Understanding AI-enabled conversational agent customer experiences in religious tourism

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled Conversational Agents (AICAs) on religious tourists’ experiences. It explores how AICA attributes influence religious tourists’ cognitive and affective states and how these evaluations, in turn, affect their memorable religious tourism experiences (MRTEs) and continuous use intentions of AICAs. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response model and the Technology Readiness Index, the authors propose a new theoretical framework to examine the relationships among AICA attributes (stimuli), religious tourists’ cognitive and affective evaluations (organism), and their behavioral responses (MRTEs and continuous use intentions). The model is conceptual, with relationships supported through a comprehensive literature review. Findings: The model posits that AICA attributes, such as informativeness, accessibility, empathy and personalization, shape religious tourists’ cognitive and affective evaluations of AICAs. These evaluations impact tourists’ MRTEs, influencing their willingness to continue using AICAs in future religious tourism experiences. Additionally, religious tourists’ technology readiness is posited to moderate the relationship between AICA attributes and their cognitive and affective evaluations. Recommendations are made on how future research can be conducted to investigate and test the proposed conceptual model. Originality/value: This paper enhances the literature on AI in tourism by examining AICAs’ influence on religious tourism experiences and exploring the multidimensional nature of AICA adoption. The proposed conceptual model provides a foundation for future empirical research. It offers insights for tourism operators and service providers, guiding the strategic use of AICAs to enhance MRTEs while respecting the sacred nature of spiritual journeys. These insights can inform the development of more effective and culturally sensitive AI-driven solutions in religious tourism contexts.