---
id: "quote-persuasion-penalty"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["\\\"§ Expect more advanced models to be skeptical of marketing tactics", "not indifferent to them.\\\""]
tags: ["ai-behavior", "marketing-strategy"]
related: ["concept-algorithmic-skepticism", "contrarian-advanced-ai-rationality"]
speaker: "Authors"
speakers: ["Jafar Sabbah", "Oguz A. Acar"]
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-tier2-06-ai-shopping-agents"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/research-traditional-marketing-doesnt-work-on-ai-shopping-agents"
sourceTitle: "Research: Traditional Marketing Doesn’t Work on AI Shopping Agents"
---
# More persuasion produces less selection

> "The direction of travel is not toward agents that simply ignore your marketing; it is toward agents where more persuasion produces less selection."
> — [[entity-jafar-sabbah|Jafar Sabbah]] & [[entity-oguz-a-acar|Oguz A. Acar]]

**Why it matters:** The single sharpest articulation of [[concept-algorithmic-skepticism|algorithmic skepticism / the persuasion penalty]] and the [[contrarian-advanced-ai-rationality|contrarian insight]] that advanced AI does not merely *ignore* marketing — it *penalizes* it. The relationship between persuasion intensity and selection can be **inverse**.

**Related:** [[concept-algorithmic-skepticism]] · [[contrarian-advanced-ai-rationality]] · [[entity-gpt-5]] · [[entity-gemini-2-5-pro]]