Would you shop on a platform that discriminates against users? A study on the impact of algorithmic price discrimination on consumer purchase intention

The immoral use of algorithms by platform companies has damaged to consumer rights, yet some consumers continue to spend money on platforms that discriminate against users. The existing literature does not fully understand consumers’ complete motivations for using platforms that engage in algorithmic price discrimination. To explore the intrinsic mechanism and boundary conditions of the impact of platform algorithmic price discrimination on consumer purchase intention, 494 consumers who have used online shopping in the last year in China from January 2024 to May 2024 were selected to participate in a multi-time point survey. Based on the integration perspective of the rational choice theory and the expectancy violation theory, from the perspective of the moral reasoning process and boundary conditions, the mediating mechanism between algorithmic price discrimination and consumer purchase intention was examined. Results show that algorithmic price discrimination harms consumer purchase intention; moral decoupling mediates the relationship between algorithmic price discrimination and consumer purchase intention; Competence trust and goodwill trust have significant moderating effects between algorithmic price discrimination and moral decoupling. The conclusions obtained from this study not only reveal the mechanism through which algorithmic price discrimination affects consumer purchase intention, and provide important strategic insights into how platform regulators can safeguard consumer rights, and how platform managers can effectively remedy the negative impact caused by the issue of algorithmic price discrimination.