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

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.