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Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is transforming information search. However, consumers continue to prefer search engines for searching product/service-related information online. They are suspicious of the synthesised search results they receive from GAI because they lack knowledge of how it processes information. Hence, trust in the GAI technology is critical in its widespread adoption for product/service information search. This article aims to identify factors driving consumer trust in GAI platforms. A mixed-method study was conducted. Study 1 included four focus group discussions; the contents of which were thematically analysed. Key drivers impacting consumer trust in GAI were: system-like dimensions – perceived transparency and perceived information quality, and human-like dimensions – anthropomorphism and empathy response. Individual’s propensity to trust moderated the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Based on these, a conceptual model was proposed. Study 2 used PLS-SEM to validate the model using data from 342 respondents quantitatively. Findings confirmed the significant impact of perceived transparency and information quality – the system-like trust dimension; and anthropomorphism and empathy response – the human-like trust dimension. Moderation with propensity to trust came out to be significant only for perceived information quality and empathy response. This research offers implications for retailers to improve consumer search outcomes.
Gupta et al. (Sun,) studied this question.