AI shopping agents less swayed by traditional tactics

2026-05-14

AI shopping agents are becoming more prevalent in online shopping, but research by Jafar Sabbah and Oguz Acar shows that traditional marketing tactics based on human psychology are ineffective on these agents. The study tested eight common online retail promotional tactics across four AI models, finding that only ratings consistently influenced choices. Marketers must adapt by focusing on fundamentals like competitive pricing and strong reviews, and by treating each AI model as a distinct market segment.

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