Tourists’ Mindsets and the Adoption of ChatGPT for Travel Services: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Self-Efficacy,Anxiety,and Social Influence

Abstract

Tools generating artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT are reshaping travel planning, yet the psychological factors driving their adoption remain unclear. This study addresses this gap by examining how the beliefs in tourists’ mindsets about the malleability of abilities influence attitudes toward ChatGPT for travel services. Drawing on implicit theory and the approach–avoidance model, we test a moderated-mediation framework linking growth (vs. fixed) mindsets to technological self-efficacy and anxiety, and, in turn, to attitudes and behavioral intentions. Through three studies (N = 1,030), we found that growth mindsets enhanced technological self-efficacy and reduced technological anxiety, producing more favorable ChatGPT attitudes for travel services. In the survey study, attitudes significantly predicted behavioral intentions, and social influence strengthened the self-efficacy pathway while weakening the anxiety pathway. The findings extend mindset theory to AI-enabled tourism and suggest that framing ChatGPT as learnable and supportive can boost travelers’ confidence and willingness to adopt it.

Keywords

mindsets self-efficacy social influence technological anxiety and travelers’ responses to ChatGPT

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