Objective - Despite rapid growth in conversational AI adoption, the emotional mechanisms shaping AI-mediated purchase behavior remain underexplored. Grounded in Need to Belong Theory and Brand Equity, this study tests a moderated mediation model in which consumer loneliness influences purchase intentions through brand trust, with brand equity conditioning this indirect pathway.

Methodology/Technique - A survey of 378 UK adults using conversational AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Copilot) was conducted via Prolific Academic. A scenario-based design manipulated brand equity (high vs. low), with data analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study tested direct, mediating, moderating, and conditional indirect effects.

Findings - Consumer loneliness did not directly affect brand trust, yet brand trust strongly predicted purchase intention. Brand equity significantly moderated the loneliness–trust relationship, amplifying the indirect effect of loneliness on purchase intention through brand trust. High-equity brands converted loneliness-driven relational motivations into stronger trust and purchase intentions more effectively than low-equity brands, confirming the moderated mediation.

Novelty - This study reconceptualizes consumer loneliness as a conditional relational motivator contingent on brand equity, repositions brand equity as a relational amplifier in conversational AI settings, and establishes brand trust as the affective conduit through which unmet belonging needs translate into purchase behavior — bridging consumer psychology, branding, and human–AI interaction research.

Type of Paper - Empirical

Keywords: consumer loneliness; brand trust; brand equity; purchase intention; conversational AI; artificial intelligence; moderated mediation.

JEL Classification: M31, D91, O33

URI: https://gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/JMMR/vol11.3_3.html

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2026.11.3(3)

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