When AI Doesn’t Sell Prada: Why AI-Generated Ads Backfire for Luxury Brands

Can AI imagery hurt luxury advertising? In this episode, Rita Ngoc To, Parichehr “Perry” Kianian, Yi-Chia Wu, and Zhe Zhang unpack their Journal of Advertising Research article, “When AI Doesn’t Sell Prada: Why Using AI-Generated Advertisements Backfires for Luxury Brands.” The team walks through three studies that span a real email field test and two lab experiments. The throughline is clear. When a luxury ad discloses AI-generated imagery, people infer low effort, see the ad as less authentic, and respond less favorably. Mainstream brands do not suffer the same hit. The group also shows a practical fix. Use AI to create highly creative visuals. Strong creativity lifts perceived effort and authenticity, which softens the negative impact of disclosure.  

Read the full paper here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2454120

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