How coolness drives brand love and engagement: evidence from Airbnb and hotels

Purpose Using service-dominant logic (SDL) as the theoretical framework, this study aims to explore how perceived coolness influences brand love through customer engagement, brand identification and co-creation behavior in the Airbnb and hotel industries. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online survey from 288 Airbnb and 308 hotel users. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) uncovered different configurations of conditions. Findings Perceived coolness significantly influenced customers’ engagement with brands and brand identification in both the Airbnb and hotel contexts. Customer engagement and brand identification fostered co-creation behavior, which in turn enhanced brand love. Furthermore, fsQCA identified several distinct configurational pathways to high brand love, with perceived coolness and customer engagement emerging as indispensable core conditions, while the roles of brand identification and co-creation behavior varied between Airbnb and hotel contexts. Practical implications Airbnb and hotel operators should integrate elements of coolness (e.g. utility, attractiveness, originality and subcultural appeal) into their services to engage customers more deeply. Hotels can focus on innovative, sustainability-focused designs, whereas Airbnb hosts should emphasize local cultural elements to create immersive experiences. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the hospitality literature by comparing the roles of perceived coolness in two lodging contexts. It contributes to SDL by highlighting how co-creation processes develop using both symmetric (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric methods (fsQCA).