The Role of AI in Consumer Decision-Making

In the rapidly evolving world of contemporary business, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a disruptive force that is being adopted by companies in a variety of sectors. Its ability to boost creativity, expedite processes, and increase productivity is undeniable. Along with other digital technologies like blockchain, big data analysis, and augmented reality, it is anticipated to be one of the main forces behind the fourth industrial revolution.

Despite the success that artificial intelligence is meeting, there are still a number of concerns about how consumers may perceive artificial intelligence-based products and services, how they act with conversational agents (chatbots), and how they communicate with them. Through this book, the authors attempt to understand how artificial intelligence can be integrated within products and services in a way that generates value for the consumer. In particular, three consumer contexts are considered in which the introduction of AI is changing the way consumers interact with products and services. The first relates to the use of artificial intelligence in the fashion industry, where the creation of AI-generated clothes is generating widespread debate. The second relates to the use of conversational agents who through the use of AI are able to engage in conversations that are increasingly human-like. The third, in the area of social media, evaluates how consumers perceive virtual influencers.

Managing Innovation in Business Strategy, Marketing and Finance has a goal of contributing to understanding the role of business innovation from the perspective of three key functional areas: strategy, marketing and finance.

Cristian Rizzo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Turin. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods at the University of Salento, Lecce (Italy). He was a research fellow at the Department of Human Studies (University of Salento, Lecce) on a project regarding linguistics and neuromarketing. His research activity mainly focuses on consumer psychology and sustainable consumption behavior.

Ciro Troise is Associate Professor in Business Management at the University of Turin, Department of Management. He is an active scholar in the entrepreneurship, innovation, crowdfunding, small business and management fields. He has been a visiting scholar at the QMUL. He has chaired several tracks of international conferences, attended many conferences and published over 100 publications.