What makes tourists loyal to museums? A museum-centric adaptation of the comprehensive congruity model

Purpose This study aims to identify the factors influencing tourist loyalty toward museums by applying the comprehensive congruity model, an extension of self-congruity theory. It also explores how involvement moderates the relationship between loyalty and tourists' willingness to pay more. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among 810 museum visitors, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) due to the presence of both formative and reflective constructs in the theoretical model. Findings The results reveal that self-congruity, functional congruity, and hedonic congruity positively affect museum loyalty. In turn, loyalty significantly enhances tourists' willingness to pay more, and involvement moderates this relationship, as confirmed through simple slope analysis. Practical implications The findings help museum managers evaluate how image congruity and involvement influence visitor behavior, with implications for increasing engagement and revenue in culture-based tourism. Originality/value A museum-centric adaptation of the comprehensive congruity model was applied for the first time to examine museum loyalty. The model, initially developed for destinations, exhibited variations in its performance when applied within the museum context. Moreover, involvement was identified as a new moderator to better explain the relationship between museum loyalty and willingness to pay more.