The influence of religiosity on consumers' evaluations of brands using artificial intelligence

Abstract Prior research is limited that examines how consumers respond to artificial intelligence (AI) used by businesses and in marketing. Specifically, more research is needed that explores which consumers are more likely to support AI use in marketing as well as why this occurs to develop targeted marketing campaigns toward these consumers. Through three studies, our research addresses these gaps by testing the role of religiosity on AI evaluations. Study 1 shows that religiosity positively influences perceptions of AI in marketing, which is mediated by greater trust in AI. Study 2 primes religiosity to demonstrate the causality of the effects, showing that consumers exposed to a religiosity prime more positively evaluate companies and their employees when AI is used. Study 3 then better confirms the underlying mechanisms of these effects using a virtual conversational agent context by showing that higher religiosity consumers are more trusting of the unseen, which leads to greater trust of a company, and ultimately positively influences evaluations of companies using AI. We contribute to belief congruence theory in identifying the role of trust (specifically trust in the unseen related to AI) in the belief‐behavior relationship. We also identify how marketers can use religious cues to increase trust in AI in marketing.