More Than Meets the Cart: How Online Assortments and the Presence of AI Shape Consumer Wellbeing Across Product Categories

Sammanfattning

The growth of online retail has exposed consumers to an overwhelming number of options - a condition that may trigger choice overload and its associated psychological costs. This study examines how perceived choice complexity mediates the relationship between choice set size and wellbeing in an online retail context, and tests two proposed mechanisms through which this effect might be strengthened - consumer purchase involvement and AI-assisted recommendations. Using a between-subjects experimental design with six conditions, 593 participants were randomly assigned to evaluate either 24 or 6 product options across two categories: running shoes and t-shirts. The 6-option conditions were presented either with or without AI assistance. Results confirmed that reducing the choice set size from 24 to 6 options significantly lowered perceived choice complexity, and that this reduction fully mediated a positive effect on wellbeing. The effect between choice complexity and wellbeing differed between the two product categories. However, the moderating role of consumer purchase involvement could not be assessed as intended, as respondents did not perceive the two categories as significantly different in involvement. The findings suggest that assortments limiting perceived choice complexity are an effective tool for improving consumer wellbeing in online retail. AI assistance, at least in its current form, offered limited additional benefit, failing to further reduce perceived complexity. Without an incremental reduction in perceived choice complexity, no incremental gain in consumer wellbeing should be expected, with or without AI assistance.