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Shoppers prefer human-made product photos; AI images seemed eerier, three experiments find
Study title: Novelty or eeriness? Investigating consumer responses to AI-generated product images through expectancy violation theory
- Evidence type
- Controlled or validated comparison
- Sources
- 1 sourcePeer-reviewed
- Published
- 1 min read
- Truvace record
- TRV-2026-2860cite or check it
Study title: Novelty or eeriness? Investigating consumer responses to AI-generated product images through expectancy violation theory
Three online experiments tested how consumers respond to product images labelled as made by AI or by humans. Participants consistently preferred human-created images and rated them as more novel, while AI-generated images evoked greater eeriness.
Read the study abstract
Purpose Drawing on Expectancy Violation Theory, this study examines how product image creator identity (AI vs. human) influences purchase intentions and the underlying psychological mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Three online experiments examined consumers' attitudes toward AI-generated product images and purchase intentions toward the featured products, assessed how these evaluations deviated from expectations associated with human-created images, and identified conditions under which artificial intell…
The problem
In three online experiments on consumer responses to product images, participants consistently preferred human-created images and found AI-generated ones eerier and less novel, which shaped their purchase intentions.
In brief
The differences fed into purchase intention. Perceived novelty, eeriness, positive and negative expectancy violations, and attitudes mediated the link between who created the image and whether people wanted to buy the featured product.
Product type mattered. AI-generated images were judged more favorably for search products than for experience products, which the authors say helps reconcile mixed findings in earlier AI marketing research.
Main points
- The study ran three online experiments on attitudes toward AI-generated product images and purchase intentions for the featured products.
- It used Expectancy Violation Theory to compare reactions to AI-made images with expectations tied to human-made images.
- Consumers consistently preferred human-created product images and saw them as more novel.
- AI-generated images evoked greater eeriness among consumers.
- Novelty, eeriness, positive and negative expectancy violations, and attitudes mediated the effect of creator identity on purchase intention.
- AI images were rated more favorably for search products than for experience products.
The full story
The researchers drew on Expectancy Violation Theory to ask why people react differently to AI and human product imagery. Across three online experiments, they measured attitudes and purchase intentions and checked how far evaluations departed from what people expect from human-created images.
Data were analysed with multivariate analysis of variance and covariance, plus serial and moderated mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro. These identified positive and negative expectancy violations as central mechanisms behind consumer responses.
The product-type finding gives marketers a practical boundary: AI imagery fared better for search products than for experience products. The authors say this helps explain mixed results in the AI-generated marketing literature.
Sources
1 on file- Journal of Research in Interactive Marketingdoi:10.1108/jrim-01-2026-0015
Talk it over
Who carries this cost, and what would have to change to prevent it?
Shoppers prefer human-made product photos; AI images seemed eerier, three experiments findhttps://truvace.com/item/novelty-or-eeriness-investigating-consumer-responses-to-ai-generated-product-ima
Who carries this cost, and what would have to change to prevent it?
The problem In three online experiments on consumer responses to product images, participants consistently preferred human-created images and found AI-generated ones eerier and less novel, which shaped their purchase intentions.
Answer in the threadHow do we know? What can this kind of evidence show, and what can’t it?
The evidence This rests on a controlled comparison, from Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing.
Answer in the threadWhat does it leave open? What else would you want to know before acting on it?
Answer in the threadHave you seen AI used this way where you study, work or live? Did it go the same way?
Answer in the thread
The questions are the same on every record. The details under them are taken from this record as written.
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