Navigating the Algorithmic Uncanny Valley: A Systematic Re-view of Consumer Aversion and Appreciation towards Genera-tive AI in Decision-Making (2000–2025)

The integration of Generative AI (GenAI) into consumer decision-making creates a paradox where individuals oscillate between functional appreciation and affective aversion. This study aims to delineate the boundary conditions triggering this resistance by investigating how consumers respond to increasingly sophisticated AI systems. A PRISMA-compliant systematic review was conducted, synthesizing 89 peer-reviewed empirical and conceptual studies published between 2000 and 2025. The Theory, Context, Characteristics, and Methodology (TCCM) framework was subsequently applied to map the literature. The synthesis reveals three distinct consumer response zones governed by task domain, identity relevance, and sociomorphic cues: the Zone of Utility, the Zone of Perceptual Dissonance (the "Algorithmic Uncanny Valley"), and the Zone of Transcendent Co-Creation. To integrate these findings, the study proposes the Algorithmic Uncanny Valley Model (AUVM) alongside eight testable propositions that unify theories of anthropomorphism, reactance, and identity threat. The review concludes that as GenAI achieves near-human empathic and creative sophistication, it triggers ontological dissonance rather than monotonic appreciation. Navigating this algorithmic uncanny valley requires targeted interventions, such as preserving human agency scaffolding and ensuring epistemic transparency, which carry direct implications for GenAI platform architecture and disclosure regulation.