Consumers’ Reactions to AI in Advertising: Creative versus Analytic AI Applications Affect Brand Attitudes

consumer reactions to its implementation is crucial. This research examines how consumer evaluations of genAI in advertising depend on its application to different domains: creative (e.g., visuals, copywriting) versus analytic (e.g., strategic planning, targeting). Across six studies (N > 6,000), we show that genAI’s application to creative advertising domains elicits negative brand evaluations, while its use in analytic domains is perceived more favorably. We propose that these effects are driven by consumer inferences about cost-saving motives. In creative domains, genAI use amplifies labor replacement inferences, signaling a displacement of human creativity and leading to more negative attitudes. Conversely, in analytic domains, genAI is seen as an efficiency optimization tool, which does not harm brand perceptions. Studies employing real-world advertising examples and AI transparency disclosures replicate these effects. Additionally, we demonstrate that experimentally altering motive inferences can reverse these attitudes, highlighting the role of consumer perceptions in shaping brand evaluations. These findings provide both theoretical insights into consumer inference-making and practical implications for brands, emphasizing the need to strategically communicate AI’s role in enhancing, rather than replacing, human creativity.