Modern commerce offers consumers nearly instant gratification. A few taps on a smartphone can summon a car, stream a movie, or deliver groceries within hours. However, sustainable consumption often requires the opposite dynamic. Choosing an environmentally friendly shipping option might mean waiting weeks for a package. buying a carbon offset provides a benefit that materializes in the distant future. This tension between digital speed and sustainable patience creates a unique challenge for businesses.
A research team recently investigated whether the technology facilitating these transactions might be influencing consumer patience. Specifically, they examined whether interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) alters how humans perceive time and value future rewards. Their work, published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, suggests that the very efficiency of AI might inadvertently discourage green behavior by accelerating our internal sense of time.
Questioning the Psychological Impact of AI
The investigation was led by Han Wang from the Faculty of Teacher Training at Xishuangbanna Vocational and Technical College, alongside colleagues from institutions in Thailand, Iran, and the United Kingdom. The team identified a gap in current understanding regarding AI and consumer psychology. While businesses often deploy AI to enhance efficiency and personalization, little was known about how these interactions shape a user’s subjective experience of time.
The researchers based their inquiry on two psychological concepts: the “internal clock” and “future self-continuity.” The internal clock hypothesis suggests that human time perception is not objective. Instead, it is a constructed experience that changes based on arousal and stimulation. When a person is excited or stimulated, their internal pacemaker ticks faster. This makes objective time intervals feel subjectively longer. A one-minute wait feels like five minutes when the internal clock is racing.
Future self-continuity refers to how connected a person feels to their future self. When people feel a strong link to who they will be in a month or a year, they are more willing to delay gratification for long-term benefits. The researchers hypothesized that AI agents, which are typically associated with speed and data processing, might heighten consumer arousal. They proposed that this state would accelerate the internal clock and make the future feel more distant. This disconnection could lead consumers to reject sustainable options that require waiting.
Investigating the Effect of Agent Type
To test this theory, the team designed a series of four experiments set within the Chinese music industry. This sector was chosen for its high level of digitalization and the prevalence of AI-driven recommendations.
In the first study, 310 participants engaged with a mock music-commerce platform called “YinyueGo.” They were asked to imagine purchasing limited-edition merchandise. The participants were randomly assigned to interact with either an AI assistant, represented by a robot icon and minimalist interface, or a human advisor, represented by a photo of a person.
The interaction included a mandatory 20-second loading screen to simulate the time required to curate options. The agent then presented two shipping choices for a T-shirt. One was an “eco-shipping” option that was free but took four weeks to arrive. The other was a standard shipping option that cost money but arrived in three days.
The analysis revealed a distinct pattern in decision-making. Participants who interacted with the AI agent were significantly less likely to choose the eco-friendly, delayed shipping option compared to those who interacted with the human agent. The researchers then analyzed the psychological state of the participants. The data showed that those in the AI group reported higher levels of state arousal, feeling more “energized” or “urgent.” This heightened state was linked to a feeling that the wait time was longer. Simultaneously, these participants reported lower future self-continuity, meaning they felt less connected to the version of themselves that would receive the shirt in four weeks.
The Role of Anthropomorphism
The second experiment sought to determine if the design of the AI interface could mitigate these effects. The researchers recruited 361 participants to buy concert tickets on a similar mock platform. The platform offered a carbon-offset add-on that would generate an electronic certificate after a two-week delay.
Participants interacted with either a human agent or an AI agent. However, the researchers split the AI group into two subgroups. One group interacted with a “low-anthropomorphism” AI that used mechanical language and a geometric icon. The other group interacted with a “high-anthropomorphism” AI named “Xiaoyin,” which used a face icon, first-person pronouns, and empathetic language.
The results indicated that design matters. The negative effect of AI on sustainable choice appeared only in the low-anthropomorphism condition. When the AI appeared more human-like and warm, the participants did not experience the same spike in arousal or the disconnection from their future selves. Consequently, their willingness to wait for the carbon offset certificate remained comparable to those assisted by a human agent.
