This year, a healthy debate emerged during our consumer predictions brainstorms: Do consumers know that they’re being influenced? And does this even matter?

One side of the debate posits that most people don’t know that algorithms, digital profiling, or AI agents shape their online experiences. This is true: Our research indicates that people aren’t always aware of AI in digital experiences that would obviously use it. For instance, only about half of online adults in the US, the UK, France, and Singapore think that self-driving cars use AI technology.

The other side of the debate argues that, while people might not know how or when they engage with technology, they’re becoming more skeptical (and cynical) about the digital systems around them. And this is also true: Stories about addictive social media design, invasive data collection, AI deepfakes, and disinformation have made algorithms feel like the boogeyman lurking in the shadows, watching our every move.

Since I’m not one to let a good debate go unsettled, we ran a poll of Forrester’s ConsumerVoices Market Research Online Community to dig into both of these truths. Even though respondents can’t exactly tell when digital systems influence them, they do sense it: About eight in 10 respondents agree that companies understand more about how to influence behavior than most people realize, and another 68% agree that the most effective forms of influence are the ones people don’t notice. But awareness is on the rise, with 61% agreeing that they’re more aware that their surroundings shape their behavior than a few years ago.

Consumers Know They’re Being Influenced, Even If They Don’t See It

But does this matter? That answer is nuanced. Right now, it doesn’t matter to the companies designing these experiences, but it does matter to consumers. Respondents report that they take some kind of action when they believe experiences are designed to influence their decision. They often or always check information from another source (60%), look for options outside of those presented (55%), question why something was shown or recommended (52%), or consider who benefits if they take the suggested action (51%).

Yet despite sensing influence and taking some kind of action as a result, nearly three in four online adults haven’t stopped using, buying from, or engaging with an organization because its experience felt designed to influence them. But 2027 is the year when consumers will rebel against invisible influence, leading to tangible consequences for organizations. Forrester predicts:

  • Three in five consumers will use technology to escape technology. Consumers are frustrated by technology designed to control them, like surveillance systems or social media. Instead of flatly rejecting technology, consumers will turn to technology that helps them reclaim human agency, such as screen blockers, bricking hardware, or dumb phones. Consumers will seek and reward value-enhancing engagement while rejecting attention-intensive interactions.
  • One in three Gen Zers will sabotage AI profiling. Younger consumers have spent their lives knowingly being observed by digital systems, from search to social. As a result, they’ve become remarkably skilled at subverting what platforms learn about them, using finstas, burner accounts, and dark social to control visibility. In 2027, these social-native behaviors will extend into AI-powered experiences. Gen Zers will deliberately limit, obscure, or manipulate the signals that organizations use to understand them. Younger consumers will become harder to predict or target as these skills evolve.
  • One in five users will completely bypass brand websites. For decades, companies have invested time and resources into building owned environments that can personalize experiences and nurture brand love. The website has been an important anchor, serving as the primary gateway for information, transactions, and support. AI will change this. As adoption grows and matures, consumers will turn to answer engines and AI agency to bypass websites and consolidate browser activity, such as when doing research, making comparisons, and completing tasks.

Forrester clients can read all five of our consumer predictions in our report, Predictions 2027: Consumer, and join our upcoming webinar to learn what they mean for your own consumer base. Then, set up a Forrester guidance session with me to discuss how to apply these predictions and best practices in your own organization to stay ahead in 2027.

If you aren’t yet a Forrester client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guide on B2C marketing and customer experience, which covers more of our top predictions for 2027. Find additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2027 hub.

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