The Roles of Self-Congruity, Functional Congruity, and the Selective Moderating Effect of Involvement

In the context of smart tourism, modern theme parks operate as integrated information technology (IT) ecosystems. This study is the first to apply a structural equation model to examine the impact of self-congruity and functional congruity on tourists' loyalty within such an IT-enabled environment. The aim was to construct and test a conceptual framework integrating self-congruity, functional congruity, tourists' involvement, and tourists' loyalty in theme parks conceptualized as complex service systems. A sample of 370 tourists was collected via questionnaires from four major theme parks in Wuxi. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 and AMOS 24, yielding five key findings: (1) self-congruity positively influences functional congruity; (2) functional congruity positively affects tourists' loyalty; (3) self-congruity does not directly influence tourists' loyalty; (4) tourists' involvement moderates the relationship between self-congruity and functional congruity; and (5) tourists' involvement does not moderate the relationship between functional congruity and tourists' loyalty. The study adopted a systems modeling approach using SEM and moderation analysis to delineate the psychological and behavioral pathways underlying the interaction between tourists and theme parks as IT-enabled systems. Implications for information systems design are twofold: first, incorporating self-congruity and functional congruity metrics into user-profiling algorithms can enhance personalization; second, system interfaces and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies should be tailored to users' involvement levels to foster sustained engagement and loyalty.