主讲人：Daniel Qi Chen (Baylor University, Randall W. and Sandra Ferguson Endowed Professor)

时 间：2026年9月23日14:00

地 点：同济大厦A楼306教室

报告内容摘要：

AI-based smartification (AIS), defined as the embedding of learning-based AI functionalities into consumer-facing products, has become an important product strategy for enhancing market competitiveness. Yet little is known about how the value of AIS changes as intelligent functions accumulate. Drawing on cognitive load theory, we argue that AIS is a double-edged product attribute: while it enhances product capability and differentiation, it also increases the cognitive effort consumers expend to evaluate intelligent functions. Consequently, the value of AIS is cognitively bounded. To test our theory, we employ a multi-method approach. Using panel data from the Chinese automotive industry covering 600 vehicle series and 8,596 models from 2021 to 2024, we develop a product-level AIS measure based on intelligent configurations and review-based evaluations derived from machine-learning text analysis. The archival analysis shows that AIS improves market competitiveness, but with diminishing returns beyond a threshold. Brand equity strengthens the positive effect of AIS at lower levels of smartification, but this effect weakens once AIS exceeds the threshold. To provide process evidence, we complement the archival study with an online experiment showing that higher AIS increases cognitive load, which in turn reduces perceived competitiveness. Robustness analyses yield consistent results. This study advances research on AI-enabled product strategy by identifying cognitive boundedness as a key mechanism shaping AIS value and clarifying the limits of brand-based value amplification in technology-intensive markets.

报告人简介：

Daniel Chen is Chair of the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics and holds the Randall W. and Sandra Ferguson Endowed Professorship at the Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University.

His research examines the strategic management of technological innovation, with a particular focus on the investment, deployment, and organizational impact of digital technologies. His work has appeared in leading journals, including Information Systems Research, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Operations Management, and MIS Quarterly, among others.

Chen is actively involved in the academic community through a range of editorial leadership roles. He currently serves as Senior Editor for the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Associate Editor for the Journal of Operations Management and Decision Sciences, Guest Associate Editor for MIS Quarterly, and a member of the Editorial Review Board of Information Systems Research.