purchase journey

• Article

How AI Is Changing the Consumer–Brand Relationship

Do you ask Alexa from your smart speaker to purchase items for you? Research shows that voice-activated, AI-enabled devices are becoming increasingly important for online retailers. They can increase search and even purchase, especially among younger consumers and for categories of high purchase frequency or low substitutability. Rather than cannibalizing other channels, use of such devices creates positive spillover, since shopping is integrated into other, consumer routines. Read the article.

• Article

The Complexity of Context Effects

Do you ask Alexa from your smart speaker to purchase items for you? Research shows that voice-activated, AI-enabled devices are becoming increasingly important for online retailers. They can increase search and even purchase, especially among younger consumers and for categories of high purchase frequency or low substitutability. Rather than cannibalizing other channels, use of such devices creates positive spillover, since shopping is integrated into other, consumer routines. Read the article.

• Future States & AI
• Article

Beyond Visibility: What Makes Brands Discoverable Today?

• ARF; The Advertising Club of New York

Getting noticed is only the beginning. As consumers discover brands through search engines, social platforms, creators, retail environments and AI-powered tools, visibility alone no longer guarantees relevance or consideration. In her latest article for The Advertising Club of New York, Tracy Adams, PhD, Senior Director of Research & Insights at the ARF, examines how the changing discovery landscape is reshaping the relationship between brands and consumers. Drawing on recent ARF and industry research, she explores why recognition, relevance, credibility and trust are increasingly important to turning brand exposure into meaningful consumer engagement.

• Article

Improving Attribution Measurement

Do you ask Alexa from your smart speaker to purchase items for you? Research shows that voice-activated, AI-enabled devices are becoming increasingly important for online retailers. They can increase search and even purchase, especially among younger consumers and for categories of high purchase frequency or low substitutability. Rather than cannibalizing other channels, use of such devices creates positive spillover, since shopping is integrated into other, consumer routines. Read the article.

• Future States & AI
• Article

How Generative Search Changes Shopping Decisions

• ARF; MSI

Generative search may help consumers move from broadly stated needs to more focused shopping decisions. In a field experiment involving more than 6.4 million users of Meituan—a Chinese e-commerce platform, consumers given AI-generated responses placed more orders and generated greater transaction value than those using a conventional keyword search. They also spent less time browsing and concentrated their attention on fewer, more relevant categories and merchants.

• Future States & AI
• Article

How AI Is Reshaping Consumer Choice

• Psychology of GenAI
• ARF; MSI

Generative AI is becoming an active participant in the purchase journey, helping consumers compare products, interpret information and select among alternatives. Based on a survey of 500 adults who use AI at least weekly and have used it for shopping or product research, the latest report in the ARF and MSI Psych of Gen AI series examines how much of the decision process consumers are willing to delegate, where they still insist on control and what their growing reliance on AI means for marketers.

• Article

The Psychology of Gen AI (10): When AI Helps Decide: Consumer Agency in the AI-Mediated Purchase Journey: Deep Dive

Do you ask Alexa from your smart speaker to purchase items for you? Research shows that voice-activated, AI-enabled devices are becoming increasingly important for online retailers. They can increase search and even purchase, especially among younger consumers and for categories of high purchase frequency or low substitutability. Rather than cannibalizing other channels, use of such devices creates positive spillover, since shopping is integrated into other, consumer routines. Read the article.

• Article

The Psychology of Gen AI (10): When AI Helps Decide: Consumer Agency in the AI-Mediated Purchase Journey

Do you ask Alexa from your smart speaker to purchase items for you? Research shows that voice-activated, AI-enabled devices are becoming increasingly important for online retailers. They can increase search and even purchase, especially among younger consumers and for categories of high purchase frequency or low substitutability. Rather than cannibalizing other channels, use of such devices creates positive spillover, since shopping is integrated into other, consumer routines. Read the article.