc.). Marketers are advised
to investigate customers’ expectation/anticipation of these utiltar-
ian features, and provide accordingly the experience customers
desire in the name-brand coffee shops. The matching between
expectation and experience will assist customers form a positive
attitude toward name-brand coffee shops, and make repurchase
decision in future. Among the functional attributes of name-brand
coffee shops, premium price is the concern of marketers in pre-
dicting customers’ purchase behavior. Customers’ willingness to
pay premium price in name-brand coffee shops can be explained
by the materialism. Since materialism affects the type of goods
purchased, the possessions of certain products relate to how con-
sumers look like to others (appearance) and how successful they
are (status) (Richins, 1994). Accordingly, money is the symbol of
success and prosperity to materialistic people. Highly materialis-
tic people are likely to value expensive and publicly consumed
goods and place more public meaning of consumption than did
low materialistic consumers (Wong and Ahuvia, 1998). Lim and
Lee (2001) and Lee and Shin (2002) revealed that materialism
spurs that customers purchase luxury and expensive products.
The higher the materialism the more customers tend to show
off their wealth to others (Park et al., 2008). These findings can
support that despite the current economic recession, customers
with high materialism continue to consume high-price coffee as
a reward for self-satisfaction (Kim, 2011). Moreover, the consump-
tion of pricy products is also to exhibit social status, that is, social
recognition (Park et al., 2008). Therefore, considering that visiting
name-brand coffee shops is conspicuous behavior among Korean
customers, high price is not expected to be a barrier in functional
congruity.
Many prior marketing studies report that self-congruity
influences customer attitude and behavior through functional
congruity, and that self-congruity “biases” functional congruity
(Kressmann et al., 2006; Sirgy et al., 1991). That is, cus-
tomers who experience high self-congruity tend to favorably
process utilitarian product attributes, and vice versa. How-
ever, the biasing effect has not been found in the context of
name-brand coffee shops. (Although the impact of self-congruity
on functional congruity is significant at p = .05, customer atti-
tude is impacted more by self-congruity than by functional
congruity. Therefore, the biasing effect was rejected in this
study).
The results of the study suggest that prior visit experience
moderates the path between functional congruity and customer
attitude toward a name-brand coffee store. Functional congruity
shows more impact on customer attitude in the group of expe-
rienced customers than in the group with less experience. The
result is consistent with Mangleburg et al. (1998) and Wood and
Kallgren (1988). The two prior studies indicated that brand atti-
tude is moderated by prior experience with products’ functional
cues. Experienced customers are knowledgeable about the utilitar-
ian attributes of the name-brand coffee shops. The purpose of their
revisits will be more likely to enjoy the experience in the coffee
shops rather than to pursue the symbolic patron image of coffee
shops (Chen and Hu, 2010). Therefore, marketers are advised to
use functional features of products and services provided by the
coffee shops as the primary selling point for the frequent customer
segment of their clientele. The functional attributes of name-brand
coffee shop customers include high-quality coffee, exotic interior
design and décor, and excellent food menus (e.g., cakes, pies, or
sandwiches), etc.
The results did not support the moderating effect of prior expe-
rience on the relationship between self-image congruity and brand
attitude in the context of name-brand coffee shops in Korea (rejec-
tion of H5a). The findings are in contrast with Mangleburg et al.
(1998) and Wood and Kallgren (1988)’s studies. The two prior
studies suggested that symbolic attributes have more influence on
brand attitude among less experienced customers. Visiting name-
brand coffee shops is ostentatious behavior, especially considering
that the major customer market is people between 20 and 34 years
old (Park et al., 2008). These customers are most students or entry
level employees who may not be able to afford the frequent patrons
of the name-brand coffee shops.
From our results of sample profile (section 4.1), the primary pur-
poses of visiting a name-brand coffee shop were “to meet friends”
(55.5%), “to relax” (19.5%), and “to study or work alone” (11.6%).
Considering the fact that most respondents were aged between
20 and 34, young Korean customers tend to emulate a lifestyle
or habit that is accepted or admired by their peers. For example,
“Study or work alone” at a coffee shop becomes a new trend among
young-generation which creates a new term, “COFFICE”, as a com-
bination of coffee and office. This new term represents a unique
pattern of coffee consumption behaviors of Koreans, derived from
the willingness to identify themselves as a part of their social group
(young customers desire to be perceived as Coffice). These cus-
tomers expect unique atmosphere with quite music, comfortable
seat, etc., Marketers must emphasize these functional attributes of
the coffee shops. Understanding the characteristics of target cus-
tomers helps marketers efficiently segment the market and design
practical marketing strategies.
Increased numbers of internationally franchised name-brand
coffee companies are expanding their markets to Asian countries,
such as China, Japan, Singapore, etc. These far Eastern countries
share the collectivistic culture, which is distinct from the individu-
alistic culture in Western countries such as the United States (Zhang
and Gelb, 1996). The culture differences may cause difficulties for
western marketers as they try to understand Asian customer atti-
tudes and behaviors, and consequently, western marketers could
fail in their marketing efforts. Image congruity (self-congruity,
functional congruity) can be used a theoretical framework for
western marketers to understand eastern customers’ motivations,
attitudes, and behaviors in Asian countries which share in collec-
tivistic cultural patterns.
 J. Kang et al. / International Journal of Hospitality Management 31 (2012) 809–818
6. Limitations and future research
The study has several limitations that the authors would like
to address. First, the survey in the study was conducted in 13
name-brand coffee shops in the commercial area of Myeong-dong
in Seoul. Future research should be directed toward diverse sam-
ples, especially customers in broader geographical areas, including
small cities and rural areas across the country. Since people in dif-
ferent geographical areas maybe show different attitudes toward
symbolic attribute and functional attributes, the results may be
different. Second, the random sample investigated in the study
was customers ranged from 20 to 34 years old in name-brand
coffee shops. The authors suggest that future research can fur-
ther expand the sample to other age groups, especially customers
older than 35. Third, the measures of self-congruity used in the
study merged the congruence in the four self-concepts, including
actual self-congruity, social self-congruity, ideal self-congruity, and
ideal social self-congruity. Future studies are advised to investi-
gate the four perspectives of self-congruity, respectively. It will
assist researchers to understand the impact of self-congruity on
customer attitude more comprehensively. Such a step will provide
more precise information for marketers in brand positioning and
segmentation. Fourth, this study investigated only prior experience
as one situational factor. Future studies are advised to include more
demographic (e.g., age, income, etc.) and psychological modera-
tors (e.g., face-saving, consumption emotion, etc.) in the theoretical
model.
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