Interacting with AI-Enabled Wearables Enhances Symbolic Self-Augmentation and Increases Motivation to Pursue Goals [poster]

Abstract

Smart wearables are commonly promoted as functional aids, yet their symbolic impact on consumer motivation remains underexplored. We ask: Can interacting with AI-enabled wearables enhance users’ motivation to pursue goals—and if so, through what mechanisms and conditions? Drawing on assemblage theory and enclothed cognition, we introduce the concept of self-augmentation—a symbolic process through which intelligent, embodied, and personally owned devices enhance users’ perceived capability for goal pursuit. Across six studies (text mining, experiments, and quasi-experiment), we find that motivation increases only when all three conditions (i.e., AI integration, wearability, and ownership) are present. This research contributes to consumer behavior theory in three ways. First, we extend assemblage theory (e.g., Novak & Hoffmann, 2018; Hoffmann & Novak, 2019) by showing that devices can augment rather than merely extend the self, transforming the consumer–tech relationship into one of perceived empowerment. Second, we reconceptualize enclothed cognition (Adam & Galinsky, 2012), demonstrating that smart technologies—unlike garments—create emergent symbolic meaning that enhances agency. Third, we provide empirical evidence for a micro-level, real-world form of technological self-enhancement, bridging mainstream consumer tech and transhumanist ideas (Mende et al., 2023).