According to new research, how automation anxiety shapes our shopping habits, workers replaced by artificial intelligence react differently to cash registers than to cash registers.
A study spanning five experiments found that people or robots who lost their jobs tend to be flashy, buying of status symbols, while those who were replaced by humans tend to be charitable donations and prosocial behaviors. The findings suggest that as AI continues to reshape the workforce, it may also be quietly rewiring how displaced workers spend money.
Two threats, two shopping modes
The study, published in the Journal of Business Research, examines how different sources of work displacement affect consumer psychology. Patterns emerged when the researchers simulated a replacement scenario of 850 participants in various specialties (from programmers to warehouse workers).
AI alternative threatens people’s sense of control, bringing them toward obvious consumption aimed at emitting capabilities and status. In contrast, human alternatives have damaged people’s need for belonging, pushing them toward charitable donations and community-minded purchases.
“Replacement jobs can increase individual perceptions of threats of various professional backgrounds,” the study notes. But the types of threats are very important for what happens next.
Control and Attribution Separation
Why do these two situations trigger such different answers? The answer lies in the fact that basic psychological needs are different from threats from humans and machines.
The ability of AI to learn, adapt and improve independently creates what researchers call “powerlessness and loss of control.” Unlike traditional automation that replaces manual tasks, modern AI can mimic human cognitive functions while operating outside of personal control.
Human work has hit different psychological buttons in place of people. It triggers social comparisons and can lead to stigma, which affects people’s connection with others and their sense of belonging in society.
Key research results:
- 41.8% of AI-placed workers choose products with large logos, while 23.9% of workers live in
- Artificially redefined workers donated an average of $10.30, while A-ReThiped workers donated $7.19
- Threat to control the effect of mediated AI replacement on obvious consumption
- The effect of threat attribution-mediated human substitution on prosocial behavior
Real shopping behavior
Researchers rely not only on hypothetical situations. In one experiment, participants faced actual alternative work during the task and then made real choices about product preferences and charitable contributions.
Those replaced by AI show preference for Nike hats with prominent logos rather than subtle designs. Meanwhile, workers replaced humans with donating more money to educational charities.
Modes held in different career environments, from junior programmers threatened by chatgpt to warehouse workers facing robot automation to restaurant servers that may be replaced by service robots.
Self-affirming solutions
But I hope to alleviate these psychological effects. The study identified self-affirmation as an effective intervention that reduces compensatory shopping behavior regardless of alternative sources.
When participants took the time to write about their core values (such as family, personal competence, or public service), the huge difference in spending patterns disappeared to a large extent.
This suggests that helping displaced workers maintain a perception of broader self-worth can prevent some psychological effects from being unemployed.
What does this mean for the future
As AI capabilities expand, the impact of these findings goes far beyond personal shopping habits. Goldman Sachs Institute predicts that AI can replace 300 million full-time jobs by 2030.
For businesses, understanding these psychological reactions can inform workforce transition strategies and marketing methods. Companies may emphasize the status elements in products sold to workers at Ai-Vulnerable Industries.
For decision makers, research shows that different types of work displacement require different support strategies. While programs targeting social connections may help people compete with displaced humans, workers replaced by AI may need interventions to restore their sense of agency and control.
The study also raises broader questions about the psychological cost of technological advancement. As AI systems become more complex, their threat to human control becomes deeper and can trigger compensatory behaviors that go far beyond the workplace.
Perhaps most importantly, research shows that the rise of artificial intelligence has changed not only the existence of jobs, but how people deal with job losses themselves. In a world where algorithms can transcend humanity under more and more tasks, even our response to unemployment is evolving.
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