Last week, the global insights community gathered in Valencia for Esomar Congress 2026, bringing together researchers, brands, and industry leaders to discuss the trends shaping the future of market research.
For Minerva Insights, this year’s Congress was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with clients, partners, and colleagues from across the industry, while contributing to one of the conversations currently transforming consumer behaviour: the impact of AI on purchase decisions.
First of all, we would like to thank everyone who visited us at Booth 13, attended our presentation, or took the time to discuss the challenges and opportunities that AI is creating for brands and researchers alike. The level of engagement and curiosity we experienced throughout the event was truly inspiring.
How AI is reshaping purchase decisions
During the Congress, our team presented “How AI is reshaping purchase decisions“, an ad hoc study designed to explore how consumers are using AI throughout their purchasing journey and the extent to which these tools are influencing decision-making.
Our research confirms that AI adoption has become firmly established in consumers’ daily lives. Far beyond being a technology reserved for experimentation, AI is increasingly being used to search for information, evaluate options, and support purchasing decisions across multiple categories.
Perhaps even more importantly, the study suggests that consumers are developing growing levels of confidence in AI-powered interactions and expect these tools to remain a relevant part of their decision-making processes in the future.
For brands, this represents a significant shift in the way consumers discover products, compare alternatives, and form preferences.
Introducing the MinervAI Decision Compass
One of the key outcomes of the study was the development of the MinervAI Decision Compass, a framework designed to understand not who consumers are, but how they engage with AI when making purchasing decisions.
The framework is built around two fundamental dimensions:
- The level of knowledge consumers already have before consulting AI.
- The degree to which they accept and rely on AI recommendations.
By combining these dimensions, we identified four distinct consumer profiles, each displaying different behaviours, expectations, and patterns of interaction with AI.
Our analysis also explored how these profiles behave across different sectors, revealing important nuances in the role AI plays depending on the purchasing context.
As AI continues to evolve, understanding these behaviours will become increasingly important for brands seeking to remain relevant in a rapidly changing decision-making landscape.
Key Reflections from Esomar Congress 2026
One of the recurring themes throughout the Congress was the growing need to move beyond simply measuring AI adoption and begin understanding how AI is influencing human behaviour.
For the insights industry, this means developing new frameworks, methodologies, and approaches capable of capturing the increasingly complex relationship between consumers and AI systems.
The conversations we had during the event reinforced our belief that the future of consumer research will not just be about understanding consumers, but also about understanding the digital agents and recommendation environments that are increasingly becoming part of their decision journeys.
Let’s continue the conversation
We would like to thank everyone who attended our presentation and everyone who stopped by Stand 13 during the Congress.
We are particularly grateful for the interest shown in the MinervAI Decision Compass and the discussions it sparked around the future of AI-driven consumer behaviour.
If you would like to learn more about the study, explore the framework in greater detail, or discuss its implications for your category or market, we would be delighted to continue the conversation.
Get in touch with our team to learn more about the research and discover how AI is reshaping consumer decision-making.
