Rethinking Expectancy Disconfirmation in Consumer Responses to AI-Generated Creative Content
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: AI is increasingly generating creative content, from ads to visual designs, but consumers often respond with aversion. Across six experiments, we show when and why this resistance can be reduced. We reveal a counterintuitive effect of expectancy disconfirmation: AI underperforming increases the likelihood that consumers choose its content (compared with human-generated content), whereas AI overperforming decreases it. This effect is driven by overperformance triggering perceptions of threat and dehumanization, whereas underperformance reduces threat and fosters humanization. These findings challenge traditional views of expectation disconfirmation. We also identify managerially actionable boundary conditions of this effect.
Source: Journal of Advertising Research
Institutions: University of Łódź, King's College London
Language: English
Topic: AI in Service Interactions
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Narodowym Centrum Nauki
OpenAlex ID: W7122545495