Israeli Teens Lead in AI Shopping Adoption as Mastercard Study Highlights Generational Gap
A new Mastercard study reveals that Israeli teens eagerly embrace AI for shopping, with 60.5% willing to use agents for clothing purchases. Meanwhile, parents remain cautious, citing security fears.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming consumer behavior in Israel, extending far beyond simple search queries into the realm of active shopping assistance. According to a recent study commissioned by Mastercard and conducted by Opinium, Israeli teenagers are leading the charge in adopting AI tools for commercial purposes.
Teen Adoption and Shopping Habits
The research reveals that 30.9% of Israeli teens use artificial intelligence at least once a week to research products, 27% rely on it for personalized recommendations, and 25% utilize it to track down discounts and better prices. Looking toward the future, 60.5% of surveyed youth stated they would be willing to let an AI shopping agent purchase clothing and footwear on their behalf, while 44% expressed openness to using such agents for electronics and technology purchases.
Moreover, Israeli youth display a significantly higher openness to these technologies compared to their European peers. While 68% of Israeli teenagers believe AI shopping agents will execute purchases for them in the coming years—compared to a European average of 57%—35% are ready to use them immediately, versus 27% in Europe. Interestingly, a quarter of Israeli teens noted they would trust an AI recommendation over that of their parents, a figure that jumps to 32% among 17-to-18-year-olds.
Parental Caution and Security Concerns
In contrast to the enthusiasm shown by teenagers, parents in Israel maintain a much more cautious stance. Only 20% of parents expressed a willingness to utilize an AI shopping agent, and 72.5% insisted they would never allow an automated agent to complete a transaction without explicit final approval.
More than half of the parents, specifically 57.5%, expressed deep concerns regarding cybersecurity breaches, potential fraud, and unauthorized transactions.
These findings highlight a distinct generational gap between the willingness to leverage AI for product discovery and the desire to surrender financial control to automated algorithms.
Industry Shift and Future Outlook
Payment networks and financial institutions are actively preparing for a paradigm shift, configuring systems to allow AI agents to manage multiple stages of the purchasing funnel—from initial product discovery and price comparison to authenticated checkout. This technological transition brings critical questions regarding payment security, authorization boundaries, and user intervention to the forefront.
The international study surveyed 26,000 parents and teenagers aged 13 to 18 across 13 countries during June and July 2026, including a representative sample of 1,000 parents and 1,000 teenagers in Israel.
