Artificial-Intelligence-Generated versus Human-Generated Advertisements: Using Electroencephalography to Study Attitudes and Purchase Intention of Gen Y and Gen Z

This exploratory study investigated consumers attitudes and purchase intent toward artificial intelligence (AI)-generated advertisements, with a focus on generations Z and Y. Using generative AI to create advertisements provides many benefits for marketing practitioners, but research on consumers’ (implicit) responses to such advertisements remains scarce. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining self-report measures with electroencephalography-based frontal alpha asymmetry in a sample of 32 participants. Results from the self-reported data indicate that consumers of both generations rated the human-generated advertisement substantially higher in appeal and purchase intent. Conversely, electroencephalography-based valence measures did not reveal significant differences between AI-generated and human-generated advertisements. No significant generational differences were detected. Trust in AI advertising and experienced discomfort emerged as significant predictors of perceived advertisement appeal. These findings suggest that explicit preferences for human-generated advertising may not fully align with implicit neural responses and highlight the importance of trust and disclosure in shaping consumer evaluations of AI-generated content.