Building on advertising and consumer psychology research, this study examines how consumers evaluate video advertisements created with different degrees of generative AI involvement. Focusing on authenticity—defined as truthfulness and naturalness...
Building on advertising and consumer psychology research, this study examines how consumers evaluate video advertisements created with different degrees of generative AI involvement. Focusing on authenticity—defined as truthfulness and naturalness—and originality, the study identifies “human involvement” as a key lens through which authenticity is judged when viewing AI-generated content. A between-subjects experiment with 379 adults (59.4% female; Mage = 22.5) manipulated both AI involvement (human-only, expert-assisted AI, AI-only) and ad originality. The results indicated that higher AI involvement significantly lowered perceived authenticity, which fully mediated the effects of AI involvement on advertising attitude and purchase intention. Additionally, a moderated mediation effect of originality emerged: in the “AI 100%” condition, high originality accentuated the perceived lack of human intention, producing a backfire effect that further diminished purchase intention. In contrast, in the “expert-assisted AI” condition, high originality mitigated authenticity loss and enhanced persuasion. Theoretically, the study demonstrates that authenticity in AI advertising is shaped by perceptions of human involvement in the creative process. Practically, the findings suggest that making human contribution explicitly visible—a strategy termed 'visible human involvement'—is crucial for maximizing advertising effectiveness in the age of generative AI.