The role of AI-activated positive emotions in users’ continuous use of digital financial services: an experimental and survey study

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology have made mobile and online settings the dominant places for launching financial services innovation. This study uses an experiment and a survey to investigate whether and how positive emotions activated by AI can enhance users’ continuous use of digital financial services (DFS). The results show that positive emotions can be activated by AI-enabled technology, and AI-activated positive emotions enhance users’ perceived value, decrease the perceived risk of loss, improve continuous use intention (Study 1), and AI-activated positive emotions promoted users’ intention to continue using DFS through expectation confirmation process (Study 2). This study contributes to the theory and evidence highlighting the concept of AI-activated users’ positive emotions being stimulated by interactions with AI-enabled services, and how this affects continuous DFS use. The implications of service innovation for digital financial platforms are discussed.