Toy tourism: Exploring the co-creating roles of toy-tourist-destination congruence and self-construal in creating well-being and its outcomes

Abstract

Toy tourism is an emerging tourism development in which tourists and toys can gain interactive and well-being experiences at travel destinations. However, few studies have examined the process of how this can be accomplished through toy tourism activities. By using self-congruence theory and self-construal as a theoretical basis, the study results ( n  =  254) demonstrate that the value creation process in toy tourism is an interactive process achieved by integrating destination variables (i.e., congruence among toys, tourists, and tourism destinations) and personal trait variables (i.e., self-construal). Furthermore, such co-creation mechanisms illustrate contributions to the toy tourists’ well-being (i.e., self-expressiveness) and its outcomes (i.e., self-identity and storytelling). This study provides theoretical insights into well-being formation by examining relationships between tourist, destination, and toys through toy tourism activities. Moreover, it provides useful practical implications for toy tourism-related industries.