The effects of architectural congruence perceptions on winery visitors' emotions and behavioral intentions: The case of Marqués de Riscal

This study examines the influence of the perceived congruence of a postmodernist hotel, which was built at one of Spain's oldest wineries, on visitors' emotions and behavioral intentions. Due to the rather unpredictable nature of Frank Gehry's architectural landmarks, the delight model was used to investigate the effects of congruence perceptions - as related to the local landscape, visitors' self-image and the winery's brand image - on arousal, delight and behavioral intentions. Data were collected from travelers who had visited a winery in Spain and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. The results suggest that the perceived congruence between the hotel architecture, the local landscape and the winery's brand image positively affect visitors' arousal and delight. On the other hand, the perceived congruence between the hotel architecture and visitors' self-image only improves arousal. Arousal also affects delight and both of these emotions significantly increase visitors' behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.