Internal participants vs. external narrators? The differentiation effect of narrative perspectives in AI tour guide recommendations

AI tour guides have increasingly become a key source of tourism recommendations. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates the impact of AI tour guides’ narrative perspectives on tourists’ intention to follow recommendations through four experiments. The findings show that both first-person and third-person narratives positively influence tourists’ intention to follow recommendations through perceived relatedness and perceived autonomy, respectively. Moreover, AI tour guides’ role types serve as moderators. Specifically, when AI tour guides act as decision aids, third-person narratives are more effective in enhancing tourists’ intention to follow recommendations. In contrast, when AI tour guides serve as delegated agents, first-person narratives have a greater impact. This study offers valuable theoretical contributions and practical implications for the design and implementation of AI tour guides.