Balancing Convenience and Suspicion: A Qualitative Study of the Consumer Trust Paradox in AI-Powered E-commerce.
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Abstract
The Revolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into e-commerce has become the reason for sophistication but yet complex customer experience. While AI-driven features are introduced to enhance convenience and personalization for the shoppers, they simultaneously raise significant concerns about their data privacy and surveillance. This paper explores the "AI Trust Paradox," a phenomenon where the technology that increases a platform's utility also fuel user suspicion. By conducting a qualitative, exploratory approach, this study analyses responses of 155 active online shoppers from South India using semi-structured questionnaire. The data were thematically analysed using NVIVO software to understand the nuanced perception of consumers towards the AI features, including personalization, chatbots, and virtual try-on. The findings revealed that consumers engage in a continuous cost-benefit analysis, in which trust is context-dependent and varies significantly across different AI applications and the age of the respondents. This research extends the theory of the privacy paradox to the modern AI context and offers critical managerial implications. It suggests that for e-commerce platforms to build sustainable trust, they must move beyond functionality and should concentrate on transparency and user control..
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Appendix A: Questionnaire
What kinds of products do you most enjoy shopping for online (e.g., fashion, electronics, books, appliances etc.)? List products you shop.
Which websites or apps do you typically use for this? (e.g., Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio)
Have you tried out newer features on these sites, or do you tend to stick to the basic search bar?
Can you think of a time when an ad on social media or a notification from a shopping app made you realize you wanted or needed something? What was the product?
Do you find product recommendations useful while searching for a product?
How often do you find these suggestions useful or relevant?
Have they ever helped you find the right product faster? If so, give an instance.
Visual Search Experience: [Describe your experience if you have used this feature].
Have you ever been watching a product and noticed its price suddenly changed or you received a Price drop alert?
What goes through your mind when that happens? Does it make you more or less likely to buy it?
Do you generally trust the security of the payment process with your payment information?
Virtual Try Experience: [Describe your experience if you have used this feature].
Chatbot Support Experience: [Describe your experience if you have used this feature].
What about the follow-up emails or notifications you get after a purchase? Do you find the personalized suggestions for other products useful or just annoying? Why?
Thinking about all these smart features—the personal recommendations, the price alerts, the chatbots—they all rely on the site collecting your data. How do you feel about that trade-off?
Overall, do you feel this technology makes you trust a platform more, or does it sometimes make you suspicious?
Personal Details
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