<p>The impact of service innovation in scenic hotels on customers' post-stay revisit intention has been examined in a single pathway, focusing solely on customers' desire or the content of the innovation. However, there is a lack of literature exploring the relationship between various personal characteristics of customers and the specific target of scenic hotels. A two-stage field and crime scene experiment were used to study 407/295 tourists who stayed in scenic hotels, guided by the person-stimulus match. The results demonstrate that service innovation can positively influence customers' post-stay revisit intention and further emphasize the parallel mediating role of customer perceived value and cognitive dissonance within the aforementioned mechanism. This study also examined the effect of customers' personal characteristics, and the results indicated that a high level of customers' regional culture identification and innovativeness, respectively, strengthen the direct effect of service innovation on customer perceived value and cognitive dissonance, as well as the indirect effect of service innovation on post-stay revisit intention. This study offers a fresh perspective on how hotel innovation influences customers' revisit intention, while providing theoretical support and practical guidance for the implementation and management of scenic hotel innovation.</p>