Beyond Usefulness: How Cognitive Evaluations and Relational Perceptions Shape ChatGPT Continued Subscription Intention

Liucun Zhu; Chunlin Duan

doi:10.63029/1g979a20

Authors

Liucun Zhu South China University of Technology, China Author
Chunlin Duan South China University of Technology, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63029/1g979a20

Keywords:

ChatGPT, continued subscription intention, expectation-confirmation model, human-AI relational perceptions, user satisfaction, generative artificial intelligence

Abstract

As generative AI adopts subscription models, understanding continued payment intentions is essential. Drawing on the expectation-confirmation model, this study integrates technical quality and human–AI relational perceptions to explain continued subscription intention for ChatGPT. Survey data from 565 paid users show that system and information quality affect subscription intention directly and indirectly through expectation confirmation, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. Satisfaction has the strongest direct effect. Liking and trust influence subscription intention both directly and through satisfaction, whereas intimacy operates mainly through satisfaction. Perceived threat and anxiety have no significant direct or mediated effects. The findings extend the expectation-confirmation model to generative AI subscriptions and identify satisfaction as the central mechanism connecting cognitive evaluations, positive relational perceptions, and continued payment decisions.

Author Biographies

Liucun Zhu, South China University of Technology, China

Liucun Zhu is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Assistant at South China University of Technology, China. His research focuses on generative artificial intelligence and user behavior, intelligent communication, and media psychology. His work examines how users cognitively and affectively evaluate conversational AI, how relational and parasocial perceptions emerge in human--AI interaction, and how these mechanisms shape continuance, trust, and subscription intentions toward generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT.
Chunlin Duan, South China University of Technology, China

Chunlin Duan is a Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, South China University of Technology. She founded China's first brand communication program and initiated the Integrated Brand Communication (IBC) theory. Her research focuses on strategic brand communication, big data, and computational advertising. She directs the Guangdong Key Laboratory of New Media and Brand Communication and the Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Big Data and Computational Advertising.

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