How algorithmic curation is redefining loyalty in subscription economy

The subscription economy has evolved far beyond recurring delivery models. Today’s AI-based subscription services function as intelligent curation platforms that anticipate preferences, automate decisions, and coordinate entire service journeys. From meal kits and grocery deliveries to media streaming and lifestyle services, algorithms increasingly decide what users see, consume, and reorder. While this automation has fueled rapid market expansion, it has also produced an unintended consequence: cognitive overload.

AI subscription services are not winning loyalty by entertaining users, they are winning by exhausting them less. New research shows that users stick with AI-driven services because they reduce thinking, automate decisions, and make everyday routines easier to manage, even at the cost of discovery and novelty.

The study Driving Service Stickiness in the AI Subscription Economy: The Roles of Algorithmic Curation, Technological Fluidity, and Cognitive Efficiency, published in the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, investigates why users continue to stay with AI-based subscription services despite growing subscription fatigue. Focusing on the mature phase of the AI subscription economy, the research shifts attention from initial adoption to long-term retention, known as service stickiness, and examines the psychological mechanisms that sustain it

Subscription fatigue redefines what keeps users loyal

The subscription economy has evolved far beyond recurring delivery models. Today’s AI-based subscription services function as intelligent curation platforms that anticipate preferences, automate decisions, and coordinate entire service journeys. From meal kits and grocery deliveries to media streaming and lifestyle services, algorithms increasingly decide what users see, consume, and reorder. While this automation has fueled rapid market expansion, it has also produced an unintended consequence: cognitive overload.

The analysis is placed in the mature phase of the AI subscription economy, where most users are already familiar with algorithmic personalization and no longer view novelty as a differentiating factor. Instead, consumers face an accumulation of subscriptions that demand constant attention, renewals, and evaluations. This environment has given rise to subscription fatigue, a psychological state in which users feel overwhelmed by information, choice, and ongoing commitment.

Against this backdrop, the researchers argue that traditional models of customer retention no longer fully explain user behavior. Earlier research emphasized enjoyment, perceived usefulness, or confirmation of expectations. However, these models were developed in contexts where adoption was the primary concern. In contrast, the current subscription landscape is defined by churn risk and mental exhaustion, requiring a deeper understanding of subconscious and reactive retention mechanisms.

To address this gap, the study applies the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework, which focuses on how environmental stimuli shape internal psychological states and, in turn, behavioral responses. Rather than treating AI features as objective system properties, the research examines how users perceive and interpret those features during everyday interaction. This shift allows the study to capture the lived experience of AI-driven services in a saturated market.

Cognitive efficiency emerges as the core driver of stickiness

Cognitive efficiency is the strongest driver of service stickiness in the AI subscription economy. Cognitive efficiency refers to users’ perception that a service reduces mental effort, simplifies decision-making, and saves time. In an era defined by information overload, this utilitarian benefit outweighs emotional enjoyment for most users.

The research identifies two key AI-driven stimuli that shape user perceptions. The first is algorithmic curation, defined as users’ belief that the AI accurately understands their preferences and can select suitable options on their behalf. When users perceive curation as sophisticated and reliable, they experience a significant reduction in cognitive load. They no longer feel the need to compare alternatives, evaluate options, or second-guess decisions.

The second stimulus is technological fluidity, which captures how seamless and uninterrupted the service experience feels from start to finish. This includes automated renewals, frictionless payments, coordinated delivery, and minimal user intervention. High technological fluidity reinforces cognitive efficiency by allowing users to move through their routines without conscious effort.

The study’s empirical analysis shows that both perceived algorithmic curation and technological fluidity strongly enhance cognitive efficiency. In turn, cognitive efficiency has a powerful positive effect on service stickiness, far surpassing any emotional or hedonic factors. Users remain loyal not because they are entertained or surprised, but because leaving the service would require them to reclaim decisions they have already offloaded to the system.

This finding is especially pronounced in high-frequency subscription contexts such as food and grocery services. In these domains, users make repetitive decisions daily, amplifying the mental burden of choice. AI services that reliably remove this burden become deeply embedded in users’ routines, creating high switching barriers. The service evolves from a convenience into an invisible infrastructure supporting everyday life.

The study also highlights a deeper psychological dynamic at play. As users grow accustomed to AI-driven decision-making, they begin to develop cognitive dependence on automation. Over time, service stickiness shifts from a voluntary preference to a structural reliance. The AI system becomes the default decision-maker, and disengaging from it feels costly, disruptive, and mentally taxing.

The frictionless trap and the limits of serendipity

While automation and seamlessness deliver efficiency, the study uncovers a critical downside to excessive technological fluidity. The researchers identify what they call the Frictionless Trap, a phenomenon in which overly smooth experiences suppress opportunities for discovery and novelty. When AI predicts and automates every step, users lose exposure to unexpected options that might otherwise spark curiosity or delight.

This insight challenges a long-standing assumption in digital service design that smoother is always better. The study finds that while algorithmic curation enhances both cognitive efficiency and feelings of serendipity, technological fluidity has a neutral or even negative relationship with serendipity. In other words, systems that are too seamless can inadvertently eliminate the very moments of surprise that once defined personalized services.

Crucially, serendipity does not significantly influence service stickiness in the aggregate model. For the majority of users, enjoyment derived from unexpected discovery does not translate into long-term retention. Under conditions of subscription fatigue, emotional responses are short-lived and quickly adapted to. Users prioritize mental relief over excitement.

However, the study reveals important boundary conditions. Among high-income users, serendipity does play a meaningful role in driving stickiness. This suggests a hierarchy of digital needs. Cognitive efficiency functions as a universal baseline requirement across income groups. Once that baseline is met, higher-income users, who may face fewer time and resource constraints, become more receptive to enjoyment and discovery as secondary drivers of loyalty.

A one-size-fits-all approach to automation risks alienating certain user segments while failing to differentiate services in competitive markets. The research suggests that sustainable retention requires a balance between efficiency and controlled friction. Introducing optional moments of engagement, reflection, or choice can restore a sense of agency and discovery without reintroducing cognitive burden.