Paradoxical consumer-technology interactions: A cross-contextual comparison of self-service, crowdsourcing platform, and AI-powered automation

Enabled by technological interfaces, firms increasingly engage consumers as active participants in service co-production, yet the outcomes of such participation remain mixed. Here, consumer–technology interactions become the core analysis unit, introducing novel sources of tensions. Drawing on paradox theory, we investigate the antecedent tensions (performing, organising, belonging, and learning) and examine how different contexts (technological self-services, crowdsourcing platforms, and AI-powered automation) influence the salience of the tensions. Survey data collected in Singapore were analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings show that experienced technological tensions lead to performing, organising, and belonging tensions, which converge into learning tensions, manifested as a control–chaos paradox shaping consumers’ co-production responses. Furthermore, crowdsourcing platforms amplify belonging tensions, whereas AI-powered automation heightens performing tensions while attenuating organising tensions. This study contributes to research by revealing the structured and context-contingent nature of tensions in service co-production, offering a paradoxical perspective on consumer–technology interactions.