Intangible cultural heritage souvenirs: image congruity and brand influence on tourists’ purchase intention

Purpose Based on object–object congruity, this study aims to clarify the driving factors and antecedent mechanism of tourists’ willingness to purchase intangible cultural heritage (ICH)-souvenirs. Design/methodology/approach This study used a five-point Likert scale to collect data and proposed a structural equation model to explore this issue. Findings ICH-inheritor/souvenir-congruity is positively related to tourists’ purchase intention for ICH-souvenirs and perceived authenticity; perceived authenticity and brand identity play a chain mediating effect between ICH-inheritor/souvenir-congruity and the purchase intention for ICH-souvenirs. Research limitations/implications This paper excludes individual, situational and cultural factors, ignoring the possible moderating roles of these factors. This treatment simplifies the feasibility of the present study but might lead to the deviation between the results of the current research and the actual outcomes. Practical implications The retailers of ICH-souvenirs should encourage the ICH-inheritors to endorse and promote their products while creating. They could tell a good story about their experience or create entertainment experiences for tourists through hand-in-hand teaching. Originality/value This study explores the driving factors and antecedent mechanism of tourists’ purchase intention for ICH-souvenirs from the third perspective of image congruity theory, namely, object–object congruity. Visual Abstract