Higher Education's Role in Transforming Consumer Economic Rationality
Author:Dumitru Miron, Narcisa Georgeta Ciobotar, Iulia-Maria David Sobolevschi, Muhammad Sheraz and Silvia Dedu
JEL:C40, M21, M31, M40.
DOI:10.24818/EA/2026/73/1052
Keywords:university education, critical thinking, Automatically Generated Disinformation (AGD), economic rationality, consumer behaviour.
Abstract:
In the context of the emergence of AI-generated disinformation (AGD) and the “industrialiation of deception”, this study examines the role of higher education as a mechanism for fostering critical thinking and recalibrating consumer economic rationality. The research is based on the assumption that generative artificial intelligence promotes the activation of intuitive cognitive processing (System 1) by eroding analytical reasoning (System 2) and amplifying decision-making vulnerabilities. The study aims to analyse and evaluate the mechanisms through which AGD is disseminated, assess students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of higher education in supporting cognitive resilience, and identify the gap between declarative digital literacy and actual behaviour under conditions of information pressure. Methodologically, a quantitative research design was implemented during the first half of March 2026 on a sample of N = 312 students from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC). The model was statistically validated through the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test. The study’s contribution lies in conceptualising the university as an infrastructure for cognitive resilience and highlighting the need to move beyond knowledge transmission toward the systematic development of analytical thinking, supported by technological transparency tools capable of strengthening consumer decision-making autonomy in the digital environment.