Net Conversion, the Orlando-based impact media agency, today released the third wave of its MORE Intelligence Consumer Pulse series, revealing a sharp split in how people accept artificial intelligence: enthusiastically as a shopping assistant and skeptically when it creates advertising aimed at them.
More than half of consumers (54 percent) say they trust a brand less when they can tell its ads or marketing were produced by AI. The penalty lands hardest among adults aged 18 to 29 (38 percent “strongly agree”), while 63 percent of adults under 40 say AI-generated content and advertising has already changed how they interact with brand messaging.
And yet, these same consumers are leaning on AI to help decide what to buy: 54 percent say they now use AI tools at least sometimes to research purchases. That figure rises to 60 percent among adults under 40. Forty-five percent of AI users say an AI recommendation increases their trust in a brand.
“Consumers see AI as a tool that works for them. They’ll happily take a shortlist from a chatbot, then check it against the brand’s own site, YouTube and Reddit,” said Net Conversion CEO and co-founder Ryan Fitzgerald. “But they resent AI when it's pointed at them. What feels like efficiency inside an agency reads as indifference to the customer.”
AI expands the consideration set, then sends shoppers off to verify.
Net Conversion also finds AI continuing to widen the path to purchase. Brands not previously in contention are now included in this wider funnel, which then routes shoppers through traditional channels to confirm what AI has told them:
- 74% of consumers who research with AI say its recommendations expand the number of brands they consider.
- Consumers rate AI “extremely helpful” for comparing brands (52%), answering specific product questions (48%) and summarizing customer reviews (47%).
- Nearly all AI users cross-check a recommendation before buying, turning to brand websites (59%), search engines (57%), retailer product pages (55%), YouTube (53%) and Reddit (53%).
- Just 2% say they are comfortable turning a purchase over to AI entirely, such as letting a tool fill a cart or book travel.
Attention is getting harder to buy, and repetition is a leading cause.
Consumer tolerance for digital advertising is dropping even as time spent on digital channels grows. Asked how their daily media habits have changed since July 2025, more consumers report spending additional time with AI assistants than with any other channel, at 44 percent, followed by YouTube at 39 percent and streaming video at 35 percent.
- 52% of consumers say they are actively tuning out, skipping or blocking digital ads more often than they were a year ago.
- 48% frequently encounter the same ad across multiple platforms, and 34% frequently see ads unrelated to their location, age or interests.
- Standard pre-roll and mid-roll placements hold attention best in streaming, preferred by 30% each, while interactive overlays (9%) and clickable video ads (11%) rank last.
- 88% regularly use a second device while watching TV, and a quarter search for a brand on their phone immediately after seeing its ad, rising to 31% among adults under 40.
Economic outlook defines the highest-value consumer.
Net Conversion finds brand loyalty erosion has slowed, with only 16 percent of consumers reporting they are less loyal than a year ago, down from 34 percent in January and 40 percent in July 2025. (Sixty-four percent report no change.)
Sixty-two percent of consumers say the economy is worse than a year ago. But go deeper and the remaining optimists behave differently from everyone else. For instance, they are three times more likely to describe themselves as highly loyal brand advocates than pessimists are (31 percent vs. 10 percent).
Also notable:
- 76% of optimists use AI tools for product research, compared with 48% of pessimists.
- 71% of optimists say an AI recommendation increases their trust in a brand, compared with 38% of pessimists.
All told, Fitzgerald says the research shows that the key to reaching consumers is intent, not demographics. “It’s the person arriving from an AI summary, or the one reaching for a phone during a streaming break,” he said. “Those are the moments that convert, and that’s where strategic media plans need to point.”
Methodology
The 2026 MORE Intelligence Survey was conducted online by Net Conversion via the Pollfish platform. The study surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults aged 18 to 64 with household incomes of $50,000 or more who had made a significant non-essential purchase in the previous three months. The sample was balanced to reflect a wide range of demographics. It is the third research study of Net Conversion’s MORE Intelligence Consumer Pulse series, following the surveys fielded in July 2025 and January 2026.
The full report, entitled Decoding the Modern Consumer Mindset, is available at netconversion.com.
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