Understanding the impact of artificial intelligence on the justice of charitable giving: The moderating role of trust and regulatory orientation

Abstract The issue of distributive justice in charitable donations has become increasingly prominent. It not only weakens people's confidence in philanthropy but also their enthusiasm for participation. With the widespread use of artificial intelligence technology in donations, a key question arises: Can artificial intelligence inspire people to be more willing to donate by improving their perception of justice in donation distribution? This question is vital for charities but has yet to be answered. To address this gap, this research conducted five comprehensive studies to investigate the impact of AI decision‐makers on consumers' willingness to donate. The findings of Studies 1 and 2 consistently revealed that consumers perceive higher distributive justice in AI decision‐makers compared with humans, motivating increased participation in charitable donations. Study 3 examined two different experimental scenarios and found that this effect only occurs among consumers with lower trust in nonprofit organizations. Study 4 further explored the effect that is only present among prevention‐oriented consumers. These findings reveal how perceptions of distributive justice toward AI decision‐makers can facilitate public charitable giving and highlight the significance of this effect across different groups of consumers, providing invaluable insights for charitable organizations. This research not only fills the theoretical gap in the philanthropic field about the impact of artificial intelligence decision‐makers on donation distribution justice but also provides charitable organizations with artificial intelligence‐based donation promotion strategies.