Technology or Market? How Innovation Drivers Shape Consumer Responses to AI-Designed Services

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is substantially transforming service design in the hospitality and tourism sector. Despite extensive discussion about the potential benefits of AI in this field, consumers’ reactions to human-designed services compared with AI-designed services have not been sufficiently explored. Drawing on stereotype theory, this research proposes that human- and AI-designed services elicit divergent consumer responses under different innovation-driving contexts. Specifically, consumers respond more positively to human-designed services in market-driven innovation contexts, whereas they favor AI-designed services in technology-driven innovation contexts. Through three empirical studies, this research demonstrates a significant interaction effect between design sources and innovation drivers on consumer response, mediated by perceived uncertainty. The findings not only enhance theoretical understanding of AI’s role in service design and new service development, but also provide practical guidance for hospitality and tourism firms on whether to disclose AI design in design of new services.