55% Người Tiêu Dùng Chịu Ảnh Hưởng Từ Đề Xuất Của AI: Thương Hiệu Cần Chuẩn Bị Những Gì?

Many consumers are turning to AI assistants for product recommendations, instead of relying on personal experience or recommendations from KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). A Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027 report published by NIQ at the end of September 2026 indicated that 27% of global consumers have used AI tools to research or decide what to buy, while 55% reported that AI recommendations have influenced their choices of fast-moving consumer goods. Although Vietnam was not included in the survey, both neighboring markets, Indonesia and Thailand, have high rates of AI use in shopping, making this a noteworthy signal for brands in the region. AI is also one of the five major changes in consumer behavior in 2027 highlighted by NIQ in its report.

The position of AI among reference sources when shopping.

One of the long-standing competitive strategies for brands has been building awareness and gaining dominance at the point of sale by being present everywhere consumers search and shop, from supermarket shelves to e-commerce sites. According to NIQ, this model is gradually changing, as AI has now become an intermediary in the process of discovering, comparing, and evaluating products. In today's fast-paced world, shoppers prioritize ways to shorten their research time, so many choose to consult AI assistants and make decisions based on a few pre-filtered suggestions, rather than browsing through dozens of items themselves. Therefore, businesses not only need to attract customer attention but also need to be visible within the systems that help them make choices.

To measure the influence of each reference source, NIQ surveyed global consumers about the extent to which each source impacted their fast-moving consumer goods purchasing decisions. The survey results are compiled by NIQ in the table below.

Source: NIQ, Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027

Although not yet the strongest source of information, AI has a greater influence than content from KOLs and KOCs (52%) and is only 10 percentage points behind search engines. A positive sign is that AI does not yet completely dominate purchasing decisions, as the 55% figure includes those who are only occasionally influenced, so brands still have time to prepare.

From another perspective, 27% of respondents directly used AI tools to research or decide what to buy, with particularly high rates in India, the Middle East, and the two Southeast Asian markets of Indonesia and Thailand. Therefore, NIQ believes that businesses need to recognize this trend and shift their question to "how quickly will this impact my industry?" instead of asking "will AI impact my industry?".

The narrowing of the selection list across different shelf types.

AI helps shoppers save time, but it also significantly shortens the list of products they consider. NIQ describes this narrowing process through five types of shelving, where the number of options decreases at each step.

• Shelves in the store , where shoppers can see dozens of products at once.
• The shelves on the e-commerce platform , where search results are already sorted and only a few products stand out.
• Phone screens , where display size further limits the number of products buyers can see.
• Suggestions from AI assistants , when buyers typically only receive a few options.
• AI assistants can purchase items on your behalf , as the system can select and pay for a single product.

In other words, the more deeply AI is involved, the narrower the list of choices becomes, like a funnel. NIQ argues that once AI makes a choice, the product may lose out before customers even see and consider it. Therefore, appearing in AI recommendations could become as important as shelf coverage, a familiar growth metric in the fast-moving consumer goods industry.

The basis for AI's product selection.

Behind every seemingly simple AI suggestion lies a silently operating data system, from consumer preferences and product information to availability, delivery capabilities, and transaction verification. Therefore, according to NIQ, products now need not only to be found by consumers, but also to be correctly understood by the systems that are searching for them and making decisions on their behalf.

It's worth noting that these systems aren't static; they continuously learn and adjust based on the results of previous suggestions. With just slightly more complete, clear, and accurate product data, brands can gain a competitive advantage. As NIQ metaphorically puts it, if AI is the engine of future commerce, then reliable data is the fuel.

For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands, AI can be envisioned as a consultant who only knows about the product through published information, from websites and e-commerce sites to news articles. If that information is incomplete, contradictory, or of unknown origin, the consultant will misunderstand the product and will find it difficult to recommend it to consumers.

3 ways to "reserve a spot" on AI's recommendation list.

To avoid being excluded from AI's recommendation list, brands need to be memorable to customers, correctly understood by the AI, and have a clear understanding of their presence on these tools.

Brand awareness before customers ask about AI

According to NIQ, even after exploring multiple sources, 79% of consumers still return to familiar choices. Therefore, AI doesn't eliminate the role of brand awareness; instead, it makes the advantage of established names clearer as the list of choices narrows. To become that familiar choice, a brand needs to be consistently present in the daily lives of its target customers even before the need to buy arises, rather than just appearing a few times and then disappearing.

Complete and consistent product information across digital assets.

Because AI can only make suggestions based on what has already been published, the official website and product page are where brands proactively provide AI with an accurate picture of themselves. Businesses should review information about ingredients, uses, specifications, and points of sale, clearly citing sources, and ensuring consistency and completeness of these elements across all platforms. Simultaneously, brands can proactively answer common questions buyers have when choosing products in their category, so that the AI understands correctly and has accurate answers readily available whenever asked.

Measuring AI presence in stages.

When running ads on social media or search engines, brands always receive reports showing how many times their ads have been displayed. However, when users ask AI about a particular product category, brands have almost no way of knowing if they've been mentioned unless they check themselves. Therefore, businesses should periodically monitor three factors: whether the AI mentions them, where it's mentioned in the response, and what information is included. By comparing results before, during, and after each marketing campaign, the marketing team will know which activities actually helped the brand get mentioned more often by the AI, instead of just relying on guesswork.

The O2O2A model in the shopping journey incorporates AI.

So how can these three elements not operate in isolation, but instead form a seamless journey from the real world to the digital environment? Focus Media Vietnam helps brands build that journey through the O2O2A model , connecting three layers of touchpoints: elevator advertising screens, the brand's digital assets, and the AI environment.

In the first tier, elevator advertising helps businesses reach their key consumers every day , right where they live and work. With a network of over 18,000 screens in more than 2,000 buildings, businesses can select buildings that perfectly match their target customer group and maintain consistent visibility, building awareness before customers even start asking AI questions.

In the second layer, Focus Media's elevator advertising screens incorporate NFC , allowing viewers to tap their phones to open product information pages or receive offers , depending on the campaign's settings. Each tap takes customers directly to the brand's digital assets, which store official product information and also serve as a reference source for AI when learning about the brand.

In the third layer, Focus Media Vietnam provides a solution for tracking brand presence on AI tools for campaigns running on elevator display systems. Measurements are taken before, during, and after deployment, helping businesses understand how the AI is mentioning them and whether their brand is being mentioned more frequently during the advertising campaign. This provides businesses with a clear basis for adjusting their messaging for subsequent campaigns.

The 2027 shopping journey could begin with an advertisement in an elevator and end with a question sent to an AI assistant. Between those two points, the name that is both remembered and correctly understood by the AI will be the name the customer chooses when ready to buy.