2025 Summer Research Symposium • Belyn Thompson • July 9, 2025

Belyn Thompson

Class of 2026

Major: Digital Marketing

Mentor: Zecong Ma, PhD, St. Mary’s University

AI vs. Human Imagery in Advertising: Do Consumers Care?

Digital marketing has been evolving at rapid speed with Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerging through generative AI creating visuals for advertisement. Yet little is still known about how consumers truly feel about this change. This study explores whether AI-generated images truly differ from human-created photography in the eyes of everyday buyers, focusing on three key metrics: purchase intent, aesthetic appeal, and perceived realism. Over a roughly two-week window in June 2025, 199 U.S. adults on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) evaluated 24 product images: technology, food, apparel, and cosmetics. Each is presented in both AI “sibling” and original photographer versions under varying disclosure labels. Participants also completed preliminary questions about AI familiarity and brand trust. Results showed that, in most categories, consumers did not penalize AI visuals; only in apparel did the correct image disclosure trigger a marginally significant 0.499-point drop in purchase intent (p = .015). These findings suggest that, beyond novelty, high-quality AI imagery may be able to compare against human-created photos, except in contexts where authenticity and craftsmanship are especially prized. Marketers can therefore leverage AI as a creative collaborator and tool to help aid company success if used intentionally. Future work may investigate long-term AI exposure effects, delve into cross-cultural differences, and explore disclosure and other factors in relation to consumers’ perception and overall attitude.

Keywords: Aesthetic Appeal, AI Images, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Purchase Intent, Perceived Realism.