To address the homogeneous competition dilemma of Chongqing homestays and clarify the driving mechanism of experience value on customer engagement, this study focuses on Chongqing homestays. Taking consumers aged 18 and above with experience of staying in Chongqing homestays as the research objects, 412 valid questionnaires were collected through both online and offline channels. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to empirically analyze the direct impact and differential roles of the three dimensions of experience value (emotional value, social value, and cultural value) on customer engagement. The results show that: 1) All three dimensions of experience value have a significant positive direct impact on customer engagement in Chongqing homestays, verifying that experience value is a key driving factor for customer engagement in homestays; 2) There are significant differences in the impact intensity of the three dimensions on customer engagement. Among them, emotional value (?=0.418) has the strongest driving effect, followed by cultural value (?=0.286), and social value (?=0.185) is relatively weaker; 3) The reliability and validity of the measurement scale are good, and the model's explanatory power (R²=0.499) and predictive power (Q²=0.492, large effect) for customer engagement both meet the standards. This study not only fills the regional research gap in the relationship between experience value and customer engagement of Chongqing homestays, deepens the research on the differential impact of multi-dimensional experience value, but also provides practical guidance for Chongqing homestay operators. They should give priority to optimizing emotional value (such as personalized services and the creation of a "home-like atmosphere"), supplemented by the enhancement of cultural value (such as Bayu intangible cultural heritage experiences), to specifically improve customers' willingness to engage and market competitiveness.
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