Consumer perception of machine-generated advertisement

Abstract: Research in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing mainly consists of increasing value for retailers or ethical issues related to consumers, in contrast, academic research regarding consumers perception of AI in marketing is vague at best. This research explores the perception of machine-generated advertising campaigns and how these campaigns are experienced by consumers. This research aims to explore the uncharted phenomenon of consumer perception related to receiving and evaluating advertisements through short message services and emails. An exploratory research question was used and formulated as: What are the perceptions of machine-generated advertisements among consumers. In order to answer the research question, two sub-questions were used as follows; what themes constitute the consumers’ perception of machine-generated advertisements and what is the consumers’ discernment ability of machine-generated advertisements. Using a mixed-method approach, this research gathered data conducting interviews that resulted in themes describing consumers' perception and an online questionnaire that was used in a univariate analysis, showing the consumer's discernment ability. Additionally, z-tests were conducted to increase the coverage of the discernment ability between different sample groups. The study concludes a descriptive theory for consumer perception of intelligent marketing campaigns and shows that consumers have a low distinguishing ability between machine and human made advertisements. This research concludes that further research is needed as the result of this study merely scratches the surface of a complex phenomenon. The results can however, be used as a springboard for further research on the topic as more comprehensive understanding is still achievable.