Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism | 2026
Authors: Bae J.-E.
DOI: 10.3389/frsut.2026.1819751
Journal: Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism
Year: 2026
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access
Cited by: 0
Introduction – This study investigates the cognitive judgment justification mechanism underlying consumer purchase intention formation in AI-based information environments, particularly within the experience-good context of tourism. Unlike persuasion-based perspectives, this study argues that consumers finalize decisions not when information is maximized, but when they achieve metacognitive certainty that their choice is rational and defensible. Methods – Drawing on metacognition theory and bounded rationality, a sequential cognitive model was proposed in which perceived value influences purchase intention through decision confidence and trust. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group analysis were conducted using data collected from 433 South Korean adults with experience using AI-based tourism recommendation systems. Results – The results support a full sequential mediation pathway: perceived value → decision confidence → trust → purchase intention. Decision confidence functions as a central metacognitive mechanism linking value evaluation to behavioral intention, while trust emerges as an endogenous outcome of decision confidence. Additionally, AI utilization level exerts a stage-specific moderating effect, strengthening the perceived value-purchase intention relationship without significantly affecting the downstream roles of decision confidence and trust. Discussion – These findings extend the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework by conceptualizing the organism as a temporally structured cognitive process involving appraisal and meta-appraisal stages. The study also contributes to decision-making research by positioning trust as an endogenous cognitive outcome in high-uncertainty consumption contexts such as tourism. Copyright © 2026 Bae.
AI-assisted decision-making; bounded rationality; cognitive judgment justification; decision confidence; experience good; metacognition; perceived value; S-O-R framework