Abstract

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated advertising has created new opportunities for cost-efficient and targeted marketing, yet consumer reactions remain mixed. While AI enhances productivity and allows quick creation of diverse content, many consumers perceive such ads as unnatural or unsettling, which may reduce their purchase intention. Using the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework, this study examines how key attributes of AI-generated advertising verisimilitude, vitality, imagination, and synthesis influence consumers’ emotional responses and purchase intention. Two mediating emotional states were analyzed: perceived eeriness (negative affect) and perceived intelligence (positive affect). A survey of 410 consumers aged 18–60 was conducted using a five-point Likert scale. Findings confirm all proposed hypotheses, indicating that AI advertising attributes significantly shape emotional responses, which in turn influence purchase intention. The findings contribute to the emerging literature on AI-driven marketing by clarifying the psychological mechanisms through which consumers evaluate AI-generated advertising and by offering practical implications for organizations seeking to design effective and ethically responsible AI-based marketing strategies.