From joy to resistance: consumer reactions to disclosure of AI-created advertisements

Conventional wisdom suggests that viewers tend to evaluate AI-generated advertisements negatively. We argue that viewers can nevertheless enjoy creative advertisements produced by AI. However, the belief that creativity is an exclusively human attribute may prompt cognitive regulation when AI involvement is disclosed. Using a consumer neuroscience approach, we conducted a one-factor, three-level between-subjects experiment in which participants viewed advertisements with no disclosure, disclosure of human–AI collaboration, or disclosure of full AI creation. Creative advertisements elicited joy, captured by facial expression analysis, regardless of whether they were created by humans or AI. Greater joy was associated with less message counterarguing and more favourable advertisement attitudes, but only in the absence of AI disclosure. These findings suggest that AI disclosure does not diminish initial enjoyment. Instead, it may act as a persuasion knowledge cue that activates cognitive regulation, leading viewers to override their positive affective responses when subsequently evaluating the advertisement.