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How the elderly tackle age discrimination from human or AI servers

Author

Listed:
  • Jia, Guangmei
  • Luo, Xiaoyan
  • Wan, Lisa C.

Abstract

Although the rapid expansion of digital services in the tourism and hospitality industry has highlighted instances of age discrimination perpetuated by artificial intelligence (AI), a significant research gap remains regarding how senior visitors respond to such discrimination. This study employs a mixed-methods approach to compare the reactions of senior tourists to age discrimination originating from AI versus human servers. The results showed that both human- and AI-driven discrimination reduced senior tourists' purchase likelihood compared to non-discriminatory scenarios. However, older tourists reacted less negatively to AI-driven (vs. human-driven) discrimination, which posed a smaller threat to their age-related self-worth. This effect was observed only when in-group customers (e.g., older customers) were present, but not when out-group customers (e.g., younger customers) were present.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia, Guangmei & Luo, Xiaoyan & Wan, Lisa C., 2025. "How the elderly tackle age discrimination from human or AI servers," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:113:y:2025:i:c:s0160738325000817
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.103975
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    References listed on IDEAS

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