Conversational AI adoption and frontline employee creative performance: moderating role of AI anthropomorphism
Ali Raza, Qurat‐ul‐ain Talpur, Ali Haider, Ghulam Murtaza, Muhammad Ishtiaq Ishaq · International Studies of Management and Organization · 2026
This study examines the impact of conversational AI characteristics—perceived accessibility, perceived privacy and security, perceived informational quality, and perceived functional quality—on frontline employees’ creative performance, mediated by AI adoption and moderated by AI anthropomorphism. Drawing on a sample of 330 frontline employees working in Pakistani service industries, the research investigates how key features of conversational AI influence creative performance through the mediating role of AI adoption. Additionally, the study explores whether AI anthropomorphism strengthens the relationship between conversational AI characteristics and AI adoption. The results indicate that all hypothesized relationships are statistically significant. Specifically, all conversational AI characteristics positively affect frontline employees’ AI adoption, which in turn enhances their creative performance. Furthermore, AI anthropomorphism amplifies the link between conversational AI features and AI adoption, suggesting that humanlike AI traits facilitate greater acceptance and usage among employees. These findings contribute to the growing literature on AI in organizational settings by highlighting the mechanisms through which conversational AI fosters creativity and the contingent role of anthropomorphism.