Splurging with Alexa: How voicebots increase product upgrades

Sang Kyu Park (), Yegyu Han () and Aner Sela ()
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Sang Kyu Park: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Yegyu Han: Kyung Hee University
Aner Sela: Warrington College of Business, University of Florida

Marketing Letters, 2026, vol. 37, issue 1, No 9, 14 pages

Abstract: Abstract Do AI-enabled voicebots, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, influence consumer choice, and if so, how and why? We demonstrate that consumers are more likely to choose expensive upgrades over more basic options when shopping using voicebots, compared to screen-based or text-based online shopping interfaces. Eleven studies using real voicebots, including secondary data from an online vendor, suggest that this tendency to upgrade arises from the cognitive demands of interacting with voicebots, which compromise processing of cost information while not influencing processing of benefit information. This effect attenuates for voice interactions with humans, suggesting a potential boundary condition. The findings make important contributions in the emerging field of consumer-AI interaction.

Keywords: Voicebots; Artificial intelligence; Human–machine interaction; Product upgrade; Splurging; Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-025-09806-1

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