How AI modality shapes tourists' prosocial behaviors

As conversational AI integrates into tourism services, understanding its impact on prosocial behaviors is crucial. This research examines how AI modality (voice vs. text) influences tourists' prosocial decisions. Across four studies, voice-based AI evoked greater anticipated guilt, leading to increased prosocial behavior. Moreover, priming tourists' self-focused attention during text-based interactions amplifies anticipated guilt and prosocial responses, making them comparable to those elicited by voice-based AI. Additionally, modality effects emerge only when AI uses a human-like conversational style, not a machine-like one. These findings extend tourism AI literature by revealing how AI's communication modality shapes tourists' self-conscious emotions and prosocial behaviors. This study also provides actionable insights for tourism providers to design AI that effectively promotes sustainable and socially responsible behavior.