The more consistent, the more in love? Research on the impact of service robot and hotel brand personality congruence on brand love

The application scale of service robots in the hospitality industry is continuously expanding. Existing research focused more on the psychological, cognitive, and behavioral impacts of robotic technology on individuals, with relatively insufficient exploration of its impact on corporate branding. This paper uses scenario experiments and surveys on Chinese customers to explore the impact of the congruence between service robots and hotel brand personality on brand love. The results show: (1) the congruence between service robots and hotel brand personality has an impact on brand love. Compared to low congruence, high congruence between service robots and brand personality can lead to stronger brand love among customers. (2) Customer trust plays a mediating role in the above relationship. (3) Interaction quality positively moderates the impact of congruence on customer trust and brand love. These results not only enrich our understanding of how robot-brand congruence shapes customer-brand dynamics within the hospitality sector but also yield actionable insights for hotel managers, guiding them to strategically align service robot deployment with their brand personality to foster deeper, more resilient customer-brand relationships. • The congruence between service robots and hotel brand personality affects brand love. • Customer trust plays a mediating role. • Interaction quality is a moderator. • Cue diagnosticity theory provides an interpretable framework. • Scenario-based experiment and survey research method are used comprehensively.