A Neutralization Perspective on Consumer Adoption of Voice Assistant Recommender Systems in E-Commerce[Adoption des Systèmes de Recommandation via Assistants vocaux en E-commerce : Une Perspective de Neutralisation]

AI-powered voice assistants (VAs) increasingly support voice commerce by offering purchase recommendations. However, consumers may remain concerned about privacy, persuasion, transparency, autonomy, and risk. This study examines how consumers may come to accept such recommendations despite these concerns. Drawing on neutralization theory, we conceptualize neutralization not as a motivation or evidence of deviance, but as a cognitive mechanism through which consumers may rationalize risk- and norm-sensitive behavior. Survey data from 510 US consumers with prior experience of VA recommendations are analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings suggest that neutralization is positively associated with the intention to accept recommendations. Perceived risk, prior experience, and peer-following behavior appear to be associated with neutralization, while persuasion knowledge seems more directly associated with acceptance intention. This study contributes to research on voice assistants, recommender systems, and conversational commerce by highlighting rationalization as an overlooked mechanism in AI-mediated consumer decision-making.