AI-Driven Purchase Intention in Pakistan’s E-Commerce: The Roles of Personalization, Anthropomorphism, Usefulness, Transparency, Trust, and AI Anxiety

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is getting involved more and more with e-commerce, changing the way customers search for products, receive recommendations, interact with digital platforms, and make purchasing calls. Although the adoption of AI-enabled tools like focused recommendations, chatbots, automated facilitation, and transparent digital communication has been growing rapidly, there is a lack of understanding about consumer purchase intention in AI-mediated shopping conditions, especially in emerging markets such as Pakistan. The current study investigates how sales intention is influenced in the context of Pakistan’s e-commerce sector by perceived personalization, perceived anthropomorphism, perceived usefulness, and perceived transparency. It also explores the mediating influence of trust and the moderating role of AI anxiety in these relationships. The study depends on the S-O-R framework and follows a quantitative research design with a deductive approach and positivist philosophy. The data for the AI-enabled e-commerce element in Pakistan is then gathered from customers with experience of online buying. Using SmartPLS 4, the proposed model is tested with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), The findings also demonstrate how perceived personalization, perceived technology usage and humanization have a strong positive impact on consumers' purchase intention; however, it has no significant effect from anthropomorphism Found results further state that trust significantly mediates between perceived personalization and consumer purchase intention whilst failing to do so between perceived transparency and purchase intentions. In addition, AI anxiety significantly weakens the positive effect of proposed personalization and perceived usefulness on purchase intention and has no moderating effect between perceived anthropomorphism and perception of transparency. In an emerging-market context, this study adds to the literature by introducing an integrated AI-commerce framework that discusses consumer purchase intention using cognitive as well as psychological routes. For e-commerce companies, it provides actionable steps to design the kind of AI that consumers will find not only useful and personalized, but also transparent, trustworthy, and psychologically acceptable. So, in summary, the study finds that AI adds value to digital commerce not because it is sophisticated but rather because it is relevant and reliable, and consumer-centric.