Willingness to Pay for AI Coaching Services: The Role of Value, Need, and Free Features

Sammanfattning

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence-based coaching applications has introduced a critical monetization challenge for early-stage software-as-a-service providers: despite widespread adoption of free-tier services, conversion to premium subscriptions remains persistently low. This study investigates the psychological determinants of willingness to pay for premium AI pocket coaching services among early-stage users, with a focus on how recognition value, personalization, warmth, trust, perceived value, and perceived need shape users' financial commitment decisions within a freemium context. Drawing on the Artificially Intelligent Device Use Acceptance framework and a fit-as-matching logic, the study employs a quantitative, explanatory design utilizing a structured online survey with an embedded scenario-based experiment, analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings identify personalization as the central driver of the monetization pathway and establish perceived need as the critical mechanism through which value appraisal must transition before financial commitment is realized, providing empirical grounding for the cannibalization paradox whereby highly satisfied free-tier users still decline to upgrade. The study contributes to the literature on digital service monetization and human–AI interaction, while offering practical guidance for AI coaching providers on designing freemium structures that effectively bridge the gap between user satisfaction and revenue generation.