In digital marketing environments, consumers are increasingly encountering advertising images created by artificial intelligence (AI). Nonetheless, the psychological mechanisms through which advertising images AI disclosure labels (present vs. absent) influence consumer responses remain under-explored. Grounded in the elaboration likelihood model and regulatory focus theory, this article proposes a double-edged sword framework and tests the hypotheses in three online experiments. Study 1 shows that AI disclosure labels enhance advertising attitude, product attitude, and purchase intention through increased perceived novelty, while simultaneously weakening these outcomes by reducing perceived authenticity. Study 2 further reveals a moderating role of regulatory focus: compared with prevention-focused consumers, promotion-focused consumers strengthen the positive effect of the novelty pathway and attenuate the negative effect of the authenticity pathway. Study 3 demonstrates that product type also moderates these effects. For utilitarian products, the positive influence of the novelty pathway is amplified, whereas the negative influence of the authenticity pathway is reduced. These findings elucidate the dual psychological mechanisms of AI disclosure labels in advertising images, deepen understanding of why consumers exhibit divergent attitudinal evaluations and decision tendencies under labeled versus unlabeled conditions, and offer practical guidance for balancing innovative appeal and perceived authenticity in advertising practice.
Shi et al. (2026) studied this question.