To disclose or not disclose, is no longer the question – effect of AI-disclosed brand voice on brand authenticity and attitude

Purpose: This paper aims to explore consumer perception of “brand voice” authenticity, brand authenticity and brand attitude when the source of text is disclosed as either artificial intelligence (AI)-generated or human-written.

Design/methodology/approach: A 3 × 3 experimental design using Adidas marketing texts disclosed as either “AI” or “human”, or not disclosed was applied to data gathered online from 624 English-speaking students.

Findings: Text disclosed as AI-generated is not perceived as less authentic than that disclosed as human-written. No negative effect on brand voice authenticity and brand attitude results if an AI-source is disclosed. Practical implications: Findings offer brand managers the potential for cost and time savings but emphasise the strong effect of AI technology on perceived brand authenticity and brand attitude.

Originality/value: Results show that brands can afford to be transparent in disclosing the use of AI to support brand voice as communicated in product description or specification or in chatbot text.