Generative AI in product design: Investigating the effects of AI creatorship disclosure on consumer responses

Recent technological advancements in the field of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) have led to tremendous opportunities for businesses in both content (e.g., with ChatGPT) and image creation (e.g., with Midjourney or DALL-E). Creative contentcreation such as painting or music production was once exclusively associated with human intelligence but can now be performed autonomously with these AI-tools. However, AI declaration is expected to become a legal requirement in many countries and AI-transparency might lead to adverse consumer reactions. Therefore, marketing scholars and managers are still unsure to which extent they should implement AI in their marketing and product design processes. Based on the concept of algorithm aversion (Castelo et al., 2019) and an online experiment (n = 213) with an AI-created product, this study explores the effects of AI (vs. human) as product designer on consumer responses. Moreover, we investigate the role of product design dimensions (i.e., aesthetics, functionality, symbolism, and creativity) as mediating factors. Based on the literature review and empirical analysis, a high potential of generative AI to transform marketing and product design can be diagnosed. However, at present this potential is accompanied by negative consumer responses to AI-created product designs. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.