Guest editorial: AI and ethical consumerism among young consumers
Kim Lim Tan, Nurhafihz Noor, Manisha Agarwal · Young Consumers Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers · 2025
In a world increasingly shaped by intelligent algorithms, the relationship between young consumers and artificial intelligence (AI) warrants critical scholarly attention. AI is no longer a distant innovation. It is embedded in the digital platforms, applications and experiences that shape the everyday decisions of young people. From algorithmic product recommendations to AI-driven sustainability scoring and agentic AI, these technologies increasingly mediate not just what young consumers buy, but how they think, act and relate to broader societal and environmental issues.This special issue of Young Consumers on Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Consumerism among Young Consumers emerged from a growing recognition that current discussions around AI and youth consumption often overlook a fundamental dimension – ethical consumerism. As highlighted by Berki-Kiss and Menrad (2022), while technological advancements have enabled convenience, personalization and efficiency in consumer decision-making, they bring to the fore new concerns about ethical responsibility, transparency, inclusion and moral agency. These concerns are especially pronounced among younger consumers, who are simultaneously tech-savvy digital natives and often recognized as value-driven ethical agents.At its core, ethical consumerism is about aligning one’s consumption practices with personal and collective moral values (Kim et al., 2022). It encompasses concerns about responsible leadership (Tan, 2023), environmental sustainability (Eijdenberg et al., 2025; Gabler et al., 2022), fair labor practices (Berki-Kiss and Menrad, 2022) and corporate transparency (Lii and Lee, 2011). Research such as Abulibdeh et al. (2024) has shown that young consumers prioritize these issues, demanding authenticity, accountability and equity from the brands they support. In other words, young consumers can be catalysts for positive consumption change.Yet, the growing popularity of AI agents and their different capabilities results in layers of complexity and consequences upon their interactions with users (Noor, 2024). For instance, AI-enabled recommender systems are designed to make suggestions by prioritizing user purchasing patterns. While this is convenient, such systems can obscure critical information and reinforce existing biases (Gomez-Uribe and Hunt, 2015). Similarly, AI-enabled chatbots and virtual influencers may project desirable images that subtly promote materialism or reinforce stereotypes. These trends demonstrate that the responsibilities for information filtering, judgment and decision-making are increasingly delegated to machines. Naturally, questions arise about the diminishing ethical agency of consumers. Are young people being empowered or disempowered by AI in their consumption choices? Are their values being reflected or manipulated by the technologies they engage with daily?With this special issue, our goal was to bring together scholars who could integrate these complex and often paradoxical relationships between AI and ethical consumerism in young people. We sought to move beyond the hype and techno-optimism in the marketing and AI literature, and instead probe deeper into how AI technologies influence, enable, constrain or even redefine ethical behavior among youth.Several key themes emerge from the rich articles featured in this special issue. These span important and diverse issues in the AI–young consumer ecosystem, ranging from sustainable behaviors and identity, to engaging young consumers effectively and ethically, and ultimately continuing to create safe use environments with evolving AI technologies such as Generative AI.Encouraging sustainable consumption behaviors remains a key theme, with several studies supporting AI’s potential to foster environmentally and socially responsible consumption. For instance, the qualitative study “AI’s Influence on Young Consumer Behavior: Fostering Sustainable Consumption” by Lata and Rana (2025) and the quantitative studies “Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Consumers’ Lifestyle Product Choices and the Key to Driving Sustainable Behaviour” by Mahajan et al. (2025) and “Assessing the Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Sustainable Consumption Behavior and Lifestyle Choices” by Sharma and Sharma (2025) investigate how AI can guide young consumers toward more conscious, sustainable lifestyles. These studies suggest that AI, when designed with ethical and environmental considerations, can play a pivotal role in empowering youth to align their consumption with their values.Beyond consumption patterns, AI also shapes how young consumers engage with their identities and cultural preferences. Thomas et al.’s (2025) comprehensive mixed-methods study “From Beats to Bytes: Electronic Dance Music, Artificial Intelligence and Teens Identity” offers a novel exploration of how AI intersects with youth culture, particularly in the formation of identity and community through music. This work expands the conversation from ethical buying behavior