Will ‘Post-Death Consumerism’ Eventually Become a Retail Opportunity?

With artificial intelligence offering the potential, 47% of global consumers are interested in the ability to shop after they’ve passed away, according to VML’s “Future Shopper Report 2024” study.

The study introduces “post-death consumerism,” which the creative agency VML describes as the concept of training an AI to “learn” a person’s financial and shopping habits while they are alive so that it can control a digital estate and make purchase decisions once that person has passed on. VML wrote in its study, “You could imagine, for example, continuing to pay for the grandkids’ education or sending a birthday gift, even after death.”

The study, based on a survey of 31,500 consumers across 20 countries, found that in some markets such as India and UAE, close to 70% of respondents were interested in the ability to “purchase from beyond the grave.” In the U.S., 36% of respondents were interested.

One interesting finding was that the older the consumer, the less interested they are in maintaining a digital presence after they’ve died.

Other findings related to post-death consumerism include:

• Almost half (45%) of consumers surveyed would be interested in uploading their personalities to the cloud or metaverse so that they could be brought back to life, as an avatar, using AI after they die.
• Nearly half (46%) of respondents would be interested in having a virtual dinner party in the metaverse by bringing back historical figures using AI.
• The same percentage (46%) would like to be able to talk to those who have passed on by using AI to bring them “back to life.” Only 31% were not interested.

The report’s finding on post-death purchases was highlighted in a press release timed to Halloween, and VML indicated it wasn’t advocating that brands at this point embrace a “post-death consumer strategy.” However, VML claims the study demonstrates how AI is “forcing us to redefine consumers and interactions,” with AI-driven chatbots replacing human customer-service agents and bots regularly driving purchases in sneaker drops and hot concert tickets.

Jason Carmel, global lead of creative data at VML, stated, “It’s more of a wake-up call for how open consumers are to inviting AI agents to represent important aspects of their lives.”

The post-death consumerism concept was reminiscent of an episode in the second season of Netflix’s “Black Mirror” series, called “Be Right Back.”

In the episode, a grieving and pregnant woman, Martha, brings back an AI-driven virtual version of her former boyfriend, Ash, by uploading all of his past online communications, social media profiles, videos, and photos. Her boyfriend soon comes back as a synthetic robot replicating his personality and behavior. Eventually, Martha grows to despise the copycat robot because it’s missing the spontaneity and even negative personality traits that made the real Ash human.

Chris Ryan wrote in a review of the episode for The Ringer, “Black Mirror often looks at the lengths we will go to fill some void within ourselves, and ‘Be Right Back’ looks at the consequences of getting what we want.”