This study examines how consumers respond to advertising depending on whether it is generated by AI or humans and whether the product is framed as eco-friendly or non-eco-friendly. Using a 2×2 factorial experimental design, participants evaluated adv...
This study examines how consumers respond to advertising depending on whether it is generated by AI or humans and whether the product is framed as eco-friendly or non-eco-friendly. Using a 2×2 factorial experimental design, participants evaluated advertisements in which the production source was clearly disclosed, and reported their purchase intention, product attitude, ad attitude, and perceived ad trustworthiness.
The results indicate that eco-friendly framing had a consistently positive effect across all outcome variables. Eco-friendly messages significantly enhanced trust, attitudes, and purchase intention, suggesting that they function as a strong and reliable value-based cue in advertising contexts. AI-generated advertising also led to more favorable consumer evaluations in several respects; however, it did not significantly increase perceived ad trustworthiness. This finding suggests that consumers’ general confidence in AI’s functional abilities does not necessarily translate into trust in AI as a persuasive message source.
The interaction between AI-generated advertising and eco-friendly framing was not statistically significant, although the AI–eco-friendly condition showed the highest mean evaluations. This pattern implies that the two cues operate through different psychological processes. While eco-friendly framing provides a clear ethical signal that consistently guides consumer judgment, AI appears to function as a more ambivalent cue, simultaneously eliciting perceptions of competence and skepticism.
Further analyses revealed that trust strongly predicted purchase intention, but AI did not exert an indirect effect on purchase intention through trust, nor was this process moderated by eco-friendly framing. Taken together, these findings suggest that value-based cues and technological cues influence consumer responses through distinct pathways. The results imply that the effectiveness of AI-generated advertising is likely to depend on its alignment with ethical and value-oriented messaging, rather than on technological sophistication alone.