AMTP Proceedings 2026

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Abstract

This research investigates how loneliness and age shape trust and consumer evaluations of services that provide personalized advice through human versus Artificial Intelligence (AI) recommenders. Across three experimental studies, our findings show that loneliness increased trust and consumer evaluations for services using human- (vs. AI-) based) recommenders among younger adults, but this pattern reversed among older, more lonely adults. Among these individuals, loneliness led to more positive consumer evaluations of a service using an AI-based (vs. human) recommender. Guided by the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2018), these findings suggest that younger lonely consumers exhibit approach motives toward human advisors whereas older lonely consumers display avoidance motives, showing a preference for services using AI advisors. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring marketing strategies to psychosocial needs across the lifespan, especially considering the pervasiveness of loneliness and the growing role of AI in services marketing.

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