Social Support Outweighs Design in Digital Commerce: Explaining AI‐Agent Adoption in Entrepreneurship

Abstract

In a little over a span of time, AI is becoming an increasingly larger factor as it takes hold in the direction that entrepreneurship will take and, for sure, within the digital commerce space. This study builds on TAM by adding 2 additional external factors, social support and the particular features of AI agents, to see what makes young entrepreneurs decide to use these tools. According to 579 generation Y business owners from a survey within Beijing’s digital business ecosystem, according to those individuals, fellow business people as well as advisers’ views and statements regarding whether AI tools are valuable and if they are easy to utilize impact a business owner’s feelings and thoughts on such tools. It is rather surprising, but it is the technical capabilities of the AI agent that seem to matter less than the influence of these, which is mediated by entrepreneurs’ sense of the tool’s value and ease of use. As opposed to just being there, it was also a major and direct motivator for them to be given emotional and informational support. All in all, it means that entrepreneurs are how AI is perceived socially and psychologically, rather than in what it is technically designed. And with this in mind, help to update TAM for digital entrepreneurship and offer practical suggestions for how we may be better about bringing AI tools into our business lives.