Generative AI in Brand Activism: Impacts on Consumers’ Negative Affect and Decision Comfort

Abstract

With the prevalence of emerging technologies, brands are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to craft branding messages, including those reflecting sociopolitical views through brand activism. Although generative AI is effective in content creation, its use in value‐laden contexts may differentially alter individual affective responses, thereby impacting consumer well‐being. We address this gap by examining how AI‐created brand activism messages influence consumers' negative affect and decision comfort. Across five studies, we find that AI‐created activism elicits greater negative affect, ultimately reducing decision comfort. This occurs because consumers perceive these messages as less authentic. This effect attenuates when consumers are conservative (vs. liberal) or have a high tendency to anthropomorphize AI. This work advances the literature on brand activism, generative AI, and consumer affect by clarifying how AI use in brand activism reshapes consumers' emotional and decisional experiences and offering insights into how brands can effectively navigate such sociopolitical communication.