Human-centred AI vs machine-centred AI: navigating AI ethical crises in luxury retail

Purpose This study sheds light on the artificial intelligence (AI) ethical crisis, which is prevalent in luxury retail, focusing on the impacts of human-centred versus machine-centred AI services. Drawing upon the situational crisis communication theory, this study investigates how luxury consumers respond to AI technologies and retail stores differently during ethical crises, examining the influence of morality and responsibility attributions on feelings of betrayal and store revisit intentions. Design/methodology/approach A preliminary and a main study were conducted using online experiments with valid US luxury consumer samples. Hayes’s PROCESS Model 6 and Model 87 were used to test the conceptual model and hypotheses. Findings The findings demonstrate that luxury consumers often perceive AI technology as morally intended for crises, which increases their feelings of betrayal by AI and makes them less likely to revisit the store when interacting with human-centred AI compared to machine-centred AI, as they perceive the former to have a greater mind. In contrast, they attribute less responsibility to the store, which reduces their feelings of betrayal by the store and makes them more likely to revisit. Interestingly, the negative impact on revisit intentions can be mitigated when clienteling service employees’ attitudes are warm rather than snobbish. Originality/value By highlighting the roles of luxury retailers and service employees, this research contributes to AI ethics in luxury retail management, offering practical implications for managing AI ethical crises in retail settings.