Background:

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly infiltrates the creative domains traditionally dominated by humans, a critical question arises: How does the believed origin of an advertisement—whether generated by AI or crafted by a human—affect consumer perception and behavior? The integration of AI in advertising has stirred significant academic and practical interest, exploring how AI impacts consumer behavior differently from traditional human-created ads. Recent studies have highlighted varying consumer responses based on the advertised source, be it AI or human, influencing key advertising metrics.

Purpose:

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the belief of AI versus human made ads on consumer behavior dimensions such as Purchase Intention (PI), Ad Evaluation (Eva_M), and Word of Mouth (WOM). It also sought to understand how these effects are mediated by anxiety and moderated by personality traits like agreeableness, extraversion, openness, and demographics age and level of education. Thus, this paper explores the nuanced psychological impacts and behavioral outcomes triggered by the believed source of advertising content, unveiling the subconscious biases and overt responses of consumers to AI versus human creator.

Method:

A comparative analysis involving the same ad in two survey groups (Survey A – marked as AI- generated ad – and Survey B – marked as human-made ad) was conducted, with participants unaware of the believed ad origin variation. The study employed the PROCESS Macro Models 1 and 4 in SPSS to analyze the direct effects and interactions. The level of Anxiety was testedias a mediator and personality traits and demographic factors were tested as moderators to gauge their influence on the effectiveness of AI-generated versus human-made ads.

Conclusion:

The results show that ads believed as AI-generated performed less effectively across Purchase Intention, Ad Evaluation, and Word of Mouth compared to those believed to be human-made. Significant mediation of anxiety and significant moderation effects were found with traits such as agreeableness and extraversion positively influencing ad reception, while higher levels of education tended to buffer negative perceptions of AI-generated ads. These findings suggest that consumer characteristics play a crucial role in the reception and effectiveness of AI- generated advertising, underscoring the need for tailored advertising strategies that consider both the source of the ad and the target demographic's psychological and demographic profiles.