Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Whether the impact of AI interviews on applicants’ ethical perceptions occurring prior to the interview assessment stage has not been fully discussed. Drawn on the signaling theory, this study investigated whether applicants’ receipt of AI interview invitation affected their interview invitation acceptance through applicants’ ethical perceptions of the interview, and whether this mediating effect was moderated by applicants’ trust in AI. Two studies were conducted to test these hypotheses. In Study 1, participants were randomized to receive an email about AI interview invitation or traditional (human) interview invitation, and then participants’ trust in AI, ethical perceptions about the interview, and interview invitation acceptance were measured. Study 1 found that ethical perceptions mediated the negative effect of AI interview invitation on interview invitation acceptance, and trust in AI mitigated this negative effect. To rule out the possible reverse causality between mediator and outcome, in Study 2, we adopted an experimental causal-chain design to manipulate the ethical perception and found that the ethical perception predicted participants’ interview invitation acceptance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
