AI-Generated Ads: A Framework for Understanding Responses to Manipulated Advertising

Abstract

Analog tools and human labor have historically been used in the creation and distribution of advertising material. The advertising industry can now automate many advertising processes and create “synthetic ads,” or ads that contain content that is created artificially and automatically through data modification and production. This is made possible by technological advancements in the advertising sector. Using a variety of Artificial Intelligence (Al) techniques, including deep fakes and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), the growing practice of synthetic advertising, which is currently the most sophisticated form of ad manipulation, automatically generates content that presents an artificial, albeit convincing, version of reality. A broad framework is developed in this study to gain a better understanding of how consumers react to various types of ad manipulation and how they feel about more complex synthetic ad formats like deep fakes. An agenda for research in this field is created, with an emphasis on the areas of manipulated advertising: originality, consumer response, and ad falsity. Moreover, consideration is given to the implications for theory and industry.