The Intuitive Customer - Helping You Improve Your Customer Experience To Gain Growth

What Customers Really Think About Your AI Experience: Academic Research Reveals the Truth.

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Jun 7, 2025

Ever thanked a chatbot? You're not alone, and maybe it's stranger than you think! Discover why 50% of customers lose trust when AI is involved, despite its growing presence. Dive into the psychology of customer-AI interactions, revealing that a single bad AI experience can tarnish future trust. Explore how people relate to AI as if it were a friend, even experiencing mixed emotions about adopting new technologies. This engaging discussion merges academic insights with real-world examples to reveal the intricate dance between trust and AI.

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INSIGHT

AI Sparks Trust Penalty

Around 50% of customers trust companies less when they know AI is involved.
Customers feel nervous about AI, demanding cautious implementation focused on trust-building.

INSIGHT

Less AI Knowledge Means More Trust

People with lower AI literacy are more willing to use AI; higher literacy breeds more caution.
This occurs because lack of understanding makes AI seem magical, while knowledge reveals its limitations and risks.

INSIGHT

AI Trusted for Objective Tasks

Customers trust AI more for objective, utilitarian tasks but prefer human recommendations for hedonic, pleasure-focused choices.
This distinction guides where AI should be applied to maximize acceptance and trust.

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Have you ever said "thank you" to a chatbot or Chat GPT? Well, you're not alone—and you might just be weirder than you think. It turns out AI can be more empathic than people. But what do Customers think of AI experiences? Academic research reveals the answers we discuss in this show.

In this special live-recorded episode from the SOCAP Conference, Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton explore the psychology behind how customers actually feel about AI—and what that means for your customer experience.

Ryan dives into the latest academic research on AI trust, customer behaviour, and why people treat AI like it's part of the cast of Friends. Meanwhile, Colin keeps things grounded with real-life examples with his usual "so what?" test.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

Why 50% of customers trust companies less when they know AI is involved
How AI literacy backfires (the more people understand it, the less they use it!)
The subtle "outgroup" bias customers apply to AI systems
Why hedonic recommendations (like chocolate) must come from humans
How one bad AI interaction can poison the well for all future ones
What the hell "personification" means—and why it matters for your brand
The surprising emotional tension behind AI adoption (it's empowering and scary)

Best Quote from the Episode:

"AI isn't human, but customers treat it like it is—and that means it's being judged by human standards. If it screws up once, they'll remember. And they'll blame all AI for it." – Professor Ryan Hamilton

Resources Mentioned

This podcast is sponsored by SOCAP International and IA Solutions, who are both as passionate about improving customer experience as we are.

SOCAP: https://socap.org/

IA Solutions: https://iacallcenter.com/

Research References:

Castelo, Noah, Maarten W. Bos, and Donald R. Lehmann (2019), "Task-Dependent Algorithm Aversion," Journal of Marketing Research, 56 (5), 809-825.
Dietvorst, Berkeley J., Joseph P. Simmons, and Cade Massey (2015), "Algorithm aversion: people erroneously avoid algorithms after seeing them err," Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 1, 114.
Hermann, Erik, and Stefano Puntoni, (2024), "Artificial intelligence and consumer behavior: From predictive to generative AI," Journal of Business Research, 180, 114720.
Ipsos (2022), "Global opinions about AI – January 2022, https://t.ly/qyyEI
Longoni, Chiara, and Luca Cian (2022), "Artificial Intelligence in Utilitarian vs. Hedonic Contexts: The "Word-of-Machine" Effect," Journal of Marketing, 86 (1), 91-108.
Puntoni, Stefano, Rebecca W. Reczek, Markus Giesler, and Simona Botti (2021), "Consumers and Artificial Intelligence: An Experiential Perspective," Journal of Marketing, 85 (1), 131-151.
Santoro, Erik, and Benoît Monin (2023), "The AI Effect: People rate distinctively human attributes as more essential to being human after learning about artificial intelligence advances," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 107, 104464.

About the Hosts:

Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 86,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.

Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.

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