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Artificial intelligence algorithms are increasingly making decisions for consumers, from curating vacation destinations to recommending auto loans. New research indicates that receiving advice from a computerized agent alters human time perception, making people feel that future delays are longer than they actually are. This distorted perception pushes consumers to make more impatient financial decisions. The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Psychologists use the term intertemporal choice to describe decisions that involve a trade-off between different times. A common example is choosing between a smaller reward today and a larger reward a month from now. Humans routinely struggle with these choices, often heavily discounting the value of future rewards because the wait feels unpleasant. How people experience the passage of time is highly subjective. Psychologists use an “internal clock” theory to explain this phenomenon. The theory suggests that the human brain possesses a cognitive timer that sets the pace of our subjective experience. When a person is relaxed, the internal clock ticks slowly, making time feel like it is flying by. When …
Consumer confidence edged up in March, despite the rising cost of gasoline and other goods from the war in Iran, the Conference Board said on Tuesday. The March reading of the organization’s consumer confidence index rose to 91.8 from 91, with the present situation index that is a measure of consumers’ current assessment of the economy increased 4.6 points to 123.3 (1985=100). The expectations index, a forward-looking measure, dropped by 1.7 points to 70.9. “Consumer confidence ticked up again in March, as a modest improvement in consumers’ views of current conditions outweighed a slight downshift in expectations for the future,” Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at the business group, wrote in an analysis. “Three of five components of the Index firmed in March, and overall confidence improved modestly for a second month. Nonetheless, the Index has been on a general downward trend since 2021.” Consumers under 35 and those 55 and over continued to moderate their optimism, while those 55-plus were the most pessimistic. By income, confidence over the past six months continued to dip …
Whatever the final outcome for Anthropic from its feud with the Department of Defense, the attention it has generated — coupled with the company’s funny Super Bowl ads taking aim at OpenAI and the surging popularity of Claude Code — has made Anthropic more popular with consumers than ever. An examination of billions of anonymized credit card transactions from about 28 million U.S. consumers, conducted for TechCrunch by Indagari, a consumer transaction analysis company, shows Claude gaining paid subscribers in record numbers. Now, as with all big-data analysis, caveats exist. While this data is substantive, it doesn’t include every consumer. That means that Indagari can’t calculate Anthropic’s total current or new user numbers. It also doesn’t include Claude’s enterprise business (which is its bread and butter) or its free-tier users (those not paying Anthropic at all). Estimates for total Claude consumer users are all over the map (we’ve seen figures ranging from 18 million to 30 million) but Anthropic has not disclosed this data. A spokesperson did tell TechCrunch, however, that Claude paid subscriptions have …
A falling stock market and rising gasoline prices arising from the war against Iran sent consumer sentiment back to its lowest level since December, the University of Michigan said on Friday. The university’s consumer sentiment index dropped back to 53.3 from 55.5 in the final estimate for the month. The expectations index, a measure of future sentiment about the economy, fell to 51.7 from 56.6, a monthly drop of 8.7%. Sentiment fell across age groups and political affiliations. “Consumers with middle and higher incomes and stock wealth, buffeted by both escalating gas prices and volatile financial markets in the wake of the Iran conflict, exhibited particularly large drops in sentiment,” Joanne Hsu, surveys director, wrote in an analysis. “Overall, the short-run economic outlook plunged 14%, and year-ahead expected personal finances sank 10%, while declines in long-run expectations were more subdued. These patterns suggest that, at this time, consumers may not expect recent negative developments to persist far into the future.” Inflation expectations rose as prices for many necessities, such as electricity and food, continue to …
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf has roiled energy and financial markets, with oil prices up around 40 percent since the start of the fighting. The International Chamber of Commerce warned Wednesday that the war in the Middle East could cause the “worst industrial crisis in living memory”. “The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the world is facing an energy crisis more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s,” said John Denton. Watch moreOil supply shock hardens energy transition resolve – for some “From a business perspective, we believe this could yet become the worst industrial crisis in living memory — not only because of surging energy prices, but because industrial production itself is being disrupted and dislocated by shortages of gas and other essential inputs.” This is how countries are scrambling to shield consumers from soaring energy costs: France France’s INSEE statistics agency trimmed its growth forecast for the first and second quarters of this year to 0.2 percent as the country’s economy is “struck by …
Sharp rises in the price of oil and gas as a result of the war in Iran have set off an economic chain reaction which is already hitting people in the pocket. The benchmark Brent crude oil remains around $110 a barrel, compared to around $72 before the war. And a unit of wholesale gas now stands at 150p – almost double the 77p per unit it was just three weeks ago. As a result, it is thought that inflation – which was anticipated to fall to 2% by the end of the year – could, in fact, now reach 5%, according to Thomas Pugh, the chief economist at accounting firm RSM. While City traders believe there could be three more interest rate hikes coming later this year. Money blog: Bank of England says it’s ‘ready to act’ over Iran war Interest rate hikes And as these forecasts tick up, so too does the chance of an interest hike. Towards the end of February the consensus was that borrowing costs would come down this year …
A gas station in Chicago, Illinois, March 2, 2026. SCOTT OLSON/AFP Donald Trump is no stranger to defying the odds, but his decision to launch an offensive in Iran is perhaps one of his riskiest gambits in terms of its economic repercussions. The US president appeared to base much of his strategy for the upcoming midterm elections in November on his ability to lower the cost of living, leveraging the only tool he had indirect control over: oil prices. By launching “Operation Epic Fury,” he has chosen a path that could lead to a dramatic surge in crude oil prices in the coming weeks. This risks reigniting inflation, which plagued his predecessor, Joe Biden, and played a significant role in Trump’s return to power in 2024. Prices are already on the rise, even though they remain below peaks reached during previous conflicts. Brent crude, the European benchmark, has jumped 20% since Friday, February 27, surpassing $80 (€68.9). West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, climbed 18% to $79 (€68). Although WTI has been less directly …
NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) – On paper, American consumers spent last year tightening their belts, and even retail heavyweights stumbled. But sit-down restaurants and some drive-through chains buzzed with patrons seeking a special treat or cheap comfort food. Their upbeat sales made the U.S. restaurant industry a rare bright spot for jobs, with restaurant payrolls ticking up 1% last year, adding about 108,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, the overall U.S. economy added 181,000 non-farm jobs in 2025, marking the weakest annual payroll growth in 20 years outside a recession year. Success among restaurants was not evenly spread, though. Corporate filings show that eateries such as Brinker’s Chili’s, Yum Brands’ Taco Bell and fast-growing coffee chain Dutch Bros lured customers by aggressively marketing bundled deals, leaning into digital innovation and limited-time offers, and focusing on high-margin, Instagrammable food. But previous darlings like Chipotle and Cava were hurt by what analysts call the “slop-bowl fatigue” – growing weariness among younger consumers with high-priced, customizable grain or salad bowls. Tempe, Arizona-based …
U.S. businesses and consumers bore about 90 percent of the cost of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, according to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The study, published Thursday, found that the majority of costs that came from tariffs were passed onto the American public in the first 11 months of… Source link
