Consumer willingness to pay for AI-designed products

Arsen Kudaibergen

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

This bachelor thesis investigates consumer Willingness to Pay (WTP) for an AI-designed alcoholic beverage, using Katlenburger's Nano-Fizz as a real-world case study. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into food and beverage product development, understanding consumer responses to AI-origin disclosure represents a critical gap in the existing literature. Drawing on theoretical frameworks including Prospect Theory, the Effort Heuristic, and Algorithm Aversion, the study hypothesises that AI disclosure will produce a statistically significant reduction in WTP and that this reduction will be driven primarily by the perceived absence of human labour. A sequential disclosure experiment was conducted with 30 university students across Prague, in which participants first evaluated the beverage blindly and stated an initial WTP, before being informed of its AI origin and asked to re-evaluate. Quantitative analysis using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test revealed a nominal decrease in mean WTP of 6.95 CZK following disclosure, which did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.148). Thematic coding of open-ended responses partially confirmed the role of the Effort Heuristic among respondents who did reduce their valuation. The findings suggest that a strong positive sensory experience can act as a psychological buffer against the Algorithm Discount, with implications for how AI-designed beverage products are marketed and introduced to consumers.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence, Algorithm aversion, Effort heuristic, Nano-Fizz, Consumer behaviour, Willingness to pay, Prospect theory, Hedonic products, Sequential disclosure, Beverage industry

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 16. 3. 2026

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 21. 5. 2026
• Supervisor: Ing. Jana Kalabisová, Ph.D.
• Reader: Neha Gupta, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Bachelor programme:
Business Administration