What drives tourists’ continuance intention to use ChatGPT for travel services? A stimulus-organism-response perspective

The recent surge in AI technologies, like ChatGPT, has sparked significant interest in their potential to revolutionize various industries, with the travel and tourism sector at the forefront. AI-driven chatbots now handle various tasks, from processing orders to providing tailored recommendations within hospitality and tourism. However, understanding what drives tourists to adopt ChatGPT for travel services has remained limited. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, a sample of 606 participants recruited in the crowded tourist destinations in Vietnam using a systematic sampling approach, the findings indicate the impact of anthropomorphic stimuli (perceived warmth, communication speed, and perceived competence) on tourists' cognitive organisms (trust in ChatGPT and attitude towards ChatGPT), which, in turn, influence their behavioral responses (satisfaction and continuance usage intentions of ChatGPT for travel services). Simultaneously, it also reveals the negative moderating effect of technology anxiety on the satisfaction-continuance usage intentions relationship. From a practical standpoint, these findings can potentially guide practitioners and marketers in leveraging ChatGPT's advantages within the hospitality and tourism industry.