Do Consumers Trust AI When They Shop? Here’s What People Said

Read time: 8 mins

Do consumers trust AI when they shop? As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded in product recommendations, pricing, and personalized experiences, a new 2026 Zamplia survey of U.S. consumers reveals a landscape defined not by resistance, but by cautious curiosity, where transparency, social proof, and explainability determine whether AI builds loyalty or erodes trust.

Key Takeaways

• Nearly half of shoppers (49%) have purchased something because of an AI recommendation, but 40% remain neutral about trusting AI.
• AI-driven pricing poses a significant trust risk, with 44% saying they would feel uncomfortable or avoid a brand if pricing lacked transparency.
• Transparency is a competitive advantage: 61% say they are more likely to shop with brands that clearly explain how they use AI.

Nearly half of shoppers (49%) have purchased something because of an AI recommendation, but 40% remain neutral about trusting AI.

AI-driven pricing poses a significant trust risk, with 44% saying they would feel uncomfortable or avoid a brand if pricing lacked transparency.

Transparency is a competitive advantage: 61% say they are more likely to shop with brands that clearly explain how they use AI.

Artificial intelligence has quietly become one of the most powerful forces in e-commerce. It decides which products appear at the top of your search results, curates the “Recommended for you” carousel, powers the chatbot that greets you before you’ve even browsed, and in many cases, determines the price you see. AI isn’t coming to online shopping – it’s already running it.

But here’s the question most brands haven’t slowed down to ask:

Do the people doing the shopping actually trust it?

To find out, Zamplia surveyed 316 consumers between February 9–10, 2026, spanning ages 15 to 75, to understand how shoppers really feel about AI’s role in their purchase decisions. What we found should be on the radar of every marketer, retailer, and brand strategist heading into the rest of 2026.

AI Is Everywhere -And Shoppers Know It

One of the most striking findings from the survey is just how aware consumers have become. 71% of respondents said they’ve noticed AI being used when they shop online — from personalized ads to product suggestions to chatbots. Only 13% said they hadn’t noticed it at all.

Awareness, however, isn’t the same as acceptance. When we asked how much consumers trust AI recommendations to help them find good products, the results told a different story.

• 40% said they’re neutral or unsure — the single largest response group
• 14% said they trust AI recommendations a lot
• 23% expressed some level of distrust (either “not much” or “not at all”)

The majority of shoppers are sitting on the fence. They see AI. They know it’s influencing what they buy. But they haven’t decided how they feel about it yet — and that ambivalence represents one of the biggest opportunities in retail right now.

Nearly Half of Shoppers Have Bought Something Because of AI

Here’s the finding that should catch every e-commerce team’s attention: AI-driven recommendations are converting.

When asked whether they’d ever bought something because AI recommended it, 49% of respondents said yes – either once or twice (31%) or multiple times (18%). That’s almost half of all shoppers making real purchases driven by algorithmic suggestions.

Still, 27% said they’ve never bought based on an AI recommendation, and 19% said they’ve considered it but haven’t pulled the trigger. That hesitant group isn’t opposed to AI – they’re simply waiting for a reason to trust it. For brands, that’s not a lost cause. It’s an opening.

AI Pricing: The Trust Landmine No One Is Talking About

If product recommendations are where AI quietly builds influence, pricing is where it can spectacularly blow it up.

We asked consumers: How would you feel if you found out that AI was used to set the price you see, or choose which deals to show you?

The responses were nearly evenly split – and the negative reactions dominated:

• 27% said they’d feel uncomfortable
• 17% said they’d actively avoid that company
• 27% said they’d be okay – but only if they were told upfront
• Only 18% said they’d be fine with it, no conditions

Do the math: 44% of consumers would either feel uncomfortable or disengage from a brand that uses AI pricing without disclosure. In a world where dynamic, AI-driven pricing is rapidly becoming standard practice, that’s a significant trust liability sitting right at the checkout page. The issue isn’t AI pricing itself — it’s the secrecy around it.

What Would Actually Make Consumers Trust AI More?

This is the question every brand should be asking — and the answers might surprise you.

We asked respondents what would increase their trust in AI recommendations when shopping (up to two choices). The results, ranked by frequency:

Trust Driver	% of Respondents
Seeing reviews from real customers	37%
Knowing why a product was recommended	27%
Knowing a real person reviewed the suggestion	24%
Understanding their data isn’t being sold	21%
Being able to easily ignore recommendations	21%

The clear winner? Human proof. Real reviews from real customers outranked every algorithmic or technical improvement. Consumers don’t want a smarter AI — they want to see that other people made this choice and were happy with it.

The second insight is equally important: explainability matters. Consumers don’t just want recommendations — they want to know why something is being recommended to them. Transparency about the logic behind AI suggestions builds more trust than the suggestions themselves.

Transparency Is Now a Competitive Advantage

Here’s the finding that should live in every brand strategy deck for the rest of 2026:

61% of consumers said they would be more likely to shop at a store that is transparent about how it uses AI, compared to one that isn’t. That breaks down as 36% who said “yes, definitely” and 25% who said “yes, probably.” Only 5% said transparency would make no difference to them.

That’s not a soft preference. That’s a competitive edge.

As AI becomes table stakes across e-commerce, the question is no longer whether you’re using it – it’s how openly you’re communicating about it. The brands that get ahead of this conversation, rather than hoping customers don’t notice, are the ones that will earn lasting loyalty.

Will Consumers Pay More for Ethical AI?

Brands hoping that transparency alone will justify a price increase should temper expectations — but there’s still a meaningful signal in the data.

When asked how much extra they’d pay for a company that’s fully open about its AI use and data practices:

• 60% said they’d pay nothing extra
• 19% said up to 5% more
• 14% said 5–10% more
• 4% said 10–20% more

The majority won’t open their wallets for transparency alone – but 37% of consumers assign real monetary value to ethical AI practices. That’s a not-insignificant segment, and when combined with the preference and loyalty signals above, the ROI of AI transparency goes well beyond a simple price premium.

What Brands Should Do With This Data

The picture this survey paints is clear: consumers are ready to engage with AI in their shopping experience, but trust has to be earned – not assumed.

Here’s what the data points toward for brands in 2026:

• Lead with real reviews. Social proof from real customers is the #1 trust signal – prioritize it in every AI-powered experience
• Explain your recommendations. Tell shoppers why something is being surfaced for them, not just that it was
• Disclose AI pricing proactively. If AI is influencing what deals or prices customers see, say so. The alternative risks far more than a disclosure ever would
• Treat data privacy as a brand asset. Communicating clearly that customer data isn’t being sold builds trust – especially with the 64% female respondents in this survey, who skewed toward caution and consideration
• Pair AI efficiency with human touchpoints. Whether that’s human-reviewed suggestions or prominent customer review integration, the human element is what consumers keep coming back to

The brands that will win in AI-powered commerce aren’t necessarily the ones with the most sophisticated models. They’re the ones who understand that trust is still the most valuable currency in retail – and they’re building it intentionally.

This survey was conducted by Zamplia between February 9–10, 2026, with 316 completed responses from U.S. consumers aged 15–75. Respondents included 64% female and 36% male participants, split across two age groups: 15–40 (147 respondents) and 41–75 (169 respondents).

Download the data tables.

FAQs

Sample Made Simple.

Want consumer insights like these for your brand or research project? Zamplia helps you reach the right audiences, faster – with quality you can count on. Book a free consultation.