Do managers accept artificial intelligence? Insights into the role of business area and AI functionality

IF 2.5 2区经济学 Q2 ECONOMICS

Journal of Economic Psychology Pub Date : 2025-02-18 DOI:10.1016/j.joep.2025.102804

Miriam Gieselmann , Daniel Erdsiek , Vincent Rost , Kai Sassenberg

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Abstract

More and more companies use artificial intelligence (AI). Research aimed to understand acceptance from the perspective of AI users or people affected by AI decisions. However, the perspective of decision-makers in companies (i.e., managers) has not been considered. To address this gap, we investigate managers’ acceptance of AI usage in companies, focusing on two potential determinants. Across four experimental studies (N_total = 2025), we tested whether the business area (i.e., human resources vs. finances/ marketing) and AI functionality affect managers’ acceptance of AI (i.e., perceived risk of negative consequences, willingness to invest). Findings indicate that managers (a) perceive more risk of and (b) are less willing to invest in AI usage in human resources than in finances and marketing. Besides, the results suggest that acceptance declines if functionality crosses a critical boundary and AI autonomously implements decisions without prior human control. Accordingly, the current research sheds light on the AI acceptance of managers and gives insights into the role of the business area and AI functionality.

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来源期刊

Journal of Economic Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

31.40%

发文量

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： The Journal aims to present research that will improve understanding of behavioral, in particular psychological, aspects of economic phenomena and processes. The Journal seeks to be a channel for the increased interest in using behavioral science methods for the study of economic behavior, and so to contribute to better solutions of societal problems, by stimulating new approaches and new theorizing about economic affairs. Economic psychology as a discipline studies the psychological mechanisms that underlie economic behavior. It deals with preferences, judgments, choices, economic interaction, and factors influencing these, as well as the consequences of judgements and decisions for economic processes and phenomena. This includes the impact of economic institutions upon human behavior and well-being. Studies in economic psychology may relate to different levels of aggregation, from the household and the individual consumer to the macro level of whole nations. Economic behavior in connection with inflation, unemployment, taxation, economic development, as well as consumer information and economic behavior in the market place are thus among the fields of interest. The journal also encourages submissions dealing with social interaction in economic contexts, like bargaining, negotiation, or group decision-making. The Journal of Economic Psychology contains: (a) novel reports of empirical (including: experimental) research on economic behavior; (b) replications studies; (c) assessments of the state of the art in economic psychology; (d) articles providing a theoretical perspective or a frame of reference for the study of economic behavior; (e) articles explaining the implications of theoretical developments for practical applications; (f) book reviews; (g) announcements of meetings, conferences and seminars.