Balancing Artificial Intelligence Autonomy and User Control: Threat‐Contingent Appraisal Pathways to Consumer Responses

AI–enabled products increasingly delegate decision authority to autonomous systems, yet consumer responses to such autonomy depend on whether users retain meaningful control and how threatening the technology is perceived to be. Drawing on both Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) and a risk–benefit appraisal perspective, this research examines how AI autonomy and user control shape consumer responses under different levels of perceived technological threat. Across one qualitative study and three experiments, the findings reveal distinct appraisal patterns. Under high perceived technological threat, AI autonomy and user control interact to shape perceived product risk, with greater autonomy associated with lower risk when user control is high, which in turn influences consumer responses. Under low perceived technological threat, greater AI autonomy enhances perceived relative benefit, which in turn promotes favorable consumer responses. A within‐category manipulation of technological threat provides a more controlled test of these patterns. The research also extends the evidence beyond purchase and usage intentions by examining product choice, information seeking, test‐driving decisions, and willingness to pay. Overall, this research provides a threat‐contingent account of consumer responses to AI autonomy by highlighting the role of retained user control under technological threat and identifying distinct risk‐ and benefit‐based appraisal pathways across threat contexts.