Enhancing Consumer Decision-Making with AI: The Role of the Sense of Autonomy

Authors:
Jove Jinghui Hou (University of Houston)
Shuai Yang (Donghua University)
Guiyang Xiong (Syracuse University)
Paul Pavlou (University of Miami)

Journal:
MIS Quarterly, forthcoming 2025

Summary:
By promoting the sense of autonomy, retailers can increase the effectiveness of AI recommendation systems in increasing product purchases and reducing product returns.

Research Questions:
What role does the sense of autonomy play in AI-advised consumer decision-making, and how does it affect decision outcomes? Should the sense of autonomy prove beneficial, what can be a solution to foster it, and why might the solution work?

What We Know:
Retailers increasingly adopt AI-based recommendation systems, which can provide expertly curated product recommendations. Despite their proficiency at offering “optimal” choices, an inherent issue with AI-based systems is that they often fail to capture unique individual factors,
constraining choices in ways that may not align with consumers’ personal needs and priorities.

Novel Findings:
We show that, by enhancing the sense of autonomy, retailers can significantly improve the effectiveness of AI recommendation systems in increasing product purchases, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing product returns. We propose a feasible and effective way via personal smartphones to enhance the sense of autonomy in AI-assisted decision-making.

Full Citation:
R. Hou, J., S. Yang, G. Xiong, P. Pavlou (2025), "Enhancing Consumer Decision-Making with AI:
The Role of the Sense of Autonomy", MIS Quarterly, forthcoming.

Abstract:
Empowered by large-scale consumer data, artificial intelligence (AI) systems act as shopping gurus, serving up highly personalized and expertly curated product recommendations that are deemed the “best” choices for each consumer. Despite their proficiency at offering “optimal” choices, AI-based systems often fail to capture unique individual factors, constraining choices in ways that may not align with consumers' personal needs and priorities. We theorize that enhancing the sense of autonomy serves as a means to compensate for AI’s shortfall in capturing individual uniqueness by prompting consumers to incorporate their personal needs into decision-making, thereby leading to AI-assisted decisions that better match consumers’ individual preferences. Across five laboratory and one field experiment in the context of fashion purchases, we find support for the importance of the sense of autonomy in AI-based systems. Promoting the sense of autonomy in using AI leads consumers to strongly consider their personal preferences in the decision-making process, resulting in increased purchase intention and greater satisfaction and confidence in the AI-assisted decisions. Intriguingly, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel personal smartphone-based AI design in fostering the sense of autonomy and improving decision outcomes. Field data confirm the positive impact of the increased sense of autonomy on actual purchases in a real-world setting. Our research offers new theorizing on the importance of the sense of autonomy in AI-assisted decision-making, along with an actionable approach to enhancing the sense of autonomy in managerial practice.