to the broader sociocultural impacts of algorithmic mediation in youth experiences.Another area of inquiry by Marti-Ochoa et al. (2025) focuses on how AI-generated personas and influencers affect young consumers’ ethical choices. Specifically, their sentiment-analysis study “AI-Driven Virtual Travel Influencers and Ethical Consumerism: Analysing Engagement with Sena Zaro’s Instagram Content” identifies the adherence to ethical communication standards and evaluates the types of content that garner the highest engagement. This study differentiates from many similar other studies by challenging us to reconsider authenticity, transparency and agency in digital marketing, particularly when young users interact with AI personas they may not recognize as synthetic. Another interesting attempt was made by Riyat et al. (2025). In their paper, “Exploring Youths’ Willingness and Objections to Follow Virtual Influencers Promoting Sustainable Consumption: An Integration of VBN, AIDUA, and SSRIT Frameworks,” they aim to explore the hedonic motivation behind following virtual influencers. The findings highlight that youths’ biosphere values, environmental awareness, sense of responsibility and trust in and emotional connection with virtual influencers play a crucial role in strengthening their willingness to follow and to encourage sustainable lifestyle practices.Attention to the darker side of AI use, particularly in marketing and content delivery, is highlighted by Qadri et al. (2025) and Amin (2025). In Qadri et al.’s (2025) “They Misused Me! Digital Literacy’s Dual Role in AI Marketing Manipulation and Unethical Young Consumer Behavior,” the authors critically examine how a lack of digital literacy among youth in Pakistan may leave them vulnerable to manipulative AI-driven marketing techniques. In addition, the paper “Artificial Intelligence in Social Media: A Catalyst for Impulse Buying Behavior?” by Amin (2025) looks at the region of Brunei and addresses a key research gap by exploring the combined effects of AI-driven recommendations and the visibility of AI-generated labels on impulsive buying behavior. These two publications offer new insights into the role of generational differences and consumer knowledge in shaping responses to AI-based social media marketing. In It underscore the importance of strengthening ethical awareness and digital resilience among young people navigating AI-influenced platforms.As AI technologies evolve rapidly, questions of regulation and institutional accountability become more pressing. In “AI Governance on Young Consumers in Higher Education: A Content Analysis of Policies for Generative AI” by Tong et al. (2025), the authors explore the ethical challenges posed by generative AI and review existing AI policies in higher education aimed at regulating young consumers’ use of such technologies. It focuses on promoting the ethical use of AI, from foundational principles to frameworks for sustainable governance. This contribution situates ethical AI upstream, within institutional settings, underscoring the importance of policy frameworks in protecting and guiding young consumers.A crucial emerging concern relates to the reliability and safety of AI tools used by youth in making purchase decisions. Tan and Leo’s (2025) study, “Safety of LLM-based AI Chatbots for Young Consumers in Purchase Decisions,” investigates the safety of large language model (LLM)-based AI Chatbots for young consumers of Generation Z in their purchase decisions. It highlights that while the use of prompt manipulation techniques on LLMs may be uncommon among these young consumers, such acts are indicative of the young consumer having already developed a precarious attitude or opinion toward a purchase decision, leading to the use of LLMs to guide such decisions.To conclude this special issue, we do not claim to provide definitive answers to the multifaceted relationship between AI and ethical consumerism among young people. Instead, we believe this special issue serves as an essential catalyst for scholars, educators, developers, policymakers and ultimately young consumers themselves to start thinking about the ethical consumption of AI. As guest editors, we are inspired by the diversity of voices and approaches represented in these papers. These contributions collectively highlight the promises and pitfalls as we move toward having a more ethical AI consumerism system.We believe this is just the beginning of a broader conversation and ongoing discovery. Furthermore, it will encourage continued exploration of how AI technologies can be leveraged to reflect, respect and reinforce those moral values. As we move into an increasingly algorithmic society, the ethics of youth consumption will not be a niche concern. It will be a defining question of our collective future.We want to thank all the authors who contributed to this special issue for their insights, creativity and commitment. We also acknowledge the anonymous reviewers and the Young Consumers Editor-in-Chief, the Associate Editor and the editorial team for their support throughout this process.Both AI and young consumers will shape our future. May this special issue contribute to the ongoing conversation to create a better one.