- New BCG Research Finds That in More Than Half of AI-Assisted Journeys, AI Introduces Consumers to New Brands
- Nearly a Third of Consumers Now Use AI at Some Point in Their Purchase Journey, Roughly Triple the Rate of 18 Months Ago
- Value, Not Price Alone, Is Driving Purchase Decisions, While Health Concerns and Solo Living Reshape What Consumers Want
BOSTON—AI is rapidly gaining influence over purchase decisions as consumers rethink which sources they should trust. More than half of consumers say they don't fully trust any single source of information, according to new research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). But AI is already among consumers’ most trusted sources, along with experts and peers, and they expect their trust in it to increase by 15 percentage points by 2030, faster than any other source.
These discoveries are presented in Global Consumers Have Moved On. Has Your Growth Strategy Caught Up?, a new report from BCG’s Global Advantage practice and Center for Customer Insight. The report is based on a survey of more than 13,000 consumers across 12 markets, supplemented by over 100 in-depth consumer interviews and an analysis of more than 1,000 brands. The research identifies five enduring themes that are reshaping consumer behavior: trust, AI-driven decision making, value over price, longevity and well-being, and solo living.
“Many companies are still competing for a consumer who has already moved on,” said Aparna Bharadwaj, a managing director and senior partner at BCG, global leader of BCG’s Global Advantage practice, and a coauthor of the report. “Consumer journeys have shifted through the power of AI. This makes key thematic consumer segments such as solo households and longevity seekers feel highly underserved by brands. Four in ten consumers feel overwhelmed by the volume of information they encounter, and they are increasingly turning to AI as a trusted source to help them cut through that noise. Understanding the implications of that emerging trend is now central to any company’s growth agenda.”
AI Is Becoming a New Gatekeeper for Consumer Choice
Today, 31% of surveyed consumers use AI at some point in their purchase journey, roughly triple the level that did so just 18 months ago. Some 19% are AI loyalists who rely on it regularly when making purchase decisions, and 70% of these users ultimately buy the products it recommends.
The expanding role of AI poses a new challenge for brands. In more than half of AI-assisted purchase journeys, the technology introduces consumers to brands they would not otherwise have considered. As AI increasingly helps mediate what consumers see, brands may have less visibility into how they are being recommended, ranked, or excluded.
New Sources of Growth Extend Beyond AI
The research identifies several other structural themes that are already reshaping consumer demand:
- Value over Price. Over two-thirds of consumers say they will buy only when they perceive good value, even if they can afford the product at the price point offered.
- Health over Traditional Markers of Success. Nearly three-quarters of consumers rank health and well-being as the strongest indicator of prosperity, ahead of career at 40% and financial wealth at 28%.
- The Rise of Solo Living. In mature markets, one in every three households now consists of a single person, up 6 percentage points since 2010. Solo households spend two to three times more per capita than multiperson households, yet 50% to 70% say products and services are not designed for people like them, making solo households one of the largest and most underserved opportunities for future growth.
“Companies that truly understand their consumers and recognize these shifts early will be better positioned to capture the next wave of growth,” said Lauren Taylor, a BCG managing director and senior partner, global leader of the Center for Customer Insight, and a coauthor of the report. “Brands need to understand what creates value and build for the needs of emerging growth segments. They must also prepare for a world of AI-native commerce, where a recommendation can threaten an incumbent and create a challenger in the same moment.”
Media Contact:
Eric Gregoire
+1 617 850 3783
gregoire.eric@bcg.com
About BCG’s Center for Customer Insight
BCG’s Center for Customer Insight (CCI) turns understanding into real impact, drawing on a comprehensive spectrum of customer intelligence. CCI’s experts work closely with the full range of BCG’s practices to uncover the deep “why” of human behavior, integrating quantitative and qualitative consumer, customer, and citizen insights with a deep understanding of business strategy, competitive dynamics, and public policy context to drive action plans across both private and public sectors.
Building on its longstanding customer-centric DNA, CCI combines deep expertise and human insights with cutting-edge AI-powered capabilities to deliver deeper, more actionable recommendations that power growth, innovation, and new opportunities. By integrating advanced analytics, proprietary data assets, and AI-enabled approaches, the center helps organizations better understand what drives customer demand and influence; identify growth potential; and make more confident, real-time decisions to maximize value in an increasingly complex environment.
In the course of its work, the center has amassed a rich set of proprietary data on consumers and citizens in both emerging and developed markets around the world. CCI is sponsored by BCG's Marketing, Sales & Pricing practice and Global Advantage practice. For more information, please visit the Center for Customer Insight.
