Front or back? The impact of AI information presentation order on purchase intentions at different AI innovation locus

An increasing number of firms are working on artificial intelligence (AI) products. However, consumer acceptance of AI products often lags behind the development of the technology, highlighting the urgency of optimizing product marketing strategies. Yet, extant studies focus on AI technology characteristics, individual consumer differences, and AI term effects. Differing from them, this study draws on the order effect and heuristic-systematic model to innovatively explore how the market attractiveness of products with different AI innovation loci can be enhanced by adjusting the order of AI information presentation in advertisements. Across three experiments, we demonstrate that presenting AI information at the back (front) can lead to more positive purchase intentions in advertisements for core (peripheral) AI innovation products. This matching relationship is explained by the dual mediation pathways involving cognitive and affective trust, and moderated by consumer AI knowledge. Our findings provide new perspectives for understanding the unique psychological processes underlying AI product adoption and provide guidance for managers to enhance advertising effectiveness by optimizing the information presentation order.