How consumers respond when brands disclose using AI in creating social media content: examining brand personification and communication strategies
TL;DR
This research provides the first examination of how AI disclosures shape consumer responses in the context of brand personification and offers practical guidance for branding professionals aiming to sustain favorable consumer responses when integrating AI into brand personification strategies.
Abstract
This study aims to examine how consumers respond when personified brands disclose using artificial intelligence (AI) in generating social media marketing content and explore effective communication strategies for mitigating the negative impact of such disclosures. Three online experiments with a total of 576 participants were conducted to explore the effect of AI disclosures on consumers’ behavioral intentions toward personified brands on social media, along with the underlying mechanisms of the effect and the boundary conditions created by brands’ communication strategies. AI disclosures significantly reduced consumers’ behavioral intentions on social media. This effect was driven by declines in perceived brand authenticity and humanness. Brand personification mitigated the reduction in perceived brand humanness but did not restore brand authenticity, leaving the negative impact of AI disclosures on behavioral intentions unchanged. Analysis of communication strategies showed that, under AI disclosures, proactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) communicated through socioemotional messages produced the most favorable outcomes for personified brands. This research provides the first examination of how AI disclosures shape consumer responses in the context of brand personification. It advances theory on AI-mediated marketing communication and offers practical guidance for branding professionals aiming to sustain favorable consumer responses when integrating AI into brand personification strategies.