A double-edged impact of AI literacy on consumers’ willingness to use AI-powered products: a parallel mediation model of perceived AI risk and perceived social good
Yuxiang Na, Shiqiang Liu, Xin Yan · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
Introduction The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies has driven sustained growth in consumer demand for AI-powered products. However, the role of AI literacy as a key determinant of consumers’ willingness to use such products remains subject to conflicting conclusions regarding its underlying mechanisms. Methods This study compared medical and conversational scenarios, constructing a parallel mediation model based on the Value-based Adoption Model. This model featured perceived AI risk and perceived social good as two opposing mediators, exploring the influence mechanism of AI literacy on consumers’ willingness to use AI-powered products. Results Our survey of 441 consumers showed that higher AI literacy significantly increases consumers’ willingness to use chat-based AI and medical AI. Perceived social good and perceived AI risk mediated the relationship between AI literacy and willingness to use chat-based AI. The positive mediating effect of perceived social good ( b = 0.32, 95% CI [0.19, 0.45]) was stronger than the negative mediating effect of perceived AI risk ( b = −0.03, 95% CI [−0.07, −0.003]). Perceived AI risk mediated the relationship between AI literacy and consumers’ willingness to use medical AI ( b = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.16, −0.01]), while the mediating effect of perceived social good was not significant ( b = 0.04, 95% CI [−0.11, 0.17]). Discussion This study revealed a dual-path mediation mechanism through which AI literacy influences consumers’ willingness to use AI-powered products, as well as its cross-scenario heterogeneity, which not only explained the inconsistent findings in prior research but also provided practical insights for scenario-based deployment of AI-powered products and the cultivation of consumer AI literacy.