Integrating AI chatbots for enhancing academic support in business education: A SEM-Based study toward sustainable learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots are transforming academic support in higher education by delivering personalized, real-time assistance to students. In business education, where students often face difficulties accessing timely academic and administrative support, AI chatbots present innovative, scalable, and equitable solutions that promote more inclusive and sustainable learning environments. This study investigates factors influencing business students' intentions to adopt AI chatbots as virtual academic assistants, which integrates both academic and administrative functionalities, using the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework. It examines the interaction among Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PEU), Personal Innovativeness (PIN), Anthropomorphism (ANM), Perceived Information Quality (PIQ), Trust (TRUT), Satisfaction (SAT), and Intention to Use (INT). Data from 290 business management students were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results reveal that PEOU, PEU, ANM, and PIQ positively influence SAT and TRUT, which in turn significantly predict students’ behavioral intentions to adopt AI chatbots. These findings indicate the importance of usability, humanlike features, and high-quality information in fostering trust and satisfaction. The study contributes to the literature on sustainable education innovation and offers practical implications for business educators aiming to integrate AI-driven solutions into academic support services, thus promoting more effective, accessible, and student-centered learning environments.