Posted by It comes as no surprise that many people feel distrustful and suspicious of Artificial Intelligence. A new study shows these misgivings transfer into the marketplace as well. If your advertising message references AI – as many brands are quick to proclaim – you may be turning customers away instead of attracting them.
Researchers have found that people are not just wary of AI, but including language about it alongside your product actually decreases a consumer’s intention to purchase.
Mesut Cicek, an assistant professor of marketing and international business at Washington State University, conducted a series of experiments. In the first, around 300 participants were shown a product description for a TV. In one group the TV was referred to as “AI-powered.” The other group’s TV was labeled as a “new technology TV” with all else being identical. Participants who saw the TV with AI in the description were less inclined to make the purchase.
A second experiment surveyed 200 participants in the same manner. This time the product was a car. The group watching the description calling the car an “AI-powered vehicle” was significantly less interested in purchasing it.
“In every experiment we have seen, if you use [the term] ‘AI,’ it decreases the purchasing intention,” said Cicek.
Audrey Chee-Read, a principal analyst at Forrester, said “Over half of consumers believe AI poses a significant threat to society.”
Research from KPMG supports these conclusions. Customers are wary of AI’s presence in services as well as products. According to Jeff Mango, managing director of advisory customer solutions at KPMG, consumers’ two greatest concerns with AI services are they won’t be able to interact with a human so they won’t have their needs met, and they’re concerned about the security of their personal data.
Risk was also a factor. Data showed that consumers viewed AI-driven customer service as “less risky,” but considered an AI-powered illness diagnosis to be “high risk.”
Cicek said the most notable result of their findings was the impact the term ‘AI’ has on emotional trust, “which can significantly affect consumer attitudes and behaviors.” Earning consumers’ trust then becomes the key to overcome purchasing reticence. Failure to do so may hit a company’s bottom line.
Will brands utilizing AI-enhanced products and services be able to overcome the stigma? Mango suggests if a brand has a good reputation with consumers, that credibility may transfer over into its use of AI. But this hasn’t been proven in the marketplace as of yet. Read more findings here.