How Customer Technology Readiness Sparks Hotel Brand Evangelism: The Roles of Empathy, Admiration, and Technological Empowerment

This study investigates how Customer Technology Readiness drives Brand Evangelism in the context of five-star hotels in Egypt, integrating Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) Theory. The research proposes a moderated–mediated model in which Perceived Empathy and Brand Admiration sequentially mediate the relationship between technology readiness and brand evangelism, while Perceived Technological Empowerment moderates the effect of admiration on evangelism. Data were collected from 432 hotel customers and analyzed using PLS-SEM with WarpPLS. Findings reveal that technology-ready customers are more likely to experience empathy and admiration toward hotel brands, which in turn fosters brand evangelism. Sequential mediation analyses confirm that customer technology readiness influences evangelism indirectly through empathy and admiration. Moreover, the positive effect of brand admiration on evangelism is stronger when perceived technological empowerment is high. These results highlight the critical role of technology-driven emotional and empowerment mechanisms in promoting hotel brand advocacy.