Disclosure in AI-Generated Advertising: How Source Credibility Affects Consumer Purchase Intention

Abstract

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the advertising industry represents a new stage of advertising content creation. However, the evolution of AI-generated ads raises potential concerns for regulators because it introduces challenges related to consumers’ ability to recognize the origin of such content. By applying advertising trustworthiness and attractiveness as evaluative criteria, Study 1 finds that disclosure of AI-generated ads enhances perceived ad trustworthiness and ad attractiveness, further improving attitudinal responses and increasing purchase intention. Study 2 extended Study 1 and examined how different disclosure framings affect the effectiveness of AI-generated ads. The result reveals that behavior disclosure raises perceived privacy concerns, whereas benefit disclosure enhances attitudes toward ads among various disclosure types. Our study has important implications for both theory development and the marketing regulation of AI advertising.