The Persuasive Power of AI Ingratiation: A Persuasion Knowledge Theory Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the emerging marketing tactic of artificial intelligence (AI) ingratiation of humans and reveals that AI ingratiation leads to increased consumer acceptance of product recommendations. The positive effect of ingratiation is explained by consumers’ self-enhancing motivations to believe that AI’s ingratiating comments are particularly accurate and objective. Moreover, these ingratiation effects are moderated by the extent to which AI is anthropomorphized. Counter to the literature showing benefits of anthropomorphism and consistent with the persuasion knowledge model, consumers perceive ingratiation by humanlike (vs. machinelike) AI systems to be more driven by ulterior motives, thereby activating consumer defense mechanisms against ingratiation attempts. Our theory and findings elucidate how AI design features serve to strengthen or weaken consumer resistance to persuasion. We discuss the implications of our findings for the development and ethical utilization of the sophisticated conversational AI that are fast emerging in various marketing contexts.