Design‐Mediated Affective Accountability: How Artificial Intelligence's Emotional Design Shapes Responsible Use

ABSTRACT This study investigates how artificial intelligence's (AI's) emotional architecture shapes users' emotions and influences responsible consumption behavior (RCB) across everyday contexts. Drawing from 45 interviews with AI users and guided by the Gioia methodology, we map how interface design generates affective responses that shape responsible use. The findings reveal five emotional dynamics synthesized into three core paradoxes that mediate responsible use: the anthropomorphism problem, in which artificial intimacy diminishes ethical vigilance; the paradox of friction, in which frustration enhances verification behaviors; and the transparency paradox, in which disclosure requirements provoke anxiety and reduce compliance. These relationships describe a pathway from emotional architecture to affective accountability, which we identify as the primary driver of RCB. We propose design‐mediated affective accountability as the framework for responsible consumption behavior and advance testable propositions for designing AI systems that promote competence and long‐term ethical engagement.