India’s Gen Z turns to AI for product research but prioritises quality, trust and price

A YouGov-Rukam Capital study of 4,002 Gen Z consumers finds 60% use AI for product research, while 51% rank quality and 49% rank price among top purchase drivers. Brand transparency matters to 82%, and 74% say customer experience builds trust.

— Source publishedFri, 25 Sept, 2026, 13:21 IST·First seen Sat, 26 Sept, 2026, 11:03 IST·Source ET BrandEquity

What happened

YouGov and Rukam Capital’s India Gen Z study finds quality, price, transparency and customer experience drive purchase decisions. Consumers increasingly use AI

Key facts

  • 4,002 Gen Z respondents
  • 18 states in India
  • 82% expect brand honesty and transparency
  • 51% cite quality as top purchase driver
  • 49% cite price as a top purchase driver
  • Nearly 60% use AI for product research
  • 70% are comfortable with AI recommendations
  • 49% would allow AI to decide without approval
  • 28% use quick commerce
  • 60% spend more during festive season
  • 74% say good customer experience builds trust

Why this matters

Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in product-information management, AI shopping assistants and trust-building CX tools that improve conversion without reducing consumer control.

What to watch

  • Growth in AI-referred traffic and conversion rates from search, chat assistants and in-app recommendation tools.
  • Consumer complaints or regulatory action involving undisclosed sponsored AI results, hallucinated product claims or synthetic reviews.
  • Widening performance gap between brands with rich, verified product data and brands with incomplete catalog information.
  • Rising demand for live support, store pickup, video consultation or WhatsApp confirmation after AI-led product research.
  • Increases in returns or customer-service contacts from AI-recommended purchases, indicating weak recommendation quality.
  • Adoption of standardized product provenance, review verification and price-transparency signals by major Indian marketplaces.
  • Make product feeds AI-readable: structured specifications, availability, price history, compatibility details, comparison tables and policy information.
  • Treat transparency as conversion infrastructure: disclose sponsored placements, verify reviews, show total delivered price and make returns, warranties and seller identity prominent.
  • Deploy AI assistants primarily for discovery, education and narrowing choices; preserve explicit consumer control and easy escalation to human support.
  • Unify online, app, social, WhatsApp and store inventory and pricing to prevent trust-damaging channel inconsistencies.
  • Measure AI-assisted commerce separately: AI-originated discovery, assisted conversion, return rate, service escalation, repeat purchase and trust/NPS outcomes.
  • Prioritise quality proof over promotional copy through demos, certifications, user-generated evidence, durability information and post-purchase support.

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