ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR IN EMERGING MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM DIGITAL TRUST, ATTITUDE, AND CONSUMER AWARENESS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

Global advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming how consumers search, evaluate, and purchase products online, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying AI-enabled shopping in emerging markets remain underexplored. This study investigates how digital trust and attitudes towards AI influence online shopping behaviour and how consumer awareness mediates these relationships among online shoppers in South-East Nigeria. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the study employs a quantitative, explanatory research design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to online shoppers across five major cities in South-East Nigeria. Of 384 questionnaires distributed, 303 valid responses were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping. The results demonstrate that digital trust and consumer attitudes towards AI exert significant positive influences on online purchase intention. Consumer awareness also directly forecasts purchase intention and partly mediates the relationships between digital trust, attitudes towards AI, and purchase intention. This research advances AI-enabled studies of consumer behaviour by showing that consumer awareness is a vital cognitive process through which trust and attitudes influence online shopping behaviour in an emerging market setting.