You search online for a pair of trainers. Minutes later, similar shoes appear on social media feeds. A shopping site offers a limited-time discount and suggests a matching jacket. This is no longer just an advert shown to millions of people. Increasingly, artificial intelligence is helping decide not only what you see, but which sales pitch is most likely to persuade you.
Author
- Sharad Gupta
Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Cardiff Metropolitan University
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in online shopping , researchers like me are asking whether these systems are merely making shopping easier, or quietly encouraging us to buy far more than we need. At the same time, a growing body of research suggests that more mindful shopping habits may offer one of the few effective ways for consumers to stay in control of their decisions.
Advertising has always tried to influence consumers. While mass marketing delivered the same message to everyone, AI can build detailed profiles from our interests and online behaviour, continually adjusting recommendations based on what we search for, click on or leave in an online basket.
On online shopping sites this might mean product recommendations linked to a recent search. On social media, it could be a sponsored post resembling content already holding your attention.
Personalisation can be genuinely useful, reducing the effort involved in finding relevant products. But it also allows advertising to become more adaptive. And potentially more persuasive.
That persuasion works because it reduces the mental effort involved in shopping. Instead of comparing hundreds of options, we are presented with a shortlist that feels relevant. Familiarity, customer reviews and scarcity messages such as "only two left" create a sense of urgency.
Of course, AI didn't invent these techniques. One-click payment, limited-time offers and personalised recommendations have long been features of online retail. What AI changes is the speed and precision with which companies can learn which combination of messages works best for each person. Experimental research suggests that these kinds of online "dark patterns" can produce small but measurable increases in impulse buying.
Research suggests AI may make this influence even harder to recognise. A 2025 peer-reviewed experiment involving 179 participants found that many people struggled to identify advertising embedded within AI chatbot conversations, often interpreting promotional content as helpful advice rather than advertising.
A more recent 2026 preprint involving 2,012 participants reached a similar conclusion. Researchers found that conversational AI steered users towards sponsored books far more often than conventional search rankings, while most participants did not recognise the promotional influence. Because the study has not yet been peer reviewed, its findings should be interpreted with appropriate caution.
When convenience turns into extra consumption
The concern is not that AI removes our ability to choose freely. Rather, it can shorten the gap between wanting something and stopping to consider whether we actually need it. A recommendation arrives at exactly the right moment, perhaps accompanied by a discount or a reminder that an item is nearly sold out. Decisions that once involved reflection can become almost automatic.
That matters not only for household budgets but also for the environment. Every unnecessary purchase requires raw materials, manufacturing, packaging and transport. In Europe , around 20% of garments bought online is returned, while an estimated 22% to 43% of returned online clothing is destroyed.
So, how can consumers respond without abandoning the convenience that AI-powered shopping offers?
One increasingly discussed approach is mindful consumption . Rather than shopping on autopilot, it encourages people to become more aware of what is influencing their decisions and to pause long enough to consider whether a purchase reflects a genuine need or simply a well-timed temptation.
A 2025 study found that people with higher levels of trait mindfulness tended to report lower levels of impulse buying overall. But a brief mindfulness exercise did not reduce immediate buying urges or behaviour. Awareness is therefore not a magic switch.
Putting the pause back into the purchase
In my research with a colleague, mindful consumption begins with three ideas: noticing what influences our decisions, considering the wider consequences of what we buy, and recognising when enough is enough.
This kind of mindfulness is not about meditating before buying a pair of shoes. Psychologist Ellen Langer has long argued that mindfulness can simply mean actively noticing what is happening around us and questioning familiar habits.
Applied to shopping, it means interrupting the automatic purchase. Before buying something unplanned, ask yourself: did I want this before I saw the recommendation? What need will it actually meet? How often will I use it?
It can also help to create small moments of friction. Leave an item in your basket overnight instead of buying immediately. Turn off retail notifications. Remove stored payment details. Shop from a list rather than an endless stream of recommendations. Check whether a recommendation is sponsored and compare it with alternatives outside the platform making the suggestion.
Responsibility, however, should not rest solely with consumers. As AI-powered marketing becomes more sophisticated, platforms should make it easier to distinguish advertising from advice, explain why recommendations are appearing and avoid exploiting people's vulnerabilities.
AI's greatest power is not that it forces us to buy. It is that it makes temptation more personal, more timely and easier to accept. Mindful consumption restores something digital shopping increasingly removes: a genuine moment to decide whether wanting should become buying.
Sharad Gupta is affiliated with British Academy of Management as track co-chair for Sustainable and Responsible Business group.
