North American marketers are much more reluctant than global marketers to use AI to generate ad copy and creative, according to findings from a study released today.
While about one third
of North American consumers would feel positive toward a brand that used AI to generate ads that look polished and professional, the "good vibes" don’t extend to ads that appear low-quality,
uncanny or strange, the study finds.
The report found that 63% of 22,000 consumers across 22 markets and 2,020 marketers and advertisers across 21 markets think AI-powered tools such as search
summaries, chatbots, creative automation and recommendations improve their online experience.
That drops to 50% in North America, the region with the most cautious consumers.
The report, Global Insights: Media Quality in the Age of AI, was commissioned by DoubleVerify to better understand how consumers and marketers navigate the growing role of AI in digital
marketing and media.
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The analysis found consumers and marketers are responding less to the use of AI, and more to the quality and context of how it is applied.
Although 56% of
consumers say they cannot consistently identify AI-generated content, 42% say a brand’s use of low-quality or “uncanny” AI-created advertising negatively affects their opinion of the
brand, while 40% view polished, professional AI ads positively.
North Americans are much less positive than global consumers about ads in their AI chats. They particularly disapprove of ads in
negative, sad or personal chats, as well as ads that are not relevant to the chat topic.
The only scenario in which positive sentiment outweighs negative sentiment is when the ad is highly
relevant to the chat and the content is high quality.
Similar to consumers, marketers differentiate between high- and low-quality AI content, with 53% saying they are concerned about ads
appearing alongside low-quality AI content, compared with 45% for high-quality content.
As AI becomes more embedded in advertising, these concerns extend beyond where ads appear to the ads
themselves. Some 48% of marketers are concerned about using AI to build ad creative. In North America, the percentage jumps to 63%.
Fifty percent of marketers globally are concerned about serving ads in these environments, and that percentage rises to 63% in North
America.
Consumers in LATAM and APAC expressed greater enthusiasm for AI. Sixty-nine percent of consumers in LATAM and 68% in APAC said
AI-generated content has improved their online experience, while 57% and 53%, respectively, are positive about advertising within AI platforms.
EMEA consumers fall in the middle, with 53%
saying AI-generated content has improved their experience and 39% expressing positive sentiment toward ads in AI platforms.