Evaluating Generative AI’s Role in Enhancing Hotel Guests’ Purchase Intentions

This study investigates how guests form perceptions about using generative AI systems when seeking recommendations for local attractions and how these perceptions influence their subsequent purchase intentions. A conceptual model was constructed based on Social Exchange Theory and empirically validated using data from an online survey of 398 U.S. guests. The findings reveal that perceived benefit and trust in AI have a moderately significant effect on intentions to purchase, while reciprocity has a minor significant impact. Additionally, uncertainty avoidance has a minor significant negative effect on intentions to purchase. At a time when monetizing consumers’ use of technology is increasingly critical, this study explains purchase intentions driven by hotels’ use of generative AI, which is instrumental in advancing research on the impact of generative AI.