Brands should avoid this popular term. It’s turning off customers

From fashion to fast food, it seems that AI is the name of the game. But eEven as tech giants pour billions of dollars into what they herald as humanity’s new frontier, a recent study shows that tacking the “AI” label on products may actually drive people away.

Even as tech giants pour billions of dollars into what they herald as humanity’s new frontier, a recent study shows that tacking the “AI” label on products may actually drive people away. A study published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management in June found that describing a product as using AI lowers a customer’s intention to buy it. Researchers sampled participants across various age groups and showed them the same products – the only difference between them: one was described as “high tech” and the other as using AI, or artificial intelligence. “We looked at vacuum cleaners, TVs, consumer services, health services,” said Dogan Gursoy, one of the study’s authors and the Taco Bell Distinguished Professor of hospitality business management at Washington State University, in an interview with CNN. “In every single case, the intention to buy or use the product or service was significantly lower whenever we mentioned AI in the product description.” Despite AI’s rapid advancement in recent months, the study highlights consumers’ hesitance to incorporate AI into their daily lives – a marked divergence from the enthusiasm driving innovations in big tech. Included in the study was an examination of how participants viewed products considered “low risk,” which included household appliances that use AI, and “high risk,” which included self-driving cars, AI-powered investment decision-making services and medical diagnosis services. While the percentage of people rejecting the items was greater in the high-risk group, non-buyers were the majority in both product groups.