Marketing in the Age of AI: Consumer Attitudes towards AI-Generated Marketing Content Among Students and Early-Career Researchers in Academia
Holobotovska, Iryna (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121536393
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121536393
Tiivistelmä
This study explored how students and early-career researchers perceive AI-generated content used in marketing communication, how they perceive their ability to differentiate between AI-generated and human-created content, as well as how transparency in AI-generated marketing (e.g., disclosure of AI use) impacts consumer trust and acceptance for this group.
As a means of data collection, an online survey was conducted, which incorporated Likert-scale questions, interactive content evaluations, which tested the participants’ ability to spot AI-generated marketing content, and open-ended questions.
The main findings provided valuable insight into students' and early-stage career researchers’ perceptions, attitudes, and detection abilities related to AI-generated marketing content. The majority of respondents were young adults (ages 25–34), predominantly studying or working in Finland, and engaged in Bachelor's degree programs in fields such as Technology, Engineering, and Business.
A notable trend was the respondents’ preference for human-generated content as well as the clear desire for authenticity and openness from brands and businesses. The study also uncovered the existing discrepancy between the respondents’ self-perceived ability to spot AI-generated content and actual detection accuracy. Additionally, while respondents believed they could easily identify AI-generated marketing content, they expressed doubts concerning others’ ability to do so.
As a means of data collection, an online survey was conducted, which incorporated Likert-scale questions, interactive content evaluations, which tested the participants’ ability to spot AI-generated marketing content, and open-ended questions.
The main findings provided valuable insight into students' and early-stage career researchers’ perceptions, attitudes, and detection abilities related to AI-generated marketing content. The majority of respondents were young adults (ages 25–34), predominantly studying or working in Finland, and engaged in Bachelor's degree programs in fields such as Technology, Engineering, and Business.
A notable trend was the respondents’ preference for human-generated content as well as the clear desire for authenticity and openness from brands and businesses. The study also uncovered the existing discrepancy between the respondents’ self-perceived ability to spot AI-generated content and actual detection accuracy. Additionally, while respondents believed they could easily identify AI-generated marketing content, they expressed doubts concerning others’ ability to do so.