Fear vs. temptation: a push-pull-mooring perspective on users' continuance intention toward AI face-swapping technology

The explosive growth of AI face-swapping technology has created a "technology paradox" where users experience simultaneous attraction and apprehension. To decode the underlying mechanisms of this paradox, this study utilizes the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) framework to construct an integrative model. We examine users' continuance intention by incorporating push effects (fear-driven), pull effects (temptation-driven), and individual mooring factors (digital literacy and self-efficacy). Data were collected from 351 active users of FacePlay in China and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that while both push and pull effects significantly influence continuance intention, the pull effect (temptation) exerts a substantially more dominant impact. Digital literacy and self-efficacy not only directly enhance continuance intention but also function as a dual-moderating mechanism-simultaneously buffering the inhibitory influence of push effects and amplifying the facilitating influence of pull effects (temptation) on continuance intention. This study offers novel theoretical insights into the technology paradox and provides concrete implications for digital literacy education and risk governance.