“Just Do It?” Not So Fast

Why Trust in AI Needs an Interdisciplinary Theoretical Reboot

Bibliographic Data

ID22411019
AuthorsCourtney Kidd (0000-0003-1330-4073, School of Social Welfare, Stony Brook University Stony Brook New York USA, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume60
Issue2
Publication date2026-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Consumer Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0078 • E-ISSN: 1745-6606
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/joca.70060
OpenAlexW7162522451
LanguageEN
References cited21

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in complex consumer‐facing services, traditional adoption models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) are increasingly insufficient for capturing the recursive, sociotechnical, emotional, and ethical dynamics of AI–consumer interactions by overlooking a recursive relationship between user and system. These models treat trust as a static antecedent to adoption and overlook the co‐constitutive relationship between users and intelligent systems. This conceptual paper advances consumer affairs by introducing the Socio‐Technical Adoption and Participation Framework (STAPF), integrating insights from Science and Technology Studies with consumer‐based theories. This framework is theoretically novel, specifying (1) trust as a multidimensional construct, competence, ethical, and relational, and (2) feedback‐driven co‐production as the central mechanism linking user participation and evolving trust outcomes. The model extends beyond technology adoption to address consumer well‐being, marketplace fairness, and regulatory governance in AI‐mediated environments.

Antecedent (behavioral psychology) · Conceptual model · Corporate governance · Reboot · Technology Acceptance Model · AI in Service Interactions · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations

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