When privacy concerns drive AI adoption: a psychological perspective

Purpose Will consumers with privacy concerns always hesitate to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) products? Previous research, which has primarily focused on informational privacy, has not explored this issue from a psychological perspective. Moreover, do informational and psychological privacy concerns have diverging impacts on preferences for AI versus humans, and if so, why? This research aims to offer answers to these questions. Design/methodology/approach A total of 787 participants were recruited for four experimental studies to examine how varying levels of psychological privacy concerns influence consumer preferences for AI versus human interaction. Linear regression analyses were conducted to assess these effects. Findings The results consistently demonstrate that heightened psychological privacy concerns increase consumer preference for AI over human interaction. Furthermore, the findings highlight the mediating role of consumers' willingness to interact with humans and the moderating role of contextual interaction requirements. Originality/value Previous research, which focused on the informational dimension of privacy concerns, has shown that privacy concerns hinder AI adoption. In contrast, this study is the first to empirically investigate the downstream effects of psychological privacy concerns, revealing that such concerns can increase preferences for AI over human interaction.