When AI Sets the Price: How Speciesist Beliefs Shape Consumers’ Price Fairness Judgments
(A2026-133868)

AUTHORS

Adithya Kamaraj, Bern University of Applied Sciences/Università della Svizzera italiana; Sven Feurer, Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH); Elisa Konya-Baumbach, Bern University of Applied Sciences/Business School

ABSTRACT

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly given agency in managerial decision making, yet we still know little about its effects on consumers' price fairness. This study examines the moderating role of speciesist beliefs for price fairness perceptions in response to AI-determined price setting. Results from a randomized experiment indicate that decision-maker type (AI vs. human) reduces procedural fairness, but not distributive fairness, with this effect moderated by rationality-oriented speciesist beliefs. This research extends price fairness literature by introducing speciesist beliefs as a fundamental belief system that shapes fairness judgments when AI determines pricing decisions. The findings help firms and managers in establishing how much autonomy and agency should be granted to AI in pricing decisions.