A comparative study on the effect of ChatGPT recommendation and AI recommender systems on the formation of a consideration set

Abstract

The study explores the impact of Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) and existing artificial intelligence (AI) recommenders on consumer choice, examining whether brand awareness moderates this influence. It utilized a within-subjects design with 443 responses and employed structural equation modeling and the PROCESS macro for analysis. The results reveal that recommendations by ChatGPT and the existing AI recommender similarly influence the consumer purchase journey from perceived performance (PP) toward intention to adopt a consideration set (IC) via trust in the recommender (TR) and trust in recommended products (TP). However, ChatGPT has a higher impact of PP on TR and a higher IC than the existing AI recommender. The higher the level of brand awareness, the higher the TP, but the gap is narrowed by the moderating effect significantly at low and medium levels but not at high level, which leads to IC. The study underscores the importance of marketers enhancing brand awareness despite the effectiveness of AI recommenders in influencing consumer choice. This empirical comparative study contributes to marketing literature by elucidating the interplay between ChatGPT, AI recommenders, consumer choice and brand awareness.