Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking
In service marketing, AI assistants and self-service technology have become popular. As a result, it is critical to enrich the understanding of whether consumers react differently in the artificial intelligence (AI) service context in comparison with the human service context. This study examines th...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.904302/full |
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author | Yu Zhang Mengya Yang Ziling Zhang |
author_facet | Yu Zhang Mengya Yang Ziling Zhang |
author_sort | Yu Zhang |
collection | DOAJ |
description | In service marketing, AI assistants and self-service technology have become popular. As a result, it is critical to enrich the understanding of whether consumers react differently in the artificial intelligence (AI) service context in comparison with the human service context. This study examines the effect of assistant type (AI vs. human) on consumers’ decision-making. Through three experiments, this research finds that variety seeking will be higher when consumers are making decision in AI (vs. human) service environment. Furthermore, we tested uncertainty as the underlying mechanism. Moreover, we demonstrated that this pattern is moderated by situational involvement. Specifically, in consumption contexts of high involvement, the consumers are less likely to seek variety, and in consumption contexts of low involvement, they prefer more variety (study 3). This research offers service providers new insights by revealing how, why, and when the interaction of AI technology influences consumers’ decision-making in service marketing. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:51:58Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-97e761bcd43d4e46a97d28c0c8a16014 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1664-1078 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:51:58Z |
publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Psychology |
spelling | doaj.art-97e761bcd43d4e46a97d28c0c8a160142022-12-22T02:28:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-05-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.904302904302Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety SeekingYu Zhang0Mengya Yang1Ziling Zhang2School of Management, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, ChinaBusiness School, Nankai University, Tianjin, ChinaAlliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United KingdomIn service marketing, AI assistants and self-service technology have become popular. As a result, it is critical to enrich the understanding of whether consumers react differently in the artificial intelligence (AI) service context in comparison with the human service context. This study examines the effect of assistant type (AI vs. human) on consumers’ decision-making. Through three experiments, this research finds that variety seeking will be higher when consumers are making decision in AI (vs. human) service environment. Furthermore, we tested uncertainty as the underlying mechanism. Moreover, we demonstrated that this pattern is moderated by situational involvement. Specifically, in consumption contexts of high involvement, the consumers are less likely to seek variety, and in consumption contexts of low involvement, they prefer more variety (study 3). This research offers service providers new insights by revealing how, why, and when the interaction of AI technology influences consumers’ decision-making in service marketing.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.904302/fullartificial intelligenceassistant typeuncertaintyinvolvementvariety seeking |
spellingShingle | Yu Zhang Mengya Yang Ziling Zhang Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking Frontiers in Psychology artificial intelligence assistant type uncertainty involvement variety seeking |
title | Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking |
title_full | Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking |
title_fullStr | Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking |
title_full_unstemmed | Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking |
title_short | Uncertainty of Artificial Intelligence Assistant: The Effect of Assistant Type on Variety Seeking |
title_sort | uncertainty of artificial intelligence assistant the effect of assistant type on variety seeking |
topic | artificial intelligence assistant type uncertainty involvement variety seeking |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.904302/full |
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