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Germany Consumers and AI Consumer Report 2025

Germany Consumers and AI Consumer Report 2025

Market Intelligence Reports Technology Consumer Insights Germany

AI is set to increasingly shape German consumers’ search habits, as it continues to merge with conventional searches and online platforms.

AI in Germany — Current Landscape

Use of AI for searching significantly skews towards younger consumers when compared to overall usage. However over half of Germans appreciate Google’s AI overviews for helping them find information faster, showing how AI is set to increasingly shape search habits, as it continues to merge with conventional searches and online platforms.

Nevertheless, consumer sentiment towards AI is highly ambiguous. While many express excitement about it, they equally view it as dangerous, and sometimes consider it unreliable.

Brands need to implement AI transparently and make consumers feel they are acting responsibly and with their best interests at heart. It will be key to reassure users about safety and reliability in order to drive adoption, as consumers have voiced that they would boycott companies for using AI instead of humans.

Consumers and AI — Statistics

AI and Consumer Insights: 65% of 16 to 34-year-olds use AI at least once a week, compared to 40% of all Germans.
AI and Consumer Behaviour: While almost half of Germans express excitement about AI, 40% view it as dangerous, and only one third consider it reliable.

AI in Germany Report — What’s Inside?

Key Topics Analysed in this Report

How consumers feel about AI, including environmental concerns and trust in AI companies.
How consumers use AI.
The role of AI in searches, compared to search engines and social media.
Consumer attitudes towards AI when shopping, including perceptions of AI in customer service.
Recent AI innovation, and its meaning for German consumers.

Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis

This report is written by Jan Urbanek, Principal Analyst. Jan joined Mintel in 2020, writing about consumer and market trends in the German consumer technology sector. During his studies, he gained experience in quantitative and qualitative market research and in the marketing of electric vehicles. Jan holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration & Economics from TU Dortmund University.

Consumers judge companies’ use of AI less through rational metrics, and more through an emotional lens. Brands need to respond on an emotional level by offering reassurance about safety and benevolent intentions.

Jan Urbanek
Principal Analyst

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Opportunities
- Outlook
OPPORTUNITIES
- Make an emotional case for AI
- Make consumers feel good about brands using AI
- Younger Germans are leading AI adoption
- Address the trust deficit with AI to drive adoption
- Turn mixed AI sentiment into a competitive edge
- Tailor AI strategies to different consumer segments’ sentiment
- Graph 1: psychographic consumer segments, by level of excitement about AI, by use of AI regularly (bubble size as size of the segment in % of population), 2025
- Position AI as a tool to unlock new heights to engage the Climb segment
- Capitalise on the Prepare segment’s propensity for research
- Succeed among the Sustain segment with a humanity-first approach
- Adapt to shifts in search and expectations
- Combine AI discovery with human authenticity
- Match younger Germans’ explorative use of AI
CONSUMER
- How consumers use AI
- Searching shifts towards AI
- Graph 2: ways of using AI once a week or more, 2025
- Younger Germans are leading AI adoption
- Graph 3: ways of using AI once a week or more, by age, 2025
- AI shapes search and creation among younger Germans
- AI shapes expression and culture among younger consumers
- AI changes how stories are told – but not which will stick
- Adjust to AI’s cultural impact
- Brands are increasingly tapping into AI-generated ads
- How consumers feel about AI
- Consumer sentiment towards AI remains highly mixed
- Mixed AI sentiment is fueled by a range of real-world concerns
- A trust deficit holds back adoption of AI
- AI fosters distrust in online content
- Be transparent to address ethical concerns
- Environmental concerns are limited – so far
- Google reassures consumers about its commitment to sustainability
- Younger Germans show the greatest enthusiasm for AI
- Graph 4: perceptions of AI, by age, 2025
- Samsung uses AI as a central claim for its devices
- Address the trust and value deficit among older Germans
- Trust deficits cut deeper than AI itself
- Graph 5: agreement that when developing AI, companies prioritise people’s wellbeing, by age, 2025
- Microsoft addresses consumer distrust with its ‘AI for Good’ program
- Platforms used to search for information
- Traditional searches dominate in Germany
- Graph 6: platforms used when searching for information on selected topics, 2025
- AI will increasingly shape search habits
- 16-34s use the greatest variety of online search tools
- Graph 7: platforms used when searching for information on selected topics, 2025
- Meet increasingly diverse search habits, driven by younger consumers
- Use of AI is deeply emotional and personal for younger Germans
- Google blends informative with emotional AI capabilities
- Younger consumers’ emotional ties to AI amplify its commercial potential
- Higher-earners drive AI searches
- Graph 8: use of AI chatbots to search for information on selected topics, by net monthly household income, 2025
- AI and shopping
- Use AI to address shopping pain points – but also address those of AI itself
- Don’t skip the human element in customer service
INNOVATION
- Microsoft brings Open AI’s video-generation capabilities to Bing
- OpenAI looks to expand into AI hardware
- Samsung showcases harmony between foldables and AI assistants
- AI search features become more accessible and multimodal
- Google advertises its multimodal search capabilities
- Companies experiment with Agentic AI
- Amazon gen AI enhances Alexa for agentic capabilities
Market drivers
- The evolution of AI
- The major milestones in AI’s development
- Advances in AI will be accompanied by heightened concerns
- Graph 9: computational power in the number of floating-point operations carried out per second by the fastest supercomputer in the given year, 1993-2023
- Regulatory and legislative changes
- The EU strives for consumer protection with AI
- Consumer protection is a regulatory hurdle – and opportunity
- Consumer confidence
- Consumer confidence remains fragile…
- …keeping pressure on the consumer electronics market
- Graph 10: consumer electronics market value (€bn), 2019-24
APPENDIX
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations
- Methodology – consumer research
- Consumer research methodology
- A note on language

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