AI capabilities in fashion retail : examining its impact on employees' creativity
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[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2026] The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in fashion retail is reshaping industry dynamics and enhancing efficiency and innovation across product development, marketing, and supply chain management. This study examines how different capabilities of AI--operational, cognitive, and affective--influence employee creativity within the U.S. fashion retail industry. Guided by Dynamic Capability Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Conservation of Resources Theory, the study explores proactive and responsive creativity as critical outcomes of AI integration. Using a quantitative approach with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), data from 302 fashion retail employees were analyzed. The results reveal that cognitive and affective AI capabilities significantly enhance both proactive and responsive creativity, with affective capabilities exhibiting the strongest influence. Operational AI capabilities, however, show no significant positive impact on employees' creative responses. Furthermore, creative self-efficacy positively moderates specific AI-creativity relationships, while AI-enhanced job replacement anxiety did not have a significant moderating effect. The findings offer key managerial implications, highlighting the critical role of selecting appropriate AI capabilities and developing formal training initiatives to maximize creative collaboration between employees and AI in fashion retail organizations.
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Ph. D