Testing Interface Tempo
The third study examined the environment surrounding the AI interaction. The researchers hypothesized that the pacing of the digital interface itself could amplify or dampen the feelings of urgency associated with AI. They recruited 376 participants to pre-order a vinyl record. The choice was between a made-to-order “eco-vinyl” that took five weeks to ship and a standard stock version available immediately.
The researchers manipulated the interface tempo. In the “fast” condition, the website featured rapid transitions, quick-blinking loading dots, and upbeat background music. In the “slow” condition, the transitions were gradual, and the music was calm.
The data showed that the combination of an AI agent and a fast interface produced the lowest rates of sustainable choices. The fast tempo reinforced the association between AI and speed, further accelerating the participants’ internal clocks. However, when the AI appeared in a slow-tempo environment, the effect dissipated. The calming pacing appeared to counteract the arousal typically triggered by the algorithm, restoring the consumers’ patience.
When Waiting is a Benefit
The final experiment explored a scenario where a delay might be viewed as a positive attribute. In the previous studies, the delay was a cost—waiting for a package. In this study, the researchers looked at “positive-utility delays,” where time represents an accumulating benefit.
Using a sample of 402 participants, the team presented a choice between two music streaming plans. A shorter plan offered credits for nine weeks. A longer, “green” plan offered credits for 15 weeks, framing the extended time as a period of sustained environmental contribution and reward.
Here, the pattern reversed. Participants interacting with the AI agent were more likely to choose the longer, sustainable plan than those interacting with a human. The researchers found that the same psychological mechanism was at work. The AI still heightened arousal and made time feel subjectively longer. However, because the time period was framed as receiving rewards, a “longer” subjective duration felt like a greater benefit. The distortion of time that hindered patience in the first three studies helped promote long-term engagement in the fourth.
Confirming Results Across Borders
To ensure these findings were not unique to the Chinese market or the music industry, the researchers conducted a post-hoc replication with 302 consumers in the United Kingdom. This test involved a general retail scenario regarding household cleaning products. Participants chose between a standard cleaner and an eco-refill pack that required a wait. The results mirrored the primary studies: interacting with an AI assistant increased arousal, reduced connection to the future self, and lowered the likelihood of choosing the greener, delayed option.
Insights for Business Strategy
The study offers specific implications for companies aiming to balance digital efficiency with environmental responsibility. The findings suggest that the standard approach to AI design—prioritizing maximum speed and minimalist efficiency—may undermine sustainability goals when the green option requires patience.
Businesses might consider using “warmer” AI interfaces. Adding human-like cues, such as names or empathetic dialogue, appears to neutralize the psychological urgency that leads to impatience. This could be relevant for chatbots guiding customers through carbon-offset purchases or made-to-order manufacturing processes.
Additionally, the pacing of the user experience plays a role. Platforms selling sustainable products might benefit from slowing down the interface tempo. Using calmer visual transitions and audio cues can help decelerate the consumer’s internal clock, making a shipping delay seem less daunting.
Understanding the Nature of Delay
The reversal found in the final experiment provides a nuanced takeaway regarding how time is framed. If a delay is presented as a waiting period, AI-induced arousal tends to reduce patience. However, if the delay is framed as a duration of ongoing benefits or rewards, that same arousal can increase the perceived value of the offer.
Companies could leverage this by reframing sustainable options. Instead of highlighting the wait for an eco-friendly product, a platform could emphasize the extended duration of environmental impact or the accumulation of loyalty points over time. In this context, the time-distorting effects of AI could serve to encourage, rather than hinder, longer-term commitments.
This research highlights that AI is not a neutral tool. It functions as a psychological environment that shifts how users perceive the passage of time. By understanding these mechanisms, developers and managers can design digital interactions that align technological speed with the patience required for sustainable consumption.
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