When You Feel You Own AI Assistants: How Consumer Ownership Enhances Consumers' Adoption Intention

Abstract

AI assistants are transforming the business landscape by revolutionizing customer service, sales, and marketing. This study investigates how consumer ownership—defined as the psychological sense of ownership over AI products—affects adoption intentions of AI assistants. Drawing on psychological ownership theory and the theory of commitment, we find that consumer ownership significantly increases adoption intention by fostering a stronger sense of commitment to the product. In a series of three studies, we demonstrate that real ownership (Study 1, N = 120, Survey) and perceived ownership (Study 2, N = 200, Experiment) both enhance adoption intentions. Furthermore, Study 3 (N = 200, Experiment) reveals that the impact of ownership is moderated by the type of AI assistant. Specifically, the effect is stronger for functional AI assistants but disappears for companion AI assistants. This research provides valuable strategies for businesses to increase AI adoption.