data

As artificial intelligence progresses rapidly and becomes more integrated into various sectors, AI agents are increasingly used in fields like customer service and healthcare. However, there is limited research on how they can effectively share health information to influence consumer decision-making. Our research explores how framing messages in terms of gains and losses affects persuasion when delivered by AI compared to human agents. Our findings reveal that AI agents prove significantly more persuasive with loss-framed messages, while human agents excel with gain-framed messages. This differential effect is influenced by emotional responses, with AI evoking less intense emotions compared to human interactions in both framing conditions. Additionally, under loss-framed conditions, regulatory focus moderates these effects: prevention-focused individuals are more persuaded by AI-delivered loss frames, whereas promotion-focused individuals show weaker responses. This study enhances our comprehension of how AI can drive persuasive communication, the role of emotions in this process, and the application of regulatory focus theory when comparing AI and human interactions.