Where Should AI Sit in the Future Consumer Decision Making? – History and Future

Purpose: This paper reviews the historical evolution of consumer decision-making models and marketing strategies across major eras, from classical frameworks (e.g., AIDA, EKB) to the current AI-driven personalized era. It identifies emerging challenges of modern, AI-powered marketing, such as information overload, algorithmic filter bubbles, and diminished consumer autonomy, and proposes generative AI (GenAI) as a countervailing tool to empower consumers in decision-making. Approach: A comprehensive literature review is conducted, linking each technological era’s dominant marketing approaches with prevailing consumer decision frameworks. This conceptual analysis uses case examples and early evidence to illustrate how GenAI assistants (e.g., ChatGPT) can function as consumer-centric decision aids that address issues like information cocoons and cognitive overload. Findings: The analysis suggests that generative AI tools can mitigate the challenges of big-data-driven marketing by broadening consumers’ information horizons and reducing cognitive strain. Acting as intelligent “co-pilots,” GenAI systems help users navigate choices with unbiased recommendations and critical insights, thereby restoring consumer autonomy in decision-making. Integrating GenAI into the consumer journey could rebalance the marketer–consumer power dynamic, giving control back to consumers and fostering more informed, rational choices. Orginality: This work is among the first to position generative AI as a consumer decision-making aid that rebalances power in favor of consumers, rather than serving merely as a marketing instrument. It offers a forward-looking perspective by bridging classical consumer decision models with future AI applications, illustrating how consumer-side GenAI can improve consumer welfare, autonomy, and marketplace fairness.