Emotional trust: what happens when consumers notice AI in the message

Trust underpins many of the choices consumers make for your brand. Three recent studies, carried out by an American university, a global consultancy and an image bank, reach converging conclusions about the effect of artificial intelligence on this relationship.

In this sixth article of the series, we look at these studies and at what they say about emotional trust, the kind that makes someone choose a brand without needing to compare spreadsheets.

The word "AI" reduces the desire to buy

In July 2024, Washington State University released a study led by Mesut Cicek, published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. The researchers ran experiments with more than a thousand adults in the United States and showed identical descriptions of products and services, with a single difference: the mention or absence of the term "artificial intelligence".

The researcher's recommendation to the market was straightforward: describe features and benefits and leave the AI jargon aside. The study dealt with product descriptions. By analogy, the same caution applies to other messages in which you ask the audience to believe in your brand.

Half of consumers prefer brands that avoid generative AI

In March 2026, Gartner released a survey carried out in October 2025 with 1,539 consumers in the United States. According to a report by Convergência Digital, 50% of respondents said they prefer to buy from brands that do not use generative AI in consumer facing messages, such as advertising, marketing content and customer interactions.

The same survey showed that 68% often wonder whether the content they see is real, and 61% often question whether the information they use day to day is reliable. The recommendation attributed to Gartner is that marketers treat generative AI as a decision about trust and about technology at the same time.

Nine out of ten want to know whether the image was made with AI

The "Building Trust in the Age of AI" report by Getty Images surveyed more than 30,000 adults in 25 countries, with surveys conducted between 2022 and 2024. According to coverage by LBB Online, 90% of consumers want to know whether an image was created with AI, and 98% consider authentic images and videos essential to building trust.

Jacqueline Bourke, senior creative director at Getty Images for the EMEA region, said that when authenticity and trust are central to a brand, a campaign or a product, AI is probably not the right choice. She also noted that no company is immune to backlash when AI content shakes the audience's trust.

Emotional trust and the commercial

In our view, a commercial is, to a large extent, a request for trust. With it, you invite the audience to believe in a story, a promise and a tone of voice. When viewers distrust the origin of what they are watching, that distrust extends to what is being said.

The WSU study also indicates that the effect grows as the risk of the purchase decision increases. Banks, health plans, builders, schools and durable goods brands deal with choices that involve money, safety and the future. If your brand is in this group, the authorship of the message deserves extra attention.

Transparency and authorship

The Getty research suggests that the audience values knowing how content was made. This raises a question you need to answer: if your brand decides to use AI at some stage, how does it communicate that choice, and who answers for the final message?

Having an identified scriptwriter, accountable for every line, is a concrete way to guarantee authorship. The tenth article of the series shows how to split tasks between people and tools without losing that control.