Shoppers felt less love for brands when AI chatbots mediated, experiments with 791 people find

The authors call this parasocial displacement: conversational AI agents do not only help consumers reach brands, they compete with brands for the consumer's limited emotional attention. The second experiment found the effect operated through AI-induced parasocial attachment, by way of attention and distraction.

The third experiment found brand heritage largely protected established brands, while emerging brands became vulnerable. The authors say this points to digital governance, disclosure of AI use and agentic brand strategy, though these are their proposals rather than tested interventions.

The research was published in the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research in August 2026. It addresses a gap: existing work has focused on productivity gains and the convenience of AI in digital commerce, with little on how conversational AI intermediation affects emotional consumer–brand attachment.

The three experiments were preregistered and set in realistic digital commerce scenarios, with 212, 322 and 257 participants respectively. The first compared AI-mediated brand exposure with direct exposure and varied the anthropomorphic cues of the AI agent.

The second experiment tested the mechanism, finding the effect passes through AI-induced parasocial attachment by way of attention and distraction. The third tested brand heritage as a moderator, finding established brands largely protected and emerging brands vulnerable.

The authors extend parasocial relationship theory from media personalities to algorithmic agents. They propose a triadic consumer–AI–brand framework and suggest heritage brand equity acts as a buffer in the digital market ecosystem.