Work

Consumers' Preference for Human‐Generated Versus AI ‐Generated Artwork: A Social Identification Account

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT As generative artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly prevalent in the creative industries, firms are adopting AI to produce artwork. Drawing on social identity theory, this work investigates how consumers respond to AI‐generated versus human‐generated artwork. Across one field study and three lab experiments, we find that consumers consistently prefer human‐generated artwork. In addition, we show that this effect is driven by consumers' reduced empathy with the AI generator, which in turn weakens their identification with the AI generator and lowers preference for AI‐generated artwork. Importantly, we identify two interventions that mitigate this effect: increasing consumers' perceived similarity to AI, and framing AI developers as in‐group members. These findings reveal that while consumers tend to devalue AI‐generated artwork, strategic cues can foster connection and improve acceptance. This research contributes to the emerging literature on the mechanism of consumers' reactions to AI and offers actionable insights for marketers aiming to integrate AI into artistic domains.

Source: Journal of Consumer Behaviour

DOI: 10.1002/cb.70063

Authors: Wenqi Feng, Xiaobing Song

Institutions: Jiangsu University, Dalian University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification

Subfield: Marketing

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Awards: G2674179169, "人工智能"标签对消费者心理与行为的影响研究