Exploring AI assistant in luxury brands: How social presence and emotional appeal drive technology adoption

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies increasingly permeate luxury retail, understanding the emotional and social dimensions of technology adoption has become critical. This study investigates how perceived social presence and emotional appeal influence consumer adoption of AI assistant services in luxury brands, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as the theoretical foundation. Based on a survey of South Korean consumers—one of the world's most digitally advanced and luxury-engaged markets—the study employs structural equation modeling to assess how these emotional factors affect key UTAUT constructs (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions), which in turn shape adoption intention. Findings reveal that emotional appeal positively influenced all four UTAUT dimensions, while social presence influenced all but effort expectancy. Among the UTAUT predictors, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions significantly affected intention to use, whereas performance expectancy did not. Furthermore, multi-group analysis demonstrates that both cognitive and affective trust significantly moderate these relationships. This study extends existing adoption models by incorporating emotional and relational variables into a luxury brand context, offering both theoretical insight and practical guidance for integrating human-like AI services in emotionally driven markets.