Integrating Digital Agenticity and Cybernetic Feedback in AI Chatbot Adoption: From Stimulus to Sustainable Consumption Through Cognitive and Emotional Pathways

Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots increasingly influence consumer decision‐making in sustainability domains where information asymmetry and greenwashing concerns often create uncertainty. Drawing on Digital Agenticity Theory (DAT) and cybernetics theory, this study investigates the dynamic formation of AI perceptions, specifically how interaction frequency may strengthen digital agenticity and subsequently connect with perceived anthropomorphism. Unlike traditional models that view cognitive and emotional responses as parallel, our framework proposes a sequential mechanism from anthropomorphism to efficiency and from efficiency to both awe and usage intention. Using a two‐wave survey of 779 Vietnamese consumers and PLS‐SEM analysis, the findings suggest that frequent interactions dynamically cultivate perceptions of digital agenticity within this sample. Critically, anthropomorphism may function as a potential cognitive lubricator that facilitates efficiency perceptions, which directly relates to usage intention and indirectly supports adoption pathways through the elicitation of awe when performance appears to exceed expectations. These findings offer exploratory support for reframing AI chatbots as potential contextual moral partners in sustainable consumption. This study extends the conceptual scope of DAT and cybernetics theory to sustainability, offering culturally grounded insights for building trust and supporting green consumption tendencies in emerging markets.