Seeing Is No Longer Believing: The Impact of AI-Based Deceptive Advertising Visuals on Gen Z Buying Behaviour and the Imperative of Advertising Ethics
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Deceptive Advertising, Buying Behaviour, AI Visuals, Advertising Ethics, Gen ZAbstract
The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advertising has transformed how brands create and disseminate visual content. While AI-generated visuals enhance personalization and creativity, they also raise serious ethical concerns, particularly when such visuals are deceptive. This study examines the impact of AI-based deceptive advertising visuals on the buying behaviour of Generation Z consumers. Gen Z, being digitally native yet psychologically impressionable, is uniquely vulnerable to hyper-realistic AI-generated imagery that exaggerates product benefits or misrepresents reality. The paper explores how deceptive AI visuals influence perception, trust, and purchase intention, while also justifying the necessity of strong advertising ethics. Through conceptual analysis and review of existing literature, this research highlights the ethical responsibilities of advertisers and calls for transparent, responsible, and consumer-centric use of AI technologies in advertising.
References
Aaker, D. A. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347–356. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151897
American Marketing Association. (2020). Ethics definition. https://www.ama.org
Binns, R. (2018). Fairness in machine learning: Lessons from political philosophy. Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency, 149–159.
Djafarova, E., & Rushworth, C. (2017). Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.009
Grewal, D., Roggeveen, A. L., & Nordfält, J. (2017). The future of retailing. Journal of Retailing, 93(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2016.12.008
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2019). Siri, Siri, in my hand: Who’s the fairest in the land? On the interpretations, illustrations, and implications of artificial intelligence. Business Horizons, 62(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.004
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson Education.
Liu, B., & Shrum, L. J. (2019). What is fake? Understanding the impact of fake images on consumer responses. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(6), 1231–1250. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy067
Pavlou, P. A., & Stewart, D. W. (2000). Measuring the effects and effectiveness of interactive advertising. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 1(1), 61–77.
Smith, N. C., & Murphy, P. E. (2012). The responsibility of corporate communication. Wiley.
Statista. (2023). Generation Z: Digital behavior and purchasing trends. https://www.statista.com
Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2018). How AI can be a force for good. Science, 361(6404), 751–752. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat5991
Taylor, C. R. (2020). Advertising and COVID-19: Ethical considerations. International Journal of Advertising, 39(5), 587–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2020.1776684
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
