Designing AI Agents for New Product Endorsement: Do Human-Like or Cartoon-Like AI-Generated Endorsers Evoke More Positive Ad Engagement from Consumers?

초록

This research aims to offer novel insights for advertisers by comparing two AI agents as new product endorsers (human-like versus cartoon-like) across three studies (n = 1,228). Study 1 (n = 145) explores consumers' emotional responses tied to ad engagement. Study 2 (n = 283) identifies visual thinking as a mediator and examines its influence on different pricing strategies (premium vs. freemium). Study 3 (n = 800) extends these findings to actual consumer choice behavior. Altogether, our findings offer a timely contribution by helping marketers match AI-powered endorser types with consumer expectations in new product promotions-an area that remains largely unexplored despite rapid technological advances and increasing accessibility in AI-driven avatar design.